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katrinky's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
not an easy book to read. imagine the handmaid's tale, but about anti-asian racism and xenophobia. the book touches on linguistics, guerilla art, including yarn bombs, and folklore, so of course I was compelled from start to finish. read it in 1.5 days, both of them work days, so that tells you something about the pace and the ease with which I got invested in bird, his mom, margaret, and their lives under PACT ACT America. chilling, maybe hopeful? mostly wary, and clear-eyed about America's worst propensities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Grief, Racism, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Hate crime
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Death, and Abandonment
kshertz's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
4.5
This dystopian novel is only slightly dystopian at this point. Bird lost his Chinese mother because she was a poet whose poem was picked up to resist taking children away from their family and jailing anyone protesting. He goes on a quest to find her. She is fighting PACT, which feels like all the immigrant hating laws I’ve seen passed as well. I love that librarians again have to come in and try to save the day. This book is our future if we don’t protest and change. I couldn’t put it down. It was sad but necessary. It makes us remember what’s at stake. Read it
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Violence, Classism, Death, Deportation, Grief, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual assault
graff_fuller's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
My initial thoughts about this book is sadness, fear, frustration and ANGER. This is a work of fiction, but I could easily see that this could be a future that is inflicted upon us. I do NOT want this to happen. Hear me, this will NOT happen.
Just like my disbelief in seeing what was happening on the Capitol on January 6th...I see this book in the same way. This is here for us to read...to make SURE that this is not the future that we want. This book IS fiction, and shall stay fiction. That, in itself is a sadness.
The idea that any race, gender, faith or creed could get the upper hand...hence making every other...bend the knee and be less than, especially in this wonderful country is anathema to me (and my family).
I don't want to speak any specifics, for this book does an amazing job in revealing the story...but there were a number of times that I wanted to hurl the book at the wall. Not because I was angry at the author, but that I was angry at the world that Celeste Ng had place our characters. These character that were hurting. Tears were shed for them. How could we (as a society) allow the encroachment of evil...to get THIS (the world at this time) far? BUT, I only look back a year ago...to see our Capitol and what happened on January 6th to see...this fiction, really isn't that far from a mad reality. This, to me, is horrific. This is the horror that makes me restless.
Also, the love of libraires...withing this story put a smile on my face. We who love the libraries in our world, would flourish in her world.
Marie (my wife) is currently reading this book. She knows how it effected me...and she knows how sensitive that I am about injustices...and she TOO wanted to see how the author was able to make my blood boil.
I've read a number of her books in the past, but I think that this one might be her best...though the others have been amazing, too.
Just like my disbelief in seeing what was happening on the Capitol on January 6th...I see this book in the same way. This is here for us to read...to make SURE that this is not the future that we want. This book IS fiction, and shall stay fiction. That, in itself is a sadness.
The idea that any race, gender, faith or creed could get the upper hand...hence making every other...bend the knee and be less than, especially in this wonderful country is anathema to me (and my family).
I don't want to speak any specifics, for this book does an amazing job in revealing the story...but there were a number of times that I wanted to hurl the book at the wall. Not because I was angry at the author, but that I was angry at the world that Celeste Ng had place our characters. These character that were hurting. Tears were shed for them. How could we (as a society) allow the encroachment of evil...to get THIS (the world at this time) far? BUT, I only look back a year ago...to see our Capitol and what happened on January 6th to see...this fiction, really isn't that far from a mad reality. This, to me, is horrific. This is the horror that makes me restless.
Also, the love of libraires...withing this story put a smile on my face. We who love the libraries in our world, would flourish in her world.
Marie (my wife) is currently reading this book. She knows how it effected me...and she knows how sensitive that I am about injustices...and she TOO wanted to see how the author was able to make my blood boil.
I've read a number of her books in the past, but I think that this one might be her best...though the others have been amazing, too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Racism, Outing, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
annabulkowski's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, War, Hate crime, and Kidnapping
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