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literarydumpling's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I had a personal interest in reading this book coming from an Asian background and having seen how family businesses are run. What Li's book does incredibly well is communicate the complicated aspects of family and business.
The lines begin to blur between your own family and the family at a restaurant, as well as the politics between how people decide to move and act.
It's great to see how the book conveys the owners' actions that end up impacting the staff at the restaurant, however not in the sense where it is very obviously A causes B. It's also nice to see how peoples' lives intertwine in the book through their combined working at the Beijing Duck House and how their lives may or may not be defined by their job.
I think the pacing may trip some people up and it may seem like the story is meandering at time, but if you give it the chance and keep going through it, the characters themselves are enough to keep you invested.
The lines begin to blur between your own family and the family at a restaurant, as well as the politics between how people decide to move and act.
It's great to see how the book conveys the owners' actions that end up impacting the staff at the restaurant, however not in the sense where it is very obviously A causes B. It's also nice to see how peoples' lives intertwine in the book through their combined working at the Beijing Duck House and how their lives may or may not be defined by their job.
I think the pacing may trip some people up and it may seem like the story is meandering at time, but if you give it the chance and keep going through it, the characters themselves are enough to keep you invested.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcoholism
lauraevelyn's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Alcohol
ginadapooh's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Alcohol, Cancer, Infidelity, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, Violence, and Emotional abuse
oliviaclaire's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book wasn't on my TBR list but I picked it up in a charity shop on a whim, both for the premise and the fact that it was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
A later Goodreads review described it as 'aggressively mediocre' and I think this goes some way in helping to explain my feelings on the story and in particular, the writing style. Lots of small things happen in this book, and a few big things too... however, every single action and thought is embellished with heavy description which slows the pace and can make it hard to pick out the real moments of significance within the story. Lillian Li is obviously a very talented writer, I just feel like the excessive use of literary devices and figurative speech at times takes away from the story being told which, at it's core, is a family and workplace drama centered on several characters who, unfortunately, are generally unsympathetic (with one or two notable exceptions) and ultimately find little to no personal resolution by the close of the book.
A later Goodreads review described it as 'aggressively mediocre' and I think this goes some way in helping to explain my feelings on the story and in particular, the writing style. Lots of small things happen in this book, and a few big things too... however, every single action and thought is embellished with heavy description which slows the pace and can make it hard to pick out the real moments of significance within the story. Lillian Li is obviously a very talented writer, I just feel like the excessive use of literary devices and figurative speech at times takes away from the story being told which, at it's core, is a family and workplace drama centered on several characters who, unfortunately, are generally unsympathetic (with one or two notable exceptions) and ultimately find little to no personal resolution by the close of the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Drug use and Addiction
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