Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Severance by Ling Ma

10 reviews

aklovekorn's review

reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Pregnancy, Death, Toxic relationship, Child death, and Terminal illness

astridrv's review against another edition

A fast, rather smart read that offers a bleak, at times funny, contemplation of capitalism and alienation, whether through work, sickness, or immigration. I found it a compelling take on pandemic & post-apocalyptic themes, succeeding as Station Eleven did in examining that type of setting from a different lense. Some paragraphs about memory and childhood hit me right in the feels, and the general comment about the deeply alienating nature of late stage capitalism is well done.

I found the description of the fevered extremely jarring, since everyone's reaction to them is seeped in ableism, and I'm still thinking about this book as I progress through the podcast series from Nevada Humanities about its contents: https://www.nevadahumanities.org/severance-radio 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, and Ableism

Moderate: Pregnancy

wormgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child death

skyba3's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Cursing

taratearex's review

dark funny reflective medium-paced

• 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

5.0

 I was very skeptical about whether I would like this book based on some reviews I've seen, but I think going in knowing this isn't a typical "zombie apocalypse" book helps. I think the audiobook really enhanced my experience, but honestly I think it was just the perfect book at the moment for me and I loved it. I thought everything worked so well, I loved the critiques of capitalism, especially in the face of a pandemic- the fact that this was written in 2018 and gets so much right is so disturbing and depressing. I loved the focus on the mundane routines as the world slowly falls apart, I wanted to scream "why are you working right now?!?!" but then I look around at where we're currently at, sigh. I've seen a number of reviews say they didn't like the ending and personally it totally worked for me, honestly everything just totally worked for me. It was all a little too close to home, but somehow comforting in a really fucked up way.

I highly recommend the audiobook read by Nancy Wu, I already looked up books she narrates as I just think she was so amazing and got the character vibe and the satirical mood so perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

allisonbrooke's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Pregnancy, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Body horror, Death of parent, Car accident, Confinement, and Death

jazhandz's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Dementia, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Sexual content

bluejayreads's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I barely skimmed the back cover before picking this up. I’m trying to read more broadly. I don’t think I’ve ever read a satire, it’s by a Chinese author featuring a Chinese protagonist, and looked to be satirizing the meaninglessness of modern work culture (relatable) and post-apocalyptic fiction (I’ve read a lot, could be interesting). 

This was published in 2018, but I had to check. I think it was supposed to be satire of the modern millennial life in NYC or the post-apocalyptic genre or both. In 2018, maybe it was. But in February 2022, nearly two years into a deadly global pandemic that varies only slightly from the “epidemic” of the book, Severance isn’t satire – it’s prophetic. 

This book is told out of order, altering back and forth between Before and After. Before and After what isn’t obvious in the book, but it’s clear to me. I can’t pinpoint a particular event or moment, but my life has definitely divided into Before Covid and After Covid. “It seemed to happen gradually, then suddenly,” as Candace says. Candace keeps going into work as everything slowly crumbles, keeps trying to do her job even though there’s less and less job to do, until suddenly it’s After and things are completely different. 

I am not going to talk about the After timeline. I am not prepared to touch those emotions right now. 

I didn’t think I had much if any of that “collective pandemic trauma” people talk about. Then I read Severance, and it turns out I do. When Candace’s job started requiring N95 masks, I felt a sinking familiarity. When a character first said the phrase “these uncertain times,” it felt like a punch in the gut. This book pulls on the trauma of living through a pandemic and the horror of surviving an apocalypse and combines them into something vividly repulsive and hideously possible. It evokes the visceral terror of being in a place usually full of people and discovering you are alone; the agonizing helpless realization that even if you survive this, there is no future; the despair of knowing that even if the world is ending, the only thing you can do is get up and go to work. 

I read this as an audiobook at work, my mind lost in the horror and despair of this barely-fictional world while my hands, nearly independent of the rest of me, did my job. Scan the box. Open the box. Take out the bag. Label the bag. Put the bag in a new box. Label the new box. I repeat the same process over and over again, just like the epidemic victims in the book. I think that’s what Severance is supposed to be satirizing. 

If there is an apocalypse, it won’t be like any of my post-apocalyptic novels. If it’s like any work of fiction, it will be like this. And if that’s the case, I don’t think I want to survive. I took several books off my to-read list. I have no more desire to read any post-apocalypses. I am too afraid of surviving the end of the world. 

I’ve never legitimately described a book as life-changing before, but Severance is. I feel like I’ve just realized the world is about to end and can’t understand everyone continuing on and worrying about unimportant stuff. I feel like I have to sit down and figure out what actually matters because most of the shit I’m doing now just doesn’t. 

Severance feels terrifyingly, painfully, imminently possible. If no one ever recovered from covid, we might be living in the world of Severance right now. 

This book is not satire. It’s psychological, existential horror. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Body horror, Gun violence, Blood, and Confinement

Moderate: Suicide, Gore, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual content, Drug use, Car accident, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Vomit

Existential horror, existential despair

nyssbomb's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gore, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Drug use, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Car accident

f18's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide, and Xenophobia

Minor: Abortion, Car accident, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit