Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

11 reviews

mirissab's review

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was not what I was expecting, but it was ultimately worth my time despite it taking me three attempts to start it. My niche is books that are multi-generational (preferably matrilineal) with a little history weaved through it. This book captures all of that but with more magic and surrealism sprinkled in.  While beautifully written with poetic prose and melancholic storylines, I found it perhaps a little too fantastical for my personal preference. I appreciate the layers and complexity of the characters and storylines even though I would say there wasn't much of a (fast-moving) plot: the harsh realities of being an immigrant in the USA, what makes or breaks a family, how history shapes the present, and how we are capable of more than we know (both good and bad). This book made me feel like I understood nothing and everything at the same time. It was oftentimes confusing and I felt like I was missing something, but I could likely attribute at least a part of it to my ignorance (for example, I'm not that great with symbolism). 

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jess_18's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-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

4.5

was so weird but i thought it was great. the mother daughter relationships shown got to me. definitely not for everyone 

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chichio's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

5.0

Before all else, K-Ming Chang is a poet and that fact is made obvious throughout this entire novel. I can’t even put into words how amazing the prose is; without being convoluted and impossible to follow, K-Ming Chang writes a vulgar, mythical story about generational trauma, the ugliness and the unreliability of the human body and mind, family dynamics, the violent hunger of love, and the plight of moving away from one’s home (country or building) to try and survive in another. 

You can just tell that K-Ming Chang writes poetry and short stories because on a line-by-line level, this book is unbelievable. I genuinely believe that not one line, not one word, is wasted. Given that this is a work of magical realism, the whole narrative is an extended metaphor but every single paragraph holds its very own unique, contained metaphor and I found myself highlighting damn-near every single page. This is one of those books that you have to stick with. Even while I’m writing this review, I acknowledge that this book really isn’t for everyone. There isn’t a traditional plot. Instead, K-Ming Chang presents a non-linear narrative following three main speakers–Daughter, Mother, and Grandmother–and conveys the complexities of their relationships through traditional Taiwanese myths. Although the female relationships take centre stage in this story, I really enjoyed how she spoke of the men, of how they were physically present but absent in all the ways that mattered, in ways that aggravated the female relationships, souring them in some instances, strengthening them in others. All this comes together to create a crass, strange story that speaks on a very relatable and real truth: it’s not easy to escape your lineage. 

Some of my favourite quotes: 

  
You don’t know about gold, about grieving what you could have owned. Your grandmother’s grief has grown its own body. She raises it like another child, one she loves better than me and my sister, one that can never leave her.

I’ll home him better than any country.

My husband is gone in the head and your father is gone everywhere else. She said men were synonymous with missing.

I remembered watching families in restaurants fighting to pay a bill, and maybe that was what Meng and Jiang were fighting over: a bill they were too proud to let the other take. To say a daughter is a debt they could afford to pay.

once when you were little I said you could love your father or your mother but you had to pick one the one you love is your leash the other is a house you burn down
 
I understand animals that eat their runts. Better to swallow them back into your body than let them be taken, buried outside of you. 
  
You define a daughter as something done to you at night without your permission 

 

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nixusiai's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.75

a beautifully written book on intergenerational trauma, and the way it cycles until someone makes an effort to break it! it also features a lot on what it's like to leave your home for the colonised countries, the beastification of people of colour, and how this effects all of the family well down the line. 

i absolutely adored the way k-ming chang wrote and formatted this. the juxtaposition of the almost flower prose versus the language used is just stunning!! loved the relationship between daughter and ben, too.

the final two chapters made it fall from a high 4☆ but i have a feeling that's mostly because it began to lean into the poetic & magical side and i didn't fully understand.

really recommend though! beautiful, especially for a debut!

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svmreads's review against another edition

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

4.25


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stevie's review

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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meganzc's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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catladycarson's review

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book was not for me. I felt like I was missing backstory of the myths referenced and I spent more of the book confused than understanding. It also was extremely graphic, with almost unstopping references to excrement and violence. Overall, I personally didn't enjoy it but I do think it does have some wonderful descriptors at times, and I liked the mythical stories told throughout.

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sucreslibrary's review

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challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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elizabethreading's review against another edition

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