Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Severance by Ling Ma

26 reviews

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Dementia

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

This book was eerily prescient for what was to come during the COVID-19 pandemic, given that it came out in 2018. This book elicited an interesting emotional response in me, overall leaving me feeling reflective and adrift.

While firmly in the dystopian fiction genre, what I found unique was that this read more like a character study than anything. We follow the main character Candace Chen’s reflections on her life, moving back and forth through each point in her life that were mini-apocalypses in themselves, as her worlds as she knew them collapse. 

As a Chinese immigrant who moved to the U.S. when she was 6, themes of belonging/unbelonging resonate strongly throughout this novel, and are elements that give richness to the decisions she made and the points she gets to in her life.

I think what really added to my love of this book was the narrator Nancy Wu’s approach to characterizing Candace. Her style was a sort of a resigned deadpan, which I felt added a depth to the character that I don’t know I would’ve gotten from the tree book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Medical content, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Car accident

coffeespooncait's review against another edition

funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Dementia

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

alisasreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

anti-capitalism and zombies made me want to read this, but i stayed for the way the writer managed to make me feel like i was experiencing it all with candace. very well written and definitely a book i would recommend to people. also pretty odd to read this a year after the pandemic..

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Confinement, Death, Dementia, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Vomit, and Racism

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

takarakei's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I originally read this book in 2019. Back then I rated it 5 stars, which I feel was very rare for me as I was reading a lot less, but I wonder if seeds of this book planted itself into my subconscious.

Re-reading now in 2023 after going through a global pandemic, and quitting my shitty office job - I have a new perspective on life in general. It's rather eerie to read a book written before 2020 that got so many things right. I applaud Ling Ma who likely did a lot of research to make things so realistic. This book definitely reads more literary than sci-fi, although it is a dystopian setting (although I'd say about half the book is pre-pandemic reflecting that happens throughout the story). It is really a critique of our capitalist consumeristic society intertwined with the first generation immigrant millennial experience. I've read a few reviews where people say they don't like the main character Candice, but I would challenge people to question what it is they don't like about her. Because I would propose that perhaps the things they don't like about her (her stubbornness to continue going into work despite the absurd conditions) are perhaps things that they don't like about themselves. I truly don't think I would have gotten that perspective out of this book on my first read, so I am glad I re-read it.

**I recommend doing this one on audio or a combination of the audio + ebook/physical - because all the dialogue is written in that obnoxious way where there are no quotation marks. However, the narrator does a great job inflecting when people are talking, so that made it much easier to read.

To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. To wake up. To go to work in the morning. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Gun violence, Dementia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

this is a pandemic novel, so most of the content warnings come from living in that apocalyptic world.

erindoesdesign's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• 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

Incredible. The pandemic depiction is so uncannily accurate that I spent the first half of the book assuming it had been published sometime in the summer of 2020 at earliest. Unexpectedly emotional in places. The way the story weaves from past to present is beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Vomit, Suicide, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, and Dementia

Minor: Abandonment and Car accident

Pandemic topics might be sensitive for some

booksandmo's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Sexual content

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

pamreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.5

This book felt more like a horror novel because I made the smartest decision to read this while living in a pandemic. It's super scary reading this and comparing it to what's happening now. I obviously made the super smart choice for my mental health :P I really liked how the novel went back and forth in time. Candace's narrative really helps you understand how the fever progressed, especially with a novel as short as this one. While it's a really good story and I understand why the author would leave it open-ended, I unrealistically wanted a happy ending because reality is too spooky for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Grief, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy