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daniofthewood's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Murder, Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Racism
Minor: Cancer
nannahnannah's review against another edition
DNF @ 11%
I actually picked this up because of all the information about how tea is picked, made, brewed, etc., so I knew what I was getting into there. Unfortunately I had no idea (and no warning!) about the novel’s horrific ableism or its condescending and strange attitude toward the Akha people.
I’ll get the ableism over with first, because it’s the easiest to address. I’m always reminded how much we really need to add content warnings to the beginning of books (like we do to movies, video games, etc.), here especially because within the first 30 pages I was thrown into an intense anxiety attack. Granted, the ableism is in-book and obviously not Lisa See’s views, but reading things like, “If human rejects [disabled people or twins] are allowed to do the intercourse, over time an entire village might end up inhabited by only them,” and reading characters learn how disabled babies must be murdered (and the parents banished and their home burned) really does a number on my self worth. No, this is not necessarily a critique of the book. I’m mentioning in case anyone else who needs this warning can maybe see it.
But the quote I used brings me to my second point. Lisa See is Chinese-American, but as far as I know, she isn’t Akhan, an ethnic minority group in China. She may have researched a lot, and that comes through in her writing, but so does a really strange attitude toward the Akha. Why is their dialogue so stilted, when, flipping through the rest of the book, the dialogue by American people and even the MC after she emigrates to America obviously doesn’t match?
It’s also … hard to explain, but there’s an attitude pervasive through her writing that paints the Akha as such a backward, almost barbaric people with such obvious distaste that it’s really uncomfortable to read. I'm not Chinese, though, so I may be getting this all wrong. And I’m not sure if this attitude changes, but I’m just not ready to read nearly four hundred pages of it.
I actually picked this up because of all the information about how tea is picked, made, brewed, etc., so I knew what I was getting into there. Unfortunately I had no idea (and no warning!) about the novel’s horrific ableism or its condescending and strange attitude toward the Akha people.
I’ll get the ableism over with first, because it’s the easiest to address. I’m always reminded how much we really need to add content warnings to the beginning of books (like we do to movies, video games, etc.), here especially because within the first 30 pages I was thrown into an intense anxiety attack. Granted, the ableism is in-book and obviously not Lisa See’s views, but reading things like, “If human rejects [disabled people or twins] are allowed to do the intercourse, over time an entire village might end up inhabited by only them,” and reading characters learn how disabled babies must be murdered (and the parents banished and their home burned) really does a number on my self worth. No, this is not necessarily a critique of the book. I’m mentioning in case anyone else who needs this warning can maybe see it.
But the quote I used brings me to my second point. Lisa See is Chinese-American, but as far as I know, she isn’t Akhan, an ethnic minority group in China. She may have researched a lot, and that comes through in her writing, but so does a really strange attitude toward the Akha. Why is their dialogue so stilted, when, flipping through the rest of the book, the dialogue by American people and even the MC after she emigrates to America obviously doesn’t match?
It’s also … hard to explain, but there’s an attitude pervasive through her writing that paints the Akha as such a backward, almost barbaric people with such obvious distaste that it’s really uncomfortable to read. I'm not Chinese, though, so I may be getting this all wrong. And I’m not sure if this attitude changes, but I’m just not ready to read nearly four hundred pages of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Ableism
also: infanticidesoupwife's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Ableism and Sexism
Lisa See always impresses. I read Island of Sea Women last year and sought out more of her work. This book is beautiful and captivating, I finished it in just a couple days. While some wish the end was more fleshed out I thought the ending was perfect and is has stuck with me since finishing the book. Sensitive readers should be warned that especially in the first half of the book there is quite a bit of violence including (non detailed spoiler ahead)
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