Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

10 reviews

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75


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safiewafie's review against another edition

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dark hopeful reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0


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niakantorka's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

This was a marvellous compilation of short stories and novellas. Contrary to what one might expect these aren’t all science fiction stories. There are also some fantastical AUs and some stories about historical events.

Ken Liu has a wonderful way of creating characters and settings that seem either intriguing and alien or safe and warm and in both ways make the reader about humanity. Be aware that in the ‘cosy’ settings humans tend not to stay like that. Better be prepared for each story to take a turn into the darker aspects of humanity.

I loved this way of storytelling but I had to take my time to digest each of them afterwards. It’s been a few days since I read the last and weeks since the first story and I’m still ruminating over them. That’s definitely a sign of a great and touching writing style.

I’ve taken some notes while reading so here’s my verdict on each story separately:

The Bookmaking Habits of Selected Species
Great first story. Very alien and yet super relatable that every species wants to preserve their essence or messages over time with books. The way books took shape here were mesmerising. While reading I thought that Ken Liu’s brain must be an interesting one to be preserved too. Lol, this sounds way creepier than it is meant to be.
4.75 stars

State Change
The idea behind this story that peoples’ souls manifest in every day things that can get damaged, lost, or simply used up was amazing. The soul of our MC was definitely challenging to preserve and how she did it made me laugh at times (even though it wasn’t a laughable matter for her). The ending was surprising and I loved that too. Definitely a unique story.
5 stars

The Perfect Match
Creepy surveillance story and - with regard to social media and in our cases increasing state surveillance - very believable. I hope we’ll never end up in a world like this. It gave me the shudders with how well it was done. The ending felt so true and yet I wished for another one.
4.75 stars

Good Hunting
Absolutely fascinating Alternative Universe in a world where magic was dying and a steam punk industrialisation was rising. The MC and his female friend meet over time and that how their dynamic changes was really something. I loved how they made the best of even the ugliest things happening to them and had each other’s backs.
4.5 stars

The Literomancer
This one broke me a bit. Together with the last story of the book it was the toughest to read. That real people suffered like this only made it worse in my head. The way Mr. Lán and Teddy had brought magic and warmth to Lilly’s life was so wonderful to see and then it went all to hell. My heart bled for those three people, especially for Lilly who was once again so lonely in the end.
4.5 stars

Simulacrum
This was a weaker story to me. The idea of memories brought back to life from advanced imaging techniques to be played how often one wanted was good. Yet I could neither connect with the father/inventor whom I found to be too laissez-faire nor with the daughter who definitely wanted to see the worst in her father.
3.75 stars

The Regular
This one was my favourite story of the whole book. It had this Blade Runner-esque setting I found utterly fascinating. It had also an intriguing cat-and-mouse game between a killer and a female detective who had been a cop once. We got both povs and that was a perfect contradiction of world views, goals, and empathy (or lack there of). Really, I wish I could give this story more stars.
5 stars

The Paper Menagerie
The title story was surprisingly short. I loved how magical the paper animals were and nearly cried over the brave old tiger. It was a touching story, especially when the reader realised how much the MC forgot about his Chinese heritage and how the will to do so of him as a child hurt the mother. Honestly, I wanted to hug that woman quite badly. At least there’s Qingming each year.
4.75 stars

An Advanced Readers’ Picture Book of Comparative Cognition
This story had some compelling lore in it brought to us in a mixture of fairytale and history book. It took me a while to realise that those stories in the story stood for some scientific concepts which was clever and well done. It was also a story about family and that sometimes having family isn’t enough to give up your dreams. Sadly, I couldn’t connect that well with the narrator because they seemed quite manipulative to me.
4.25 stars

The Waves
This one had such an amazing concept. How people evolved bodily before they went for evolving the mind and how they come full circle with it in the end. Admittedly, it’s advantageous if you have an inkling of Chinese mythology to admire the circle more. I also loved the sci-fi concepts we got to see here and would have easily read more about them.
5 stars

Mono no aware
That was a surprising sci-fi story because it didn’t seem like one at the start. The flashbacks were my favourite parts. It’s got sort of a sad ending, but in comparison with other stories in this book it wasn’t too bad. I loved the epic proportions of it.
4.5 stars

All the Flavours
Loved this one. Both historical topics were super interesting and so well woven together. I loved the mix and clash of cultures and how well it worked here. The newer story has an open ending and I imagine it went well for Logan/Lao Guan and for Lily.
5 stars

A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific-Tunnel
One of the two weaker stories for me. The MC couldn’t grip me like in other stories and even though I found the idea of the idea of this Alternative Universe compelling its execution didn’t touch me that much. I did like that the MC finally tried to do something about his guilty conscience.
3.75 stars

The Litigation Master and the Monkey King
In this story the sadness sneaked up on me because the dialogue between the more or less crazy litigation master and the Chinese Monkey King was good fun. I loved that they both didn’t take life too seriously until the story took a turn and  became one about courage and making difficult choices. Our master took the chance, it didn’t end well, and yet it was the right choice to make. The story makes you ask yourself: Would I be able to make this difficult choice too?
4.75 stars

The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary
This was the toughest one to read. I’ve you have ever heard of Unit 731 or of Japanese war crimes in WW2 you know what you’re in for and that most of the warnings regard this particular novella. It was so well done too. Behind the disguise of a documentary we got many different aspects and povs to see. That coerced the reader into creating their own opinion about war crimes and how and when they should be punished. It was not an easy read with quite a few punches and yet I loved it. 
5 stars




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atalea's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5


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10stormlight's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

Some really conceptually interesting and thought provoking stuff. A collection of very emotional (and sometimes heartrending) stories. Primarily sci fi and magical realism with a heavy historical influence. 

As a warning, there is a ton of *extremely* graphic content in here. In fact, I think this may be the most explicitly graphic book I have ever read. 

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josiah17's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective

4.5

This was an incredibly rich, moving, and thought-provoking collection of short stories. Ken Liu has a brilliant mind and has wonderful writing. I found so many stories to be introspective, emotional, human, and very philosophical in an approachable manner. Liu interweaves so many strong and relevant themes into his works. I can't wait to read his long form fiction in The Dandelion Dynasty series. Some of my favorite stories I want to highlight were "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species," "Good Hunting,"   "The Literomancer," the titular story "The Paper Menagerie," and "An Advanced Readers' Picture Book of Comparative Cognition." 

I highly recommend this collection of short fiction to everyone.

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blenchbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad

4.75


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kalira's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Ken Lie has a brilliant approach to weaving together history and realism with fantastical/speculative fiction elements, drawing it all into poignant and deeply emotional relief.

It took me a long time to read this anthology, largely because the stories are very good . . . and sometimes, so painful and heavy and immediate that upon finishing I needed to set the book aside and take some time. Both to process the story and to give myself a little emotional space to breathe.

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lookingforlittlelibraries's review

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challenging informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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readandfindout's review against another edition

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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)

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