Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

44 reviews

0124eliza's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5


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augustriver's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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superlillative's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The style the book was written in made it easy to read, but the seriousness and emotional depth are still very prominent and conveyed well. Zhang does a great job in developing characters in few words. 

As an Asian American, it is sobering to read these accounts as history is meant to learn from, not something that can be cherry picked because someone does not agree or share an opinion. 

I know it’s my own personal preference, but I would have enjoyed more historical descriptions of the environment as well, but I understand that this book is meant to focus on the characters. 

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martinjen98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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fkshg8465's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

5.0

Beautifully written, a story that needed to be told. Will be gifting a copy to my niece. Worth reading through how the author decided to write this story. Historical fiction that probably happened to many Chinese women and Chinese citizens. Need to acknowledge it of part of US history too.

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lcg527's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative sad tense 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

3.5


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softbun's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-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

4.0


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comeundun's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


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anaiira's review against another edition

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emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

What a tragic but beautifully written story. It's so obviously well researched and thought through. In a long string of tragedies, Daiyu stands as a beacon of resilience, as someone who deserves much better than she got, as someone who struggled to learn, to grow, to transform, not just because of the unceasing tide of adversity against her but to overcome as best she can, to make her life one that is meaningful and whole for her.

I thought the book was full of gorgeous lines and descriptions, from beginning to end. Even the way that the author describes the ocean, "the cotton roar of the beach... the sea breeze one exhale around us" or the way she describes the relationship of Daiyu's parents "the tides gently pushing them towards each other... an imperative from the water". I appreciate that the author includes trafitional stories, after all, in 4000 years of history, there are stories aplenty to include, but she also chose to retell a small personal one, about a grasshopper that the main character inadvertently tore apart, about how it was a lesson to be more gentle with the world, to do better, that not all the beauty of the world needs to be plucked and held in the hand, sometimes it is good to let it go.

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ceciibunnii's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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


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