Reviews

Ghost Music by An Yu

chupacabra2000's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, Blood, Child death, and Alcohol

linwearcamenel's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad fast-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

novel_nymph's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

mittens_the_scamp's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.5

whitneysederberg's review against another edition

3.0

thank you for the book, Karli!

there were a lot of interesting ideas in here but i don’t think many of them were well developed. highlights were the mother in law relationship and imagery around the mushrooms. i think the primary problem was too much tell not show & limited imagery.
my main personal hangup with this book however is the choices of classical music felt rather arbitrary. why nocturne, reverie, random beethoven sonata? they don’t really serve the story at all, and i think having a professional pianist as the main character offers an interesting opportunity in that lane. surface level pieces like these exasperate the lack of intention with a lot of the creative choices in here.

ainsleym's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting weird little book. Would make an incredible movie with the focus on music and imagery/color. As a book I don't know that it'll stick with me. There were multiple moments throughout where the narrator would ask a series of questions or make broad philosophical statements that felt at the same time too didactic and yet not really saying anything concrete, which took me out of the story and the voice throughout the rest of the book. Didn't hate it and had a good enough time reading but this is the type of story that I'd rather experience as an hour and a half art house film than a book. 

agroziak's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

julselisabeth's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

abbie_bryant's review against another edition

• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

beththrolson's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective

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

4.0