Reviews

Little Gods by Meng Jin

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lizmart88's review

emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a brilliant novel, and I devoured it! Wow, what a story. Meng Jin builds such a cool structure where we see someone (Su Lan) and their life without ever hearing from their own voice. The story is told from Su Lan's daughter Liya, now grappling with her mother's death when she is very young in her early twenties. And from Su Lan's former husband and Liya's father (unbeknownst to her) telling the story of his life. We also hear from Su Lan's former housemate who knew her for a few years.

The story is told not in linear fashion and it does such a good job of pivoting from person to person and across times. It felt like every scene was perfectly chosen to reveal something about the character.

Definitely recommend!

Content Warnings

nil033's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

mharris61's review

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reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

selena_b's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

sksrenninger's review against another edition

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4.0

Really lovely, absorbing story about who/where we come from; what it is to be or have a caregiver or a mother. Some reviewers mentioned the lack of quotation marks, but I didn't even notice them—obviously not a dealbreaker for me. Separately, I wonder at how accurate the physics is; I assume it's pretty accurate.

theeuphoriczat's review against another edition

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3.0

I have never heard of this book until I found it while browsing a bookstore. The synopsis sounded really good but I was not excepting what I got. (To avoid spoilers, i think the synopsis of this one is enough)

On the night of the Tiananmen Square massacre (the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest - a student-led demonstration - which was aimed at ending corruption within the CCP, as well as hopes for democratic reforms and freedom of speech, press etc. - which lead to enforcement of martial law declared by Li Peng ; while it is called a massacre to the rest of the world, it is conveniently called the 'June Forth Incident' in China) a woman gives birth alone in a Beijing hospital. Meng Jin was able to show and reflect on the horrors of the day by highlighting time, smell, and the antiseptics used to clean. It really transports you to the hallway of the hospital.

With the birth of her daughter Su Lan is determined to make herself; her love for physics began to make her neglect and be indifference to her daughter. This is exacerbated by the absence of understanding from her husband who had joined the protest. Year later when she dies in the US, her daughter Liya who has always lived in the silence trail of her mother decides to take her mother's ashes by to China hoping to learn more about her mother who had tried everything to scrub herself of her past and to find her father.

This is a tale of grief, loss of identity, reclamation, ambition, fear, sense of displacement and a search for relationships.