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rachellen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spoilers mentioned.
This was such an incredible story to read and I feel it is very special. Right when I felt the pace was too slow, bam! Another twist, another turn. Daiyu’s destiny was gut wrenching, as I began reaching the last 40 pages I thought ‘there will be a cliffhanger for a second novel or this novel will break me’.
I found it really emotional and difficult to read parts of abuse and racism but understood entirely the importance of it. I felt more educated on Chinese American history after reading it, and really appreciated having learnt something, acknowledging my privilege at having to learn it by reading it rather than living it.
I suppose Daiyu felt her luck never arrived for her, but through the story I saw how many times luck managed to get her to safety, though not as much as I would have liked. It’s a tragedy but one that was inflicted by racists and abusers. It’s simply horrid, and yet her storyline all still feels as she was in control. The minute that she didn’t go back to Boise to meet William, I knew. By calling out her real name, finally owning her name, it was as if she was calling her fate to meet her, not her captives, she didn’t wait. It was really captivating, particularly the line ‘my name is Daiyu[…] You will never forget me’.
I adored the almost ethereal presence of Lin Daiyu, which had me questioning ‘is she real? Is this a sci fi? Am I seeing things too?’ I think at first I thought it was simply Daiyu’s coping mechanism, but I believe it was Lin Daiyu, tied with Daiyu from birth. Now I understand the importance of birth names and their inextricable ties to fate.
Only praise rings from my brain right now.
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, and Blood
lcg527's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Hate crime, and Excrement
anaiira's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I thought the book was full of gorgeous lines and descriptions, from beginning to end. Even the way that the author describes the ocean, "the cotton roar of the beach... the sea breeze one exhale around us" or the way she describes the relationship of Daiyu's parents "the tides gently pushing them towards each other... an imperative from the water". I appreciate that the author includes trafitional stories, after all, in 4000 years of history, there are stories aplenty to include, but she also chose to retell a small personal one, about a grasshopper that the main character inadvertently tore apart, about how it was a lesson to be more gentle with the world, to do better, that not all the beauty of the world needs to be plucked and held in the hand, sometimes it is good to let it go.
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, Colonisation, Trafficking, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexism
kmetzing's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racism, Trafficking, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Hate crime
lyssmayy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual assault, Body horror, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, and Murder
mikarala's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I do actually feel kind of bad that I'm not rating this tragic-yet-realistic depiction of life for Asian-Americans in the 19th century more highly. I think it's important for stories like this to be told, so that we can re-examine our past from fresh perspectives. However, the way this was written just got on my nerves. It's so pretentious.
On an sentence level, sometimes even on a paragraph level, the prose in this novel could be beautiful. However, it started to get repetitive when, every time something bad happened, Daiyu would go on and on in her internal monologue about how the components of X character's name should have warned her not to trust X. Stuff like, oh, I forgot that under the earth, there's fire, and it burned me. I like Chinese characters too, I think they're wonderful, but when the pattern of her reflections went down that line of thinking every damn time, it started making me roll my eyes. It kind of felt like a cheap attempt at depth that didn't connect for me. I feel like this is an example of breaking the "show, don't tell" rule, because the author kept using Daiyu's internal monologue to sort of tell the reader what to think, and it was always framed as some sort of revelation. To me, the patten got old and predictable very quickly.
Also, I appreciate that this is a pretty realistic depiction of the racism that Chinese people encountered in this time period, but at a certain point the very black-and-white portrayal where white people = evil became a little...overplayed? I don't want to make this sound like some kind of complaint, like #notallwhitepeople or something, and it's not even so much that white people are bad guys, it's more the complete lack of depth or intrigue? It's kind of just: white people are racist SOB's with no personality other than their racism. And again, I understand this is centering the Chinese experience, which is why that perspective isn't challenged; my issue is more about the fact that, on a narrative level, I find that kind of boring. It just added to the kind of predictable nature of this story that made it a bit of a chore to get through at times.
One last thing: the whole thing where Daiyu was having conversations with/seeing/imagining the spirit of her namesake, but also treated her like a physical presence, just read as odd to me. It was basically another element that seemed like it was trying to be really deep and reflective, while just being a bit boring and basic to me.
Unfortunately just really not the story for me. I do think the story being told is, in itself, important, I just didn't like basically any part of how it was told.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Death, Kidnapping, and Racism
faduma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Racism, Classism, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Torture, and Xenophobia
j_hornick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Kidnapping, and Confinement
heatherjchin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Police brutality, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse
Minor: Blood, Pregnancy, Deportation, and Vomit
tcrivera12's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racism, Torture, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, and Violence