Reviews with content warning for Rape - Four Treasures of the Sky

Holy moly this was such a hard read but the language used...it was so beautifully written. I cried as much from the story as much as from the writing. I appreciate the author telling this story and bringing more light and attention to this forgotten period of our history and people.

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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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hannahkosel's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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hdubois's review against another edition

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challenging 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

A heart wrenching story, and an important tale about the atrocities committed against Chinese-Americans (and all Asian-Americans) from the moment they arrived here. Zhang is a very strong writer and Daiyu is a thoughtful and engaging protagonist.

The conclusion leaves a lot to be desired, but in the end, that’s the point. Daiyu/Zhang are able to reclaim their story here, and while the demise is tragic and entirely avoidable in a just state, it certainly leaves you wishing for something different in this narrative when it comes to its finale. Daiyu’s clarity of personage in her final moments certainly has a sense of beauty to it though, and her growth is a deeply admirable quality that I hope he can all learn to integrate. Seeing the larger picture of your world and knowing that you can do something for your people and those closest to you, even at your own expensive is a wonderful thing. Her ability to return to Nelson is beautiful. Her commitment to shouting off Caroline is cheer-worthy. Her decision to attempt to save her friends in her moment of freedom is stunning. Every choice she makes in the final part of the story is some form of uplifting, and I only wish she could have found peace in life for a longer time.

This is the sort of book that feels appropriate and well suited to deal out as party of history courses touching on the American west and the early days of Asian immigration into America.

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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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