Scan barcode
ioannap_author's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.25
"The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo is a beautiful story of longing revenge, second chances, and grief. We follow two characters as their individual journeys bring their respective stories closer to each other, chapter by chapter. The first one is narrated by Snow, a fox spirit, who is attempting to locate and kill a photographer who she blames for her child's death. Meanwhile, the second narrative follows Bao, a private investigator who is tasked to identify a mysterious courtesan who was found frozen to death one night. The dual POVs are a mix of first and third-person narratives, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a format.
I have often said that the books that make the deepest impact on me are those I take longer to read. "The Fox Wife" is one of those books. It took me nearly two weeks to finish because it was so full of messages, and it had much to teach me. It didn’t feel like that when I was reading, but after I stopped and considered all it offered me, my mind needed time. Part of the learning was the lore and history of a part of the world that I know very little about. The story in early 1900s, Manchuria and the characters travel to Japan for a while, too. It gave me a tiny window into women's history of that time, their rights and difficulties, the objectification of courtesans who are bound to prostitution by debt and the revolutionary ideas that began bubbling at that time. All of these led me to my own research on Chinese history.
The folklore part of the book was more familiar to me, but I had never read a book about foxes. I thought the choice of the narrative and associations made between the female foxes, who can transform into extraordinary beautiful women, and courtesans was fascinating. Beautiful girls were lured into traps by handsome men, who promised them marriage and a family, only to betray them by selling them to prostitution. Foxes are hunted by men for their beauty, too, and their lore is filled with stories of horrible seductresses who destroy men's sanity. Putting these together brought me to one question: Why is female beauty vilified? The beautiful men who seduce girls away from their families are never judged in the story. The male foxes, equally maddeningly attractive, escape it too.
This hunting of women is how Snow's story begins, as a man approaches her, tries to befriend her for the purpose of selling her. Snow herself comments how his expression worsens as she reveals information about herself and lowers her market value.
The hunt never stops either. Even Bao is hunting for a woman, first to identify the dead courtesan's identity, then to locate another mysterious courtesan who disappeared from a mansion, leaving a desperate man behind her, and above all for Tagtaa, his childhood sweetheart, who was taken out of his life so violently.
"The Fox Wife" is full of reflections. One that I especially loved was the mirroring between Tagtaa's reconnection with Bao and Snow's with Kuro. Although different circumstances separated them, we saw two love stories that had been violently severed, but fate brought them back together. It is such a hopeful message that these second chances are allowed, at least in fiction and, sometimes, in real life, too.
The book has many side characters and plots, and I personally appreciate that the reader doesn't get to see all of their resolutions. The secondary character that I personally enjoyed exploring the most was Shiro, the white male fox who crosses paths with Snow and is most likely the reason the courtesan that Bao tries to identify froze to death. His story is also one of longing love and family, even though his desire for them is shallow. His loneliness pulses all around him. He is surrounded by people who don't understand him, and he sees no value in any of them. His devoid of emotions encounters have exhausted him, but that same element also stops him from trying to change his ways and find more meaningful relationships. Snow and Tagtaa's relationship is an example that there can be deeper emotional connections between foxes and humans.
A beautifully written novel! An endearing story of longing, second chances, and the journey of grief and reconciliation.
I have often said that the books that make the deepest impact on me are those I take longer to read. "The Fox Wife" is one of those books. It took me nearly two weeks to finish because it was so full of messages, and it had much to teach me. It didn’t feel like that when I was reading, but after I stopped and considered all it offered me, my mind needed time. Part of the learning was the lore and history of a part of the world that I know very little about. The story in early 1900s, Manchuria and the characters travel to Japan for a while, too. It gave me a tiny window into women's history of that time, their rights and difficulties, the objectification of courtesans who are bound to prostitution by debt and the revolutionary ideas that began bubbling at that time. All of these led me to my own research on Chinese history.
The folklore part of the book was more familiar to me, but I had never read a book about foxes. I thought the choice of the narrative and associations made between the female foxes, who can transform into extraordinary beautiful women, and courtesans was fascinating. Beautiful girls were lured into traps by handsome men, who promised them marriage and a family, only to betray them by selling them to prostitution. Foxes are hunted by men for their beauty, too, and their lore is filled with stories of horrible seductresses who destroy men's sanity. Putting these together brought me to one question: Why is female beauty vilified? The beautiful men who seduce girls away from their families are never judged in the story. The male foxes, equally maddeningly attractive, escape it too.
This hunting of women is how Snow's story begins, as a man approaches her, tries to befriend her for the purpose of selling her. Snow herself comments how his expression worsens as she reveals information about herself and lowers her market value.
The hunt never stops either. Even Bao is hunting for a woman, first to identify the dead courtesan's identity, then to locate another mysterious courtesan who disappeared from a mansion, leaving a desperate man behind her, and above all for Tagtaa, his childhood sweetheart, who was taken out of his life so violently.
"The Fox Wife" is full of reflections. One that I especially loved was the mirroring between Tagtaa's reconnection with Bao and Snow's with Kuro. Although different circumstances separated them, we saw two love stories that had been violently severed, but fate brought them back together. It is such a hopeful message that these second chances are allowed, at least in fiction and, sometimes, in real life, too.
