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mec8337's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I chose this as part of a reading challenge I am doing, and like with most books outside of my comfort zone, I was nervous I wouldn’t like it too much. Surprise surprise - I loved it! The Fox Wife is a unique blend of historical fiction/mystery slash folklore, and I learned a lot about Chinese legends surrounding foxes as well as early 19th century Chinese culture in general.
It was a large cast of characters but they were well-thought out and came to life. Yangsze Choo’s prose is simply beautiful and I found myself hooked.
It was a large cast of characters but they were well-thought out and came to life. Yangsze Choo’s prose is simply beautiful and I found myself hooked.
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
shannasbooksnhooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
mhkennadixon's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
melhara's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
This was such a slow, quiet, and beautifully written character-driven historical fiction with a bit of magical realism inspired by the East Asian mythology of fox spirits.
Set in 1908 Manchuria and Japan, the story follows two characters in alternating POVs:
1. Snow Hu or "Ah-San" - a fox with the ability to appear human and exert a certain level of influence on humans. We follow Snow's journey of travelling across Manchuria and Japan to hunt down the man responsible for the death of her child. She does all this while also trying to keep her identity a secret as various regions in Asia regard foxes differently (some worship foxes while others regard foxes as bad omens).
2. Bao - an investigator with the ability to detect lies. He's been hired to find the identity of a Jane Doe. The more he investigates the matter, the more he discovers strange occurrences involving foxes, which brings up childhood memories and an interest to investigate further.
Set in 1908 Manchuria and Japan, the story follows two characters in alternating POVs:
1. Snow Hu or "Ah-San" - a fox with the ability to appear human and exert a certain level of influence on humans. We follow Snow's journey of travelling across Manchuria and Japan to hunt down the man responsible for the death of her child. She does all this while also trying to keep her identity a secret as various regions in Asia regard foxes differently (some worship foxes while others regard foxes as bad omens).
2. Bao - an investigator with the ability to detect lies. He's been hired to find the identity of a Jane Doe. The more he investigates the matter, the more he discovers strange occurrences involving foxes, which brings up childhood memories and an interest to investigate further.
"Be careful. Not all foxes mean well."
"But are they not gods, or at least spirits?"
"It depends on what you want to believe. What's important is the ability to tell truth from lies... Or perhaps truth from what's merely hope."
I really enjoyed the quiet wisdom that Snow imparts, the mysteriousness and etherealness of foxes, and the delightful coincidences that bring Bao closer to his childhood friend - it's all woven together in such a seamless and beautiful way.
On a side note, as a Chinese reader, I loved that the book included the Chinese meanings of some of the names (and the Chinese characters in the Notes section at the end of the book) which really helped me ensure that I used the right tones when reading out the names (for example the author clearly indicated that one of the character's name was "Chunhua" as in "spring flower" which was incredibly helpful so that I didn't have to guess which "Chun" and which "hua" to use when I'm reading the book).
I also found the margins used for this book quite interesting. I don't think I've ever read a book with footnotes on the left/right margins. The author notes that they originally intended for there to be a lot more footnotes but ultimately cut it down (thank goodness!). However, I have to admit that I do prefer having the footnotes located along the side of the pages rather than in the footer. For readers who like to annotate their books, this book is formatted perfectly for just that.
Recommended for fans of Madeline Miller, Nghi Vo and Usotoki Rhetoric (by Ritsu Miyako)
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy
tassaria's review
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
4.25
mar10flo's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
samanthamanz's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? No
5.0
mitskacir's review
3.0
I love Choo’s other books so much that I was so excited to get my hands on this one. And unfortunately I was quite disappointed.
It has a lot of good things about it: Choo reads the audiobook as usual and I love her voice; the way she weaves historical fiction and folklore together is so interesting; she continues to be one of the best examples of fantasy in an Asian setting that genuinely feels Asian and not just a backdrop; she keeps you reading with the suspense of finding out what happens.
However, this book had a lot more cons than her others: while I didn’t mind listening to the book because of the great narration and good writing, the plot is slow and meandering; I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters as much - we are dropped into the middle of the plot line and bits are revealed as we read, but I think the lack of exposition harmed my ability to understand the characters, especially Snow; maybe I was an inattentive reader, but a lot of the mysteries were left unexplained!!
If you’re into Choo and want a good audiobook, I wouldn’t dissuade you from this. But if this is your first Choo book please don’t discount her other ones!
It has a lot of good things about it: Choo reads the audiobook as usual and I love her voice; the way she weaves historical fiction and folklore together is so interesting; she continues to be one of the best examples of fantasy in an Asian setting that genuinely feels Asian and not just a backdrop; she keeps you reading with the suspense of finding out what happens.
However, this book had a lot more cons than her others: while I didn’t mind listening to the book because of the great narration and good writing, the plot is slow and meandering; I didn’t feel like I connected with the characters as much - we are dropped into the middle of the plot line and bits are revealed as we read, but I think the lack of exposition harmed my ability to understand the characters, especially Snow; maybe I was an inattentive reader, but a lot of the mysteries were left unexplained!!
If you’re into Choo and want a good audiobook, I wouldn’t dissuade you from this. But if this is your first Choo book please don’t discount her other ones!