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elee2013's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love these historical, not quite fantasy, mature and complex stories that YC writes! And her audio narration is always top notch — her voice is beautiful, the pacing fits perfectly, and of course, her bilingualism is excellent.
Snow, our main character, is curious, clever, and occasionally foolish, like any good fox spirit. She’s experienced a horrible thing, and she’s set out on a quest for revenge, but she can’t help being a good fox along the way. I love her interactions with people, and her internal monologue is charming.
Bao’s story is a sweet counterpart to Snow’s — as he follows along behind on her trail, we learn more about Snow from outside perspectives, and the events preceding the beginning of the novel. His relationship with Taktah (sp?) is cute too!
YC paces her books in the way I like best — it starts slowly, from far away, but as the end comes closer and closer, it speeds up to fly by you like a train. It’s never good to have too many foxes in one place!
Snow, our main character, is curious, clever, and occasionally foolish, like any good fox spirit. She’s experienced a horrible thing, and she’s set out on a quest for revenge, but she can’t help being a good fox along the way. I love her interactions with people, and her internal monologue is charming.
Bao’s story is a sweet counterpart to Snow’s — as he follows along behind on her trail, we learn more about Snow from outside perspectives, and the events preceding the beginning of the novel. His relationship with Taktah (sp?) is cute too!
YC paces her books in the way I like best — it starts slowly, from far away, but as the end comes closer and closer, it speeds up to fly by you like a train. It’s never good to have too many foxes in one place!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Grief
Minor: Violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury
darcerenity's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The characters are delightful. The comedy of errors is entertaining without injuring suspension of disbelief. Yuki's commentary on the nature and culture of foxes is pitch perfect. The mystery is... really more about seeing how the stories overlap than figuring out a culprit, and that's nice for a change of pace, too. The romances are bittersweet and touching. The time and place are present and influence the atmosphere and events but aren't overly assertive. I didn't want to stop reading and I can't think of a single complaint. I loved this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Trafficking
kaydot's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Suicide, Child death, and Violence
bibliomich's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
I requested an ARC of The Fox Wife after reading an excerpt in NetGalley's BuzzBooks sampler. I was instantly captivated by Choo's beautiful prose, as well as the world she created.
Both of these elements continued to be two of my favorite aspects of The Fox Wife, an ambitious novel with a tremendously large cast of characters, alternating POV chapters, and multiple timelines, all of which culminated in a dramatic conclusion.
I'll admit, this novel was a challenge to read. The every-other-chapter shifts between Snow's first-person narration and Bao's third-person perspective were a little jarring. Additionally, there were so many characters and details to keep track of. I felt that I needed to be taking notes as I went along. With that said, I loved Choo's style of writing, and I was intrigued by the story the whole way through. Without giving anything away, I will also add that I loved the resolution and was quite happy with the direction the author chose to take the story in the end.
What I loved:
- Choo's incredible storytelling abilities and beautiful writing
- the fox folklore, and the way it was seamlessly woven into the story
- the ending
- Yangsze Choo's lovely narration of the audiobook
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy!
Both of these elements continued to be two of my favorite aspects of The Fox Wife, an ambitious novel with a tremendously large cast of characters, alternating POV chapters, and multiple timelines, all of which culminated in a dramatic conclusion.
I'll admit, this novel was a challenge to read. The every-other-chapter shifts between Snow's first-person narration and Bao's third-person perspective were a little jarring. Additionally, there were so many characters and details to keep track of. I felt that I needed to be taking notes as I went along. With that said, I loved Choo's style of writing, and I was intrigued by the story the whole way through. Without giving anything away, I will also add that I loved the resolution and was quite happy with the direction the author chose to take the story in the end.
What I loved:
- Choo's incredible storytelling abilities and beautiful writing
- the fox folklore, and the way it was seamlessly woven into the story
- the ending
- Yangsze Choo's lovely narration of the audiobook
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced copy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Classism, Physical abuse, and Death
Minor: Violence and Murder
queergoth_reads's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.5
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley but all thoughts are my own.
This was an incredibly crafted tale. It's slow and steady and I was entranced by it. It is a tale of grief and vengeance and mystery. It was a heavy read at points but also fun and mysterious. The blending of Chinese fox mythology with a detective novel was so well done.
All the characters had such incredibly rich stores, even when they were a small part of the book and I think that really brought a lot of it to life.
This was an incredibly crafted tale. It's slow and steady and I was entranced by it. It is a tale of grief and vengeance and mystery. It was a heavy read at points but also fun and mysterious. The blending of Chinese fox mythology with a detective novel was so well done.
All the characters had such incredibly rich stores, even when they were a small part of the book and I think that really brought a lot of it to life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Child death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Medical content, Confinement, and Misogyny
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
THE FOX WIFE is a story of grief and reconnection, telling a small section in the life of a fox named Snow whose child was killed for the sake of a photographer's art.
