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bookbih42069's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual violence
hamohero's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Blood, Child death, Animal death, Addiction, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug use, Toxic friendship, Classism, Vomit, Infidelity, and Mental illness
gingermouse's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal death
internationalreads's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Murder, Child death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, and Injury/Injury detail
graculus's review
4.0
Having read and enjoyed on of this author's previous books (The Ghost Bride, which has also been adapted into a limited series by Netflix), not to mention the description given of this one, I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy The Fox Wife and I was 100% correct. In the interests of full disclosure, I'd also read her other book (The Night Tiger) which didn't quite work for me, so it was always possible I'd be wrong.
Unlike the previous two books, which were take place in 1930's Malaya, The Fox Wife is set in the end days of the Qing dynasty (around 1910), with much of the action taking place in Manchuria or Japan. It's a fairly slow-moving story of two main characters, one told in first person (our eponymous fox, Snow) and the other in third person (the elderly Bao, who works as an enquiry agent and is looking for a missing woman after another woman is found frozen to death on a restaurant doorstep). Eventually the two storylines collide and discoveries are made, especially as Snow is not the only fox in the narrative and Bao's own life experience comes to play a major part.
I really enjoyed reading it and found the world-building convincing, so I'm glad I requested it and have already recommended it to people asking for historical fantasy (the fantastic element being the reality of foxes and many of the myths about them being true). Not sure what this author has planned next, as I don't think this book is due out till early 2024, but I look forward to checking it out.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
Unlike the previous two books, which were take place in 1930's Malaya, The Fox Wife is set in the end days of the Qing dynasty (around 1910), with much of the action taking place in Manchuria or Japan. It's a fairly slow-moving story of two main characters, one told in first person (our eponymous fox, Snow) and the other in third person (the elderly Bao, who works as an enquiry agent and is looking for a missing woman after another woman is found frozen to death on a restaurant doorstep). Eventually the two storylines collide and discoveries are made, especially as Snow is not the only fox in the narrative and Bao's own life experience comes to play a major part.
I really enjoyed reading it and found the world-building convincing, so I'm glad I requested it and have already recommended it to people asking for historical fantasy (the fantastic element being the reality of foxes and many of the myths about them being true). Not sure what this author has planned next, as I don't think this book is due out till early 2024, but I look forward to checking it out.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Animal cruelty
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
kayforpay's review
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Moderate: Child death and Fire/Fire injury
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