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ronne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
vickywong710's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Wow. The balls on this guy to write a story about a journalist investigating a female protesters death/disappearance…. Only for him to not solve it at the end.
Let me just caveat this review by saying that I was a journalist working in HK during the 2019 protests when this book was set, so it’s a period of time that I remember quite vividly.
I actually really liked the writing style of this book, and I like the way it blended in the story and bits of reportage from the protest. I also really liked how Osborne really made you feel like you were in HK, and as someone who recently left the city I found it quite comforting to read the protagonist visiting streets and places I was familiar with.
Osborne is also very good when it comes to describing and writing about wealth and the characters who occupy that strata of society from the way they dress to the places they eat.
It was a promising first half.
And then we get to Rebecca’s disappearance, and it really starts to lose momentum. There was a feeling that Osborne wanted to write a book set in HK and built a plot/murder/death around it but then wasn’t too interested in resolving it? Or at least in a way that felt satisfying for the reader (maybe this was the point?).
Adrian (the protagonist) and his friendship with Jimmy is the central relationship in the book, but then Rebecca just gets forgotten about near the end which feels a bit weird.
I know this is fiction and of course some of the events like the death/disappearance of a socialite did not happen in real life, but I couldn’t help but feel some unease at ways in which the protests were depicted. For instance a journalist friend of Adrian’s in the book mentions a protester getting shot by a police officer and there were videos of this protester throwing bricks at the officer, it’s a small detail but that bothered me a bit and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about it.
My final quibble is with Adrian as a character and as a journalist; he’s flawed, yes, and I like a flawed protagonist, but I found he was oddly a little bit lazy as a journalist, there were little bits of mysteries peppered here and there but he’s strangely incurious about getting to the bottom of them, so you as a reader is left hanging a bit.
In conclusion, this book is very well written, but it is mostly vibes and not much plot.
Let me just caveat this review by saying that I was a journalist working in HK during the 2019 protests when this book was set, so it’s a period of time that I remember quite vividly.
I actually really liked the writing style of this book, and I like the way it blended in the story and bits of reportage from the protest. I also really liked how Osborne really made you feel like you were in HK, and as someone who recently left the city I found it quite comforting to read the protagonist visiting streets and places I was familiar with.
Osborne is also very good when it comes to describing and writing about wealth and the characters who occupy that strata of society from the way they dress to the places they eat.
It was a promising first half.
And then we get to Rebecca’s disappearance, and it really starts to lose momentum. There was a feeling that Osborne wanted to write a book set in HK and built a plot/murder/death around it but then wasn’t too interested in resolving it? Or at least in a way that felt satisfying for the reader (maybe this was the point?).
Adrian (the protagonist) and his friendship with Jimmy is the central relationship in the book, but then Rebecca just gets forgotten about near the end which feels a bit weird.
I know this is fiction and of course some of the events like the death/disappearance of a socialite did not happen in real life, but I couldn’t help but feel some unease at ways in which the protests were depicted. For instance a journalist friend of Adrian’s in the book mentions a protester getting shot by a police officer and there were videos of this protester throwing bricks at the officer, it’s a small detail but that bothered me a bit and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about it.
My final quibble is with Adrian as a character and as a journalist; he’s flawed, yes, and I like a flawed protagonist, but I found he was oddly a little bit lazy as a journalist, there were little bits of mysteries peppered here and there but he’s strangely incurious about getting to the bottom of them, so you as a reader is left hanging a bit.
In conclusion, this book is very well written, but it is mostly vibes and not much plot.
fraserrobinson's review against another edition
Fine first chapter , did not pick it up again after that lol maybe later
kirip's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
hila_ad's review against another edition
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mattynoble_'s review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
kerensa2108's review
2.0
I struggled with this book initially. It’s not one I would have chosen myself - it was a book club read, and I hadn’t finished it by the time we met to discuss it, so I set it aside to read the next month’s book, and picked it up again after I’d finished that one. It’s described as a mystery story, but I’d say it’s more of an exploration of relationships, and Gyle’s motivation for remaining in HK as long as he did. Rebecca’s death isn’t much of a mystery - the only mysterious elements are her father’s insistence that she wasn’t in the China Club with him and her mother, on the last night Gyle saw her, and who sent him the email that he ultimately published. Neither of those mysteries are explored in any depth at all so it feels kind of unfinished.
I think the main reason I struggled with it was the writing style. I can’t think how to describe it… Heavy, self-important, trying too hard… And errors that you wouldn’t expect to see from a so-called quality writer. E.g. at one point Gyle is talking about some student activists and says how something they’re doing “…endeared me to them.” Wrong way round - he clearly means “….endeared THEM to ME”. That really grated on me!
None of the characters were particularly likeable either, especially Gyle, which made it hard to read. Gyle comes across as weak, ineffectual and uninteresting - maybe that’s the idea, but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable read when the main character has no redeeming features. I finished it because everyone in my book club quite enjoyed it, and ultimately I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. I did like the descriptions of Hong Kong, Chinese culture and Chinese poetry, and Gyle eventually did the right thing by going public with Rebecca’s story, but you get the feeling that he wasn’t too happy about it.
I won’t be reading any more by this author, but I’m glad I finished this one - it was an interesting read if not an enjoyable one.
I think the main reason I struggled with it was the writing style. I can’t think how to describe it… Heavy, self-important, trying too hard… And errors that you wouldn’t expect to see from a so-called quality writer. E.g. at one point Gyle is talking about some student activists and says how something they’re doing “…endeared me to them.” Wrong way round - he clearly means “….endeared THEM to ME”. That really grated on me!
None of the characters were particularly likeable either, especially Gyle, which made it hard to read. Gyle comes across as weak, ineffectual and uninteresting - maybe that’s the idea, but it doesn’t make for an enjoyable read when the main character has no redeeming features. I finished it because everyone in my book club quite enjoyed it, and ultimately I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. I did like the descriptions of Hong Kong, Chinese culture and Chinese poetry, and Gyle eventually did the right thing by going public with Rebecca’s story, but you get the feeling that he wasn’t too happy about it.
I won’t be reading any more by this author, but I’m glad I finished this one - it was an interesting read if not an enjoyable one.
clarkmj1's review
2.0
Honestly I don’t know how this book scores so high
Not only does nothing happen, the characters steadfastly refuse to grow or develop while it is not happening.
There is a difference between literary fiction and pseudo intellectual circus tricks
Not only does nothing happen, the characters steadfastly refuse to grow or develop while it is not happening.
There is a difference between literary fiction and pseudo intellectual circus tricks
pillywiggin's review against another edition
3.0
I thought there would be much more investigation of the mystery involved in the plot. This is a good book, but I thought it would by about an investigative reporter investigating the death of a young protestor, but it was more about the friendship between the reporter and someone who knew the victim.
liberrydude's review against another edition
5.0
Death of a young woman. Death of a friendship. Death of democracy. Set in Hong Kong this story explores the relationship between two men in their fifties who attended Cambridge. One is the scion of a wealthy Chinese elite and the other an expatriate British journalist fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin. Beautiful prose, deep thoughts. Osborne is in a class by himself.