Reviews

Gods of Want: Stories by K-Ming Chang

nickoliver's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

It took me a while to finish this, partly  because I've been in a horrible reading slump for like a month and a half, and partly because the paragraphs were sometimes a bit big and I could not soldier on too quickly. Overall, I enjoyed the stories a lot, but they were also very confusing at times and left me wanting more explanations (even though I did understand, at the same time, why I didn't get those). 

nlusson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

subwayscenne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

beowulf's review

One of the best short story collections I've read so far. Excited to read K-Ming Chang's novels and see if they're just as good.

mestockamp's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad

3.75

gdenav's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

culpeppper's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

I really liked some of the stories in this, particularly on the front half of the book, but my overall favorites were The Chorus of Dead Cousins and Moths: Resident Aliens that really stand out in my mind. There's a lot of different things going on in these stories, but certain aspects in either theme, setting, or symbolism wove the stories together in a really neat way. The latter half of the book was less exciting to me, but the experience of listening to this on audiobook was still fun even when I wasn't sure what was actually going on in a story. They chose some really great readers and their performances enhanced the experience a lot. So while I might have been more critical if I had read it with my eyes rather than ears, this was just a really good audio book for me :)

pastelhellion's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

An interesting short story collection. A few of these were fantastic and I would read a novella or full book dedicated to them. But there are a few that I didn't connect with as well. 

However, I really enjoyed the themes of family, queerness, sibling love and myths that are present throughout. 

dialhforhgai's review against another edition

5.0

“Fire is a form of memory, she says: Smoke is what survives after loss, what is inhaled by the sky and recycled into night.”

felifirefly's review against another edition

3.0

Some really great stories, some stories I already forgot about while listening to them.
It might have been better had I read it on paper instead of doing the audiobook, because I might have missed some connections this way and couldn’t turn back the pages to make sure.
Overall, not a bad collection at all, but many stories just weren’t for me. This is weird fiction (which I usually like), so maybe not for everyone. But if you want to read some great queer fiction from an Asian American POV you should give this one a try.