Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

13 reviews

mirissab's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Abandonment, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and War

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Racism

yinflower's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, War, Miscarriage, Violence, Body horror, and Sexual violence

Minor: Racial slurs and Animal death

kairhone's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Violence, and Excrement

Moderate: War and Sexual content

marioncromb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

A story of inheritance, cycles of violence, folk tales and animal magic. 
Earthy, visceral, soaked in piss, sweat and saliva

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gun violence, Sexism, Racism, Rape, Vomit, War, and Cannibalism

readingpicnic's review

5.0

I’ve never read a book with so much pissing in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Animal death, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Dementia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Excrement, Sexual assault, War, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, and Violence

maksipad's review

challenging emotional 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

3.75

I like weird books and this fits in that category for sure. The prose was absolutely beautiful and I really loved the story. However, it was also fairly slow and I could only read small chunks of the book before I had to put it back down for awhile. Also, as others have mentioned, there are manyyy bodily function references.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Abandonment, War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Dementia, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gore, Vomit, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

nixusiai's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Blood, and Colonisation

leah_alexandra's review

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a really strange and beautiful book. I didn’t love it, but I can appreciate it for what it was. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Xenophobia, Death, Violence, Vomit, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

abithereader's review against another edition

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Blood, and Excrement

stevie's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, War, Vomit, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Racism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, and Misogyny