Scan barcode
timelapse's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Body horror, and Rape
sarasukovic's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide and Vomit
whatwentsent's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Murder, Kidnapping, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, and Violence
mikarala's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I do actually feel kind of bad that I'm not rating this tragic-yet-realistic depiction of life for Asian-Americans in the 19th century more highly. I think it's important for stories like this to be told, so that we can re-examine our past from fresh perspectives. However, the way this was written just got on my nerves. It's so pretentious.
On an sentence level, sometimes even on a paragraph level, the prose in this novel could be beautiful. However, it started to get repetitive when, every time something bad happened, Daiyu would go on and on in her internal monologue about how the components of X character's name should have warned her not to trust X. Stuff like, oh, I forgot that under the earth, there's fire, and it burned me. I like Chinese characters too, I think they're wonderful, but when the pattern of her reflections went down that line of thinking every damn time, it started making me roll my eyes. It kind of felt like a cheap attempt at depth that didn't connect for me. I feel like this is an example of breaking the "show, don't tell" rule, because the author kept using Daiyu's internal monologue to sort of tell the reader what to think, and it was always framed as some sort of revelation. To me, the patten got old and predictable very quickly.
Also, I appreciate that this is a pretty realistic depiction of the racism that Chinese people encountered in this time period, but at a certain point the very black-and-white portrayal where white people = evil became a little...overplayed? I don't want to make this sound like some kind of complaint, like #notallwhitepeople or something, and it's not even so much that white people are bad guys, it's more the complete lack of depth or intrigue? It's kind of just: white people are racist SOB's with no personality other than their racism. And again, I understand this is centering the Chinese experience, which is why that perspective isn't challenged; my issue is more about the fact that, on a narrative level, I find that kind of boring. It just added to the kind of predictable nature of this story that made it a bit of a chore to get through at times.
One last thing: the whole thing where Daiyu was having conversations with/seeing/imagining the spirit of her namesake, but also treated her like a physical presence, just read as odd to me. It was basically another element that seemed like it was trying to be really deep and reflective, while just being a bit boring and basic to me.
Unfortunately just really not the story for me. I do think the story being told is, in itself, important, I just didn't like basically any part of how it was told.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Death, Kidnapping, and Racism
regans's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Rape, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Racism, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, and Torture
Moderate: Police brutality and Gun violence
Minor: Excrement
faduma's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Racism, Classism, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Torture, and Xenophobia
j_hornick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Death, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Kidnapping, and Confinement
heatherjchin's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Death, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Police brutality, Genocide, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse
Minor: Blood, Pregnancy, Deportation, and Vomit
sapreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Violence, Racism, and Trafficking
dianavdavidson_'s review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Death, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Murder, Racism, and Trafficking
Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Kidnapping