Snow is a thoughtful narrator, relaying her contemporaneous thoughts as best as she can, but sometimes hinting at the trajectory of events that haven't quite transpired in the narrative. She is grieving her child, and leaves the grasslands to track down the photographer who desired a fox pelt as a prop for his photos. Snow's perspective is alternated with that of an amateur investigator, Bao, who has been able to sense lies ever since his nanny prayed to a fox spirit during a childhood illness of his. Contrasting with Snow's chronological telling of events, the sections following Bao connect pieces of the narrative on a thematic level. Some deal with his childhood, particularly his friendship with a courtesan's daughter. Others follow him in his twilight years, contemporaneous to Snow's telling, with a whole life and marriage behind him, using his lie-sensing abilities to solve mysteries for people. What begins as an attempt to identify a dead woman turns into a meandering quest into rumors of foxes, and one particular woman who disappeared from a walled garden.
The worldbuilding is relayed through conversation and Snow's observations, as well as Bao's thoughts. Snow tends to explain a fox's perspective on human things a contemporaneous reader could be expected to know, which works neatly to give insights into both Snow and the historical setting. There's an attention to the ways that women and girls are restricted for the sake of men's whims. The narrative is filled with wives, concubines, courtesans, and even girl-children who are treated according to their future matrimonial prospects (or lack thereof). Even Snow is most often called a nickname based on being the third servant to work for her eventual mistress. She is wary of male foxes, as human sexism translates into easier lives for them and more danger for her if she's caught up in their schemes.
The three narrative strands weave together to tell a complete story. I was able to figure out many connections and identities by having access to all three perspectives. Bao, the detective was usually the last one to figure out exactly what fox-related thing was happening, but that's because he doesn't know if transforming foxes (like Snow) are real. Snow, for her part, isn't ready to talk about the more painful aspects of her recent history, so the reader must piece together what happened before the book started by combining what Bao finds with what Snow tells of foxes. It had a mystery feel without being an outright whodunnit for the reader.
I know a book is great when it heavily features a theme I dislike or personally don't relate to but I love it anyway. Anyone who can make me love a book about being a grieving mother has done something very special. It handles this topic with care, gradually saying more of what happened to her child as Snow is able to process her grief. I was drawn back to it, finishing it in less than a week as I needed to know what would happen next. A third of the way in there was a plot point that in other books would have been wrapping things up, but instead the narrative blossomed in unexpected and very welcome ways. I would happily read more with Snow (or any other foxes) if the opportunity presented itself, but this story feels complete and is very satisfying.
THE FOX WIFE is a story of grief and reconnection, telling a small section in the life of a fox named Snow whose child was killed for the sake of a photographer's art.
Snow is a thoughtful narrator, relaying her contemporaneous thoughts as best as she can, but sometimes hinting at the trajectory of events that haven't quite transpired in the narrative. She is grieving her child, and leaves the grasslands to track down the photographer who desired a fox pelt as a prop for his photos. Snow's perspective is alternated with that of an amateur investigator, Bao, who has been able to sense lies ever since his nanny prayed to a fox spirit during a childhood illness of his. Contrasting with Snow's chronological telling of events, the sections following Bao connect pieces of the narrative on a thematic level. Some deal with his childhood, particularly his friendship with a courtesan's daughter. Others follow him in his twilight years, contemporaneous to Snow's telling, with a whole life and marriage behind him, using his lie-sensing abilities to solve mysteries for people. What begins as an attempt to identify a dead woman turns into a meandering quest into rumors of foxes, and one particular woman who disappeared from a walled garden.
The worldbuilding is relayed through conversation and Snow's observations, as well as Bao's thoughts. Snow tends to explain a fox's perspective on human things a contemporaneous reader could be expected to know, which works neatly to give insights into both Snow and the historical setting. There's an attention to the ways that women and girls are restricted for the sake of men's whims. The narrative is filled with wives, concubines, courtesans, and even girl-children who are treated according to their future matrimonial prospects (or lack thereof). Even Snow is most often called a nickname based on being the third servant to work for her eventual mistress. She is wary of male foxes, as human sexism translates into easier lives for them and more danger for her if she's caught up in their schemes.
The three narrative strands weave together to tell a complete story. I was able to figure out many connections and identities by having access to all three perspectives. Bao, the detective was usually the last one to figure out exactly what fox-related thing was happening, but that's because he doesn't know if transforming foxes (like Snow) are real. Snow, for her part, isn't ready to talk about the more painful aspects of her recent history, so the reader must piece together what happened before the book started by combining what Bao finds with what Snow tells of foxes. It had a mystery feel without being an outright whodunnit for the reader.
I know a book is great when it heavily features a theme I dislike or personally don't relate to but I love it anyway. Anyone who can make me love a book about being a grieving mother has done something very special. It handles this topic with care, gradually saying more of what happened to her child as Snow is able to process her grief. I was drawn back to it, finishing it in less than a week as I needed to know what would happen next. A third of the way in there was a plot point that in other books would have been wrapping things up, but instead the narrative blossomed in unexpected and very welcome ways. I would happily read more with Snow (or any other foxes) if the opportunity presented itself, but this story feels complete and is very satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, Sexual content, Trafficking, Misogyny, Blood, Sexism, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
Minor: Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Child abuse
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