Reviews

Severance by Ling Ma

thelittlebookie's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

kewaligora's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

pswood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-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? No

4.75

erinn93's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

breanna_394's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

crunchy108's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Def could have been a lot shorter for what it was trying to say. Also pretty boring especially since it’s a story about the apocalypse. What kept me going was the pretty writing and it somewhat picked up at the end.

lexilev's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

droo's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.0

lorenaslibrary's review against another edition

funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Is it the end of the world, or just another day at the office?

Welp... Severance is quite the read - especially as someone who is currently thinking about my career and where to go and grow from here. I think *exhausted* millennials will find Severance a funny (like nervous laughter funny) and hard-hitting read with themes of late-stage capitalism, work-life balance, and nostalgia. 

Also, this being published pre-covid makes me want to read Ling Ma's other works just in case she's a prophet or something. 

  A day off meant we could do things we’d always meant to do. Like go to the Botanical Garden, the Frick Collection, or something. Read some fiction. Leisure, the problem with the modern condition was the dearth of leisure. And finally, it took a force of nature to interrupt our routines. We just wanted to hit the reset button. We just wanted to feel flush with time to do things of no quantifiable value, our hopeful side pursuits like writing or drawing or something, something other than what we did for money. 

jettayoung's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0