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horationelson's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, Colonisation, and Medical content
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Gun violence
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Gore
obfuscatress's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Progressing from a languid look into the lives of two young people to a dizzying, complex mystery that's rich with legend, this novel is a stunning foray into magical realism that draws expertly on its setting. Its unique atmosphere will keep you engaged, turning page after page long into the night.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Incest, Murder, and Infertility
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
This book was fantastic, practically perfect. Even though this book was super slow I was engrossed and enjoyed a lot. I liked the adventure feel of the story with the countdown to retrieve and bury the doctor's finger. The powerful recreation of a 1931 Malaya. At points, I did feel like I could see the 1931 Ipoh and Batu Gajah, in spite of my aphantasia. And the telenovela feel! Books that read like a telenovela are always such a treat to me. Now, I'm not super thrilled with the romance (I'm almost never into romances until and if the writing and buildup makes me get into them, and I'll read whatever as long as I like it). But did I get turned on by Ji Lin and Shin? Yeah lol so that's what matters at the end of the day for me. All the boring, faux appalled people can go cry about it and leave Yangsze alone. If you sit there and think about it, what Yangsze Choo did was just a more bolder, spicier childhood friends to lovers and that one most everyone's into so stfu.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Minor: Incest and Miscarriage
medini_l's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Medical trauma, Incest, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, and Child death
pun1sher's review against another edition
adventurous
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? No
4.0
The setting was soooo good and the writing style was very enjoyable too
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage
Romance between step siblingspodanotherjessi's review
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This book explored Chinese culture in a similarly interesting way to Choo's other book, The Ghost Bride. The characters were a little less interesting to me, and I was more intriqued by the mystery in the other work, but this was still good. Overall, I'd say about a 3, 3.25... if not for the romance.
The romance in this book had a bit of a problematic element to it (specificallya romance between step siblings ), but it was well developed enough that I was willing to look past it. Once the relationship began developing in earnest, however, things got considerably worse in ways that were never addressed. Read the spoiler for details, if interested. Once the couple confess to being interested in one another, the man starts pushing the woman for a sexual relationship despite her not wanting that yet. He insists that they need to have sex so he can claim her and make her his, going so far as to say he needs to take her virginity so a suitor of hers won't want her any more. It takes her saying that she wants him alone and will be his without the sex to convince him to stop.
It just left a bad taste in my mouth that really spoiled the rest of the book. Especially since there's another very misogynistic character that the book starts trying to shine a sympathetic light on around the same time.
The romance in this book had a bit of a problematic element to it (specifically
It just left a bad taste in my mouth that really spoiled the rest of the book. Especially since there's another very misogynistic character that the book starts trying to shine a sympathetic light on around the same time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Murder
Moderate: Miscarriage and Domestic abuse
el13's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Writing was excellent. The story unfolded in a really captivating way. It is a bit twisted, mysterious, and dark, with magical realism, reflective of the land of Malay and the sociopolitical environments at the time. But, I think it was a bit too dark for me. It did leave me with a lot of questions still, but I think it did so intentionally, as it was a mystical story. Finally, and most importantly, the love story was NOT IT FOR ME DAWG. It felt so wrong. I definitely felt the way Ji Lin's mother did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Vomit, Blood, Cannibalism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Gun violence, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual violence, Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, and Misogyny
maiaw27's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Minor: Murder, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexism, and Colonisation
unsure's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Other than the unusual writing style, specifically the tense, it starts off strong. You're dropped right into the action, but with that comes a lot of flashbacks. You can never be quite sure if something is supposed to be mysterious, or you were just not paying enough attention.
Almost every chapter has a narrator change. Of the 3 narrators, 2 are likeable. They're loyal, hard-working and smart. Li Jin is a girl/young woman stuck in a life where she can only watch others accomplish her dreams but still finds a way to be true to herself and protect her mother. Ren is a young, orphan boy who has a seemingly impossible task while navigating a new place and new people. Watching as their lives interwove was enjoyable. The 3rd narrator is not that good of a person, but he's a good foil for Ji Lin and ren.
The pov change were difficult though. With each switch, the tenses changed. This, along with the flashbacks, made reading a bit irritating. Additionally, the pov changes would sometimes start at the beginning of middle of the last pov, meaning you had to backtrack, which was especially frustrating when it was right in the middle of a tense scene and