Scan barcode
traa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Racism, Rape, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Deportation, Excrement, and Stalking
lilawsahar'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? Yes
5.0
I liked how all the stories were interconnected and how the first story circles back.
I need someone to discuss this book with because there is a lot to unravel.
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Bullying, Violence, and Sexual content
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Torture, Cursing, Vomit, War, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Bullying, Alcohol, Homophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual violence
tenten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i enjoyed "We Love You Crispina", the first story in the collection, because of the voice. Zhang is so so so good at it. the narrators are vulgar, naive in the way children are, but also mature in the way that children from marginalized backgrounds tend to have to be. all of the narrators are pre-teen/teen girls, ages ranging from 7 to 15 (except two stories that follow the narrators into adulthood), who grew up in poverty in Queens(Brooklyn in one case), NY as the child of Chinese immigrants. the stories deal with race, class, sexuality, family, and a score of other topics that a teen girl might encounter in her short life.
as other reviews pointed out, the stories are very similar. while i think Zhang is a strong writer of voice, all of the narrators kinda have the same one? the exception is the last story. that story follows the same narrator as the first story, "We Love You Crispina", but she is mostly an adult in the last story, rather than 11, which is how old she is in the first one. other than that, they do start to all sound similar. this would have maybe worked better as a novel-in-stories, or if she played with a structure like that, rather than attempting to make these distinct short stories/characters. though i will say, i really enjoyed how these are loosely linked–the narrator of the first and last story is mentioned in every other story.
my favorite stories were:
- We Love You Crispina
- Why Were They Throwing Bricks?
- Our Mothers Before Them
Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, and Cursing
ayesha1816's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Very strong trigger warnings for a LOT of stuff throughout/
Graphic: Rape, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Gore, Emotional abuse, Blood, War, and Torture
Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide
This book is very violent and graphic, just a warning.edgwareviabank's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The weight of love and family ties dominates these stories of disoriented children and parents, struggling with past trauma from the Chinese Cultural Revolution and facing uncertain futures in the US. I have a soft spot for fiction that explores immigrants' fragmented identities, and this book delivers beautifully in that sense.
The author sets her characters in the same time and place by having their families share a room at the start of their lives in New York. This detail gets the most space in the first story and brief mentions in the others, and while the stories wouldn't be any less powerful without it, I didn't mind it, as I enjoy the thrill of finding the connection between different pieces in a short story collection.
There is a strong sense throughout the book that the children narrating the stories are growing up too fast, striving to keep up with their peers (who have been steeped in American culture for longer but are far from role models), or keeping their needs and feelings in checks as their parents navigate precarious living situations and emotional breakdowns. This leads to the "obscene" side to "Sour Heart", and while the book's dark humour wouldn't be as effective without the kids' consistently foul language, two of the stories have peer pressure escalate into a level of violence some readers may be less comfortable with.
My favourite stories: "We Love You Crispina", "Our Mothers Before Them", "The Evolution Of My Brother".
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual violence, and Torture