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readerette's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
These stories are beautiful and dark. A number of them will probably come back to me in nightmares. They were worth reading, but be warned. I had to keep to a story or two per day to manage the emotional impact. Some of the stories also felt quite academic given their sources in science or history--not bad, but not what I'm used to in fiction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Trafficking
readandfindout's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
On first read in 2017: There were multiple five star stories for me in this anthology. However, because there were also some two and two and a half star stories, this gets 4 stars overall. Ken Liu is such a smart writer. I really enjoy his style.
2023 reread: 4.25 stars overall
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species: 5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
State Change: 4 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
The Perfect March: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
Good Hunting: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Literomancer: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
Simulacrum: 2 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
The Regular: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Paper Menagerie: 4.5 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition: 3 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Waves: 5 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
Mono No Aware: 5 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
All the Flavors: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel: 2.5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King: 4 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
2023 reread: 4.25 stars overall
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species: 5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
State Change: 4 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
The Perfect March: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
Good Hunting: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Literomancer: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
Simulacrum: 2 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
The Regular: 4.5 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Paper Menagerie: 4.5 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition: 3 stars (2017 and 2023)
The Waves: 5 stars (2017), 3.5 stars (2023)
Mono No Aware: 5 stars (2017), 4.5 stars (2023)
All the Flavors: 3 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel: 2.5 stars (2017), 4 stars (2023)
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King: 4 stars (2017), 5 stars (2023)
The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary: 5 stars (2017 and 2023)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Xenophobia, Blood, Physical abuse, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Hate crime, War, Body horror, Torture, Gore, Medical trauma, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, and Death of parent
Minor: Racial slurs
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