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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lady Tan transports us back to the Ming dynasty in 15th century China. I loved reading about the history and culture during that time despite some of it being pretty disturbing.
The foot bounding parts definitely made me squeamish.
The book is well researched & very descriptive. I enjoyed the writing. It was overall an interesting & engaging read!
The foot bounding parts definitely made me squeamish.
The book is well researched & very descriptive. I enjoyed the writing. It was overall an interesting & engaging read!
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I’ve literally never read anything like this. I feel like it captures such a cool part of history, if told from a fictional perspective. I think the idea of historic women’s health so so fascinating. I do love the dual perspectives on womanhood in ancient china as well, through this friendship I feel e encapsulates womanhood so beautifully. I’m not familiar enough with Chinese language or culture to know its accuracy, but it felt like I was almost reading a translation. Beautiful if also brutally honest about historic womanhood.
OK, don't love doing this, but DNFing it pretty early, at 14%. I started it, was horrified - HORRIFIED - by the BLAM! footbinding! opener, and then kept reading and... something felt off. My antennae were vibrating. I looked up the author, and was surprised (and, okay, disappointed) to learn that Lisa See is 1/8th Chinese. I'm probably like 1/8th Serbo-croatian so I imagined myself writing about feudal Yugoslavia and... I felt weird.
But, okay, I also DON'T believe in policing identities - we may all contain multitudes! and our imaginations even more! - especially if it's written well, and with an eye for historical accuracy (which I was told this was!) - but, I decided to browse some of the negative Goodreads reviews. A couple Chinese speakers noticed that, for example, See literally translates the Chinese word for "uterus" as "child palace" - one review said this would be like translating the German word "Handschuhe" to "hand shoes", instead of "gloves". Like, yes, that's the literal translation (and, yes, that's kinda adorable) and even, YES, the etymology of words is super interesting and often enlightening BUT... also, yes, it's definitely exoticizing, maybe even romanticizing? By this point, I had lost trust in this book and the author. This review made me laugh and confirmed that I had ventured a little too much into, ahem, Concerned White Lady-ville (a land I know well!).
But, okay, I also DON'T believe in policing identities - we may all contain multitudes! and our imaginations even more! - especially if it's written well, and with an eye for historical accuracy (which I was told this was!) - but, I decided to browse some of the negative Goodreads reviews. A couple Chinese speakers noticed that, for example, See literally translates the Chinese word for "uterus" as "child palace" - one review said this would be like translating the German word "Handschuhe" to "hand shoes", instead of "gloves". Like, yes, that's the literal translation (and, yes, that's kinda adorable) and even, YES, the etymology of words is super interesting and often enlightening BUT... also, yes, it's definitely exoticizing, maybe even romanticizing? By this point, I had lost trust in this book and the author. This review made me laugh and confirmed that I had ventured a little too much into, ahem, Concerned White Lady-ville (a land I know well!).