Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

8 reviews

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

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

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

juliej0715's review

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was so interesting and different for me. Everything is fantastical.
The beginning really hooks you in. Then the writing style takes some getting used to. Probably the middle 30-45% was kinda tough to follow, because you can't tell if what she is describing is actually happening or not? But then you get in a groove with the style and you understand what's happening. Once you get into the main plot, it's so consuming. The stories really feed your imagination with bold imagery and it becomes really poetic and beautiful.

Not to be too punny with the front cover, but this book is w i l d. It was crazy and fun and enjoyable and you can't put it down. It's different and I would recommend it!

And the day after I finished it, I was thinking about it so much that I read the ending again. I considered reading the whole thing again to see if there were things I missed, but the library book was due.

The story is pretty complicated to explain to anyone, so I convinced a friend to read it so I can actually discuss it with someone!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gore, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Suicide attempt

meganzc's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

sucreslibrary's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit