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lsparrow's review against another edition
3.0
memoir as fable or poetry... I found it impossible to follow this book. I wished this had been written as pure fiction as I liked the flow of the writing and the images.
eestellar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
4.0
I listened to the audiobook & read this book and I have never read anything quite like it before. It was trauma heavy and gross (lots of bodily fluids). The plot got lost in all the metaphors and poetic writing, I was confused a lot of the time, but even with all of the flaws I still wanted to continue the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual violence and Vomit
lilymaite's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
alexarose19's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rara2018's review against another edition
4.0
<I>Bestiary</I> is a prime example of why I don’t DNF books. It genuinely took me an entire month to get past the first forty-ish pages because I just could not get into it at all. The book was disturbing and honestly a little disgusting at times, and at first that just made it really hard for me to connect to anything that was happening (seriously, though, I genuinely think if I had a nickel every time characters peed their pants or just generally peed not in the toilet, I’d have at least a whole dollar). Luckily, I persevered out of stubbornness and was treated with a moving and genuinely compelling story of generational trauma, colonization, and motherhood. I found I enjoyed (?) Mother’s chapters and Ama’s interlude the most out of anything in the book, especially with how the latter included footnotes. Ben was also such an amazing character who really grounded the story in her bluntness. The middle chunk I found to be the best part of the story with the combination of folklore and the family’s story, since I truly did not like the beginning and didn’t quite get the ending, but I don’t think everything in this book was meant for me. I’m definitely going to read more by Chang since I really enjoy her writing (most of the time) despite me being deeply uncomfortable for a decent chunk of this.
gabybenitez's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
I don’t even know where to start! this book is a masterpiece. an exercise in wildness. k-ming chang bends language to create new ways of looking at the world in all of her work. bestiary reshapes human as animal, animal as earth, earth as body — and I have never read a book that so truthfully tells what it is to have a body! bestiary is full of the language of the body, of trauma and violence, of prayer, of desire and want, of orifices and bodily fluids. a book about rewriting and revising ancestral / generational trauma. and the queer eroticism! a book that is so queer and yet the queerness is not a plot point/place of conflict — we love to see it! the candor and humor in this book is also impeccable —
some favorite quotes:
“all men are synonyms and none the word you’re looking for”
“costco: the only place in the country where you could buy your cradle and your casket”
“if the body is really mostly water, then how come it can burn ?”
some favorite quotes:
“all men are synonyms and none the word you’re looking for”
“costco: the only place in the country where you could buy your cradle and your casket”
“if the body is really mostly water, then how come it can burn ?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and War