Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

24 reviews

scmiller's review against another edition

hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Child abuse, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Grief, Hate crime, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

uranaishi's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Medical content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Murder

Minor: Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Trafficking, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Pedophilia, War, and Alcohol

skyebird16's review

adventurous informative mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Sexism, Murder, and Classism

lexcellent's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love this book so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Child death

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Trafficking, Suicide, Toxic friendship, War, Suicide attempt, Sexism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

inlaraland's review

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

I fell in love with Yangsze Choo as a writer when I first read “The Night Tiger”. Her ability to piece together a story with mysticism, emotion and intrigue is the reason why I knew that I would enjoy “The Fox Wife” even before I started reading it. “The Fox Wife” focuses on the legends of fox gods in ancient Chinese and Japanese folk lore. Our story has an alternating narration, with one perspective following Bao, a private investigator who has been assigned to investigate the murder of a woman, and the second following Snow, a fox who is seeking revenge on a hunter who murdered her child.

The story unravels slowly, like a ribbon coming apart, and reveals all the different parts surrounding this mystery. The characters all have such tender stories to tell, with the themes of love and grief intertwining between the suspense. The writing is also incredibly atmospheric, with every scene so beautifully detailed it plays with all your senses. One of my favorite things about this work particularly was how food imagery was used to describe the setting as well as the characters - some of the comparisons read so poetically. 

While the pacing of this novel is a bit slow, I found myself unable to put it down. I went on a journey with the characters, and I truly think that Yangsze Choo writes stories that are worthy for the big screen! I need an anime adaptation of this novel asap!

If you enjoy reading historical fiction, if you’re looking for a unique mystery or just love reading about folklores and myths, then I highly recommend checking out this novel!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief

madamenovelist's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual content

Minor: Xenophobia

kingsteph's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Pregnancy, Murder, Confinement, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Suicide

lindseys97's review

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Suicide

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! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Violence, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Animal death, and Fire/Fire injury

nukie19's review

adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Like her other books, Choo weaves Chinese fantasy and historical events for a beautifully written story about a Fox who is out to avenge the death of her daughter. This is a very slow burn novel that alternates viewpoints between Snow, the fox who spends most the story as a beautiful woman, and Bao, a detective investigating a murder but who has a long history of interest in foxes.

There are a lot of high points but overall I felt this novel falls short of the high expectations that Choo set with her first two novels. The alternating viewpoints take a very long time to come together even though the two big reveals are pretty well choreographed early. She also spends some time explaining the Chinese folklore as events transpire, which is great for context but occasionally is a bit disruptive. Overall, a solid read for those who enjoy magical realism, especially in historical contexts.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Animal death, Confinement, Alcohol, Death, Child death, Blood, and Grief