Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Ghost Forest

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung

13 reviews

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I don't have the words yet, but this book deeply moved me amidst my own grief, and I highly recommend it.

This was recommended to me by my friend @maddysbookopinions on Instagram <3

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siobhanward's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Sometimes I struggle with stories told through short vignettes, but this book was so well done, it was wonderful to read. I love how Fung created her narrative from the unnamed protagonist's POV while still incorporating other POVs as stories told to the narrator. She created complex and multi-dimensional characters that served as a reminder that no one is just one thing and that sometimes it can be a challenge to wrap your head around that.

I did find that the beginning dragged a bit, but as soon as focus shifted to the protagonist's experience with her father's illness, I couldn't put the book down. This was just a great read.

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

ghost forest is an elegy to the author's deceased father and a meditation on family. it's a sparse book both in form and content, but also a remarkably relatable one esp in regards to the asian family dynamics, things both said and unsaid, mourning for family lost, and fung's attempts - and failure - to learn more abt her family members as full, fleshed out individuals. it's like seeing my own life imprinted in this book.

there are moments where the truth of the author's words are so searing it brings me to tears, or so astonish me for the mere fact that another human feels the same way i do. while this book's emotional impact subtly ebbs and flows and there isnt much of a plot, it def serves as a great reminder of the fleetingness of life and the preciousness of the time remaining.

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elnelson's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

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brogan7's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is a book that I wanted to start again as soon as I finished it.

Ok, but also when I got to the end, I realized it's classified as fiction and I thought it was straight up memoir.

The thing that bugs me about that is the grandma who taught herself to read. It's very hard to learn to read Chinese, because there are so many characters and a word is expressed in characters attached to meaning, not sound...so it's practically impossible for her to have taught herself to read. Why would you do that? Why does it matter to have an uneducated grandmother who soared above her age peers in ways that are actually impossible to accomplish? Why couldn't she just be awesome and illiterate?

I liked the flow of the book, the way memories arose and were spoken of and sometimes revised; the low-key tone, very conversational and accessible; the negotiation of different identities.

I liked it. And I'm mad it's fiction because I wanted to see her art piece from the exhibit. It sounded so accomplished and amazing.

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typedtruths's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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savvylit's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Ghost Forest is made up of a series of memories, of vignettes from our narrator's life. These vignettes are not in a linear chronological order - a quality that lends the novel a diaristic feel. I often imagined that Ghost Forest was actually a published copy of the narrator's private journal. The nonlinear order seems to mimic the narrator's real-time recollections.

As a whole, Ghost Forest is a heartbreaking and poetic portrait of family love, sacrifice, and grief. For that alone, Fung has written a novel unlike any other that I have read. Additionally, though, Ghost Forest is told through the unique cultural lens of a Hong Kong 'astronaut' family. The narrator's relationship with her father is strained in many ways. Some strain is due to their cultural differences as a native Hong Konger and his Canadian-raised daughter. But beyond that, so much strain can be explained by their physical distance. While the narrator immigrated to Canada with her mother and grandparents, her father stayed behind in Hong Kong.

Ultimately, this was a short and sparse read. However, the raw human emotions of Ghost Forest are potent and immersive. Fung has given readers a powerful reminder to appreciate the complexity of their familial relationships before it may be too late. I know I won't be forgetting this debut novel any time soon & I can't wait to read more from Pik-Shuen Fung in the future!

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