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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Important themes of women empowerment and bonding through ancient Chinese medicine and despite horrific oppression.
Loved all the wise teachings from Lao Tzu and Confucius, I presume. The quotes sometimes didn't relate to the text and there was no attribution. Would have liked to learn more about that.
This book needed a good edit since the descriptions became repetitive. I kept thinking I had reached the end of the plot and another chapter followed.
Loved all the wise teachings from Lao Tzu and Confucius, I presume. The quotes sometimes didn't relate to the text and there was no attribution. Would have liked to learn more about that.
This book needed a good edit since the descriptions became repetitive. I kept thinking I had reached the end of the plot and another chapter followed.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was something out of my norm. I did appreciate the writing, however, it was very hard reading about intelligent and capable women who were not allowed to follow their talents due to being a woman. Between the husbands having multiple wives and the first wife is completely understandable of it is just something I don’t want to read about. Also families focusing on the importance of having a son is just gross, since girls are treated as they are worthless. There was mention of feet bounding which is just shocking in all that is included. I understand that this story was based on a time period where all of this was the norm, I just didn’t expect to experience all these feelings of sorrow for all the women who had this as their entire life. Again, the writing was well done, and the way that these characters were portrayed by their feelings, knowledge, wisdom, and the women coming together was beautiful.
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
This was my favorite book of the year! Although it’s a novel, I found the book to cover so much history and culture that helped me understand my family in a whole new way. Coming from generations if TCM herbalists and healers, this book touched my heart and made me miss ancestors that I’ve never met. It was such a beautiful book ✨
Really enjoyed this book. It felt very long when I read the hardcopy but speeding up to 1.5 speed on audio helped. There’s a lot of detail about Chinese medicine in the 1500s, most of which I found interesting but a lot of details that I didn’t really care about. That being said, I felt like those details were important to the story.
Looking at the lives of women during this time in history was fascinating. This book was also based on a true story, which I think is really cool! I loved the themes of sisterhood and female friendship. It was interesting to read about female doctors and midwives. being able to touch blood made midwives a necessary part of life during this time but also in a status where they were looked down upon in society. Tricky place to be!
Trigger warnings: miscarriage and childhood death, references to violent crimes
Looking at the lives of women during this time in history was fascinating. This book was also based on a true story, which I think is really cool! I loved the themes of sisterhood and female friendship. It was interesting to read about female doctors and midwives. being able to touch blood made midwives a necessary part of life during this time but also in a status where they were looked down upon in society. Tricky place to be!
Trigger warnings: miscarriage and childhood death, references to violent crimes
I'm so bad at writing real reviews, like academic ones. This book definitely deserves one of those, but I still wanted to note that I really liked this book. It's a story of female empowerment, companionship, and self-growth. I loved following Yunxian as she grew up. I also learned a good bit about older Chinese practices, like foot-binding. I liked that, even though society's view on foot-binding has changed in modern times, the characters in this novel saw it as a thing of beauty, status, and dedication to their husbands. Things like that make you appreciate an author that doesn't write about historical events or themes with a modern lens. This book was both enjoyable and made me feel smarter after reading it!
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:
Complicated