The book has many side characters and plots, and I personally appreciate that the reader doesn't get to see all of their resolutions. The secondary character that I personally enjoyed exploring the most was Shiro, the white male fox who crosses paths with Snow and is most likely the reason the courtesan that Bao tries to identify froze to death. His story is also one of longing love and family, even though his desire for them is shallow. His loneliness pulses all around him. He is surrounded by people who don't understand him, and he sees no value in any of them. His devoid of emotions encounters have exhausted him, but that same element also stops him from trying to change his ways and find more meaningful relationships. Snow and Tagtaa's relationship is an example that there can be deeper emotional connections between foxes and humans.
A beautifully written novel! An endearing story of longing, second chances, and the journey of grief and reconciliation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
storyorc's review
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.5
Yangsze Choo continues to excel at picking interesting (and, to Western eyes, niche) subject matter, drawing up 3-4 compelling characters, and wrapping it all in a page-turning mystery. I was able to guess at enough to keep me engaged while still being surprised at some twists and turns. I also applaud the author's sense of when to let a plot thread or narrative goal go. Choo doesn't dwell in details to wrap everything up nicely; she seems to be aware of exactly where the pull of her story is (the foxes) and keep the focus and momentum there.
Snow, Bao, Tagtaa, and Shiro are wonderful, willful, and, in Shiro's case, wicked. Scenes with two or more of them together always had me leaning in. The only shortcoming of the book is that Kuro's reserved nature, along with the choice to leave his part in Snow's history ambiguous until the ending, left him lagging dangerously close to a quiet, stoic stereotype. In any other book, his gentle charm and seeing his effect on other humans would have been enough to carry him but he pales next to his vibrant castmates. This made it difficult to be fully invested in his part of the ending.
Most impressive, is how Choo makes her foxes feel human enough to love but Other enough that the reader feels it would be unwise to relax in Snow's chapters. Whenever Snow is just starting to feel like a woman you might know, she is compelled by foxish curiosity to do something reckless, makes an offhand mention of a close call two centuries ago, or scales a sheer wall and runs across a roof. Even her tendency dangle a tidbit of her history in front of the reader only to say she'll fill us in later, while annoying, feels very much like a predator playing coy with its food. Their literal magical influence is almost superfluous. No matter how many times the narrative suggested, or Snow explicitly said, not to follow Shiro, his antics and daring, paired with those glimpses of honest yearning, still made him my favourite character. My only complaint in this department is that they spend almost no time in their fox forms!
(One thing I can't explain is why Choo alternates between first person for Snow and third for Bao, unless it is simply to enforce the fact that Snow is the protagonist. Hopefully someone else can posit a theory in their review.)
Snow, Bao, Tagtaa, and Shiro are wonderful, willful, and, in Shiro's case, wicked. Scenes with two or more of them together always had me leaning in. The only shortcoming of the book is that Kuro's reserved nature, along with the choice to leave his part in Snow's history ambiguous until the ending, left him lagging dangerously close to a quiet, stoic stereotype. In any other book, his gentle charm and seeing his effect on other humans would have been enough to carry him but he pales next to his vibrant castmates. This made it difficult to be fully invested in his part of the ending.
Most impressive, is how Choo makes her foxes feel human enough to love but Other enough that the reader feels it would be unwise to relax in Snow's chapters. Whenever Snow is just starting to feel like a woman you might know, she is compelled by foxish curiosity to do something reckless, makes an offhand mention of a close call two centuries ago, or scales a sheer wall and runs across a roof. Even her tendency dangle a tidbit of her history in front of the reader only to say she'll fill us in later, while annoying, feels very much like a predator playing coy with its food. Their literal magical influence is almost superfluous. No matter how many times the narrative suggested, or Snow explicitly said, not to follow Shiro, his antics and daring, paired with those glimpses of honest yearning, still made him my favourite character. My only complaint in this department is that they spend almost no time in their fox forms!
(One thing I can't explain is why Choo alternates between first person for Snow and third for Bao, unless it is simply to enforce the fact that Snow is the protagonist. Hopefully someone else can posit a theory in their review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment
public_nuisance's review
emotional
fast-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? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed this book. I found myself really rooting and worrying for the main characters and their relationships. I really enjoyed the storytelling and how the two main characters end up weaving together so much.
Where this loses (very few) points, is that the author can be very "tell, not show" at times and when the two characters are in the same place, the storytelling gets a bit confusing.
Where this loses (very few) points, is that the author can be very "tell, not show" at times and when the two characters are in the same place, the storytelling gets a bit confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
snorinlauren411's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Death
writingbugtop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Grief, and Murder
heini's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Grief, Confinement, Sexual harassment, and Child death
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
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
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
gladiolus17's review against another edition
I’m really not feeling it. I came in invested, but the pace is slow with hazy direction. I think Yangsze Choo is just not the author for me. Choo is a great audiobook narrator, though!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
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
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.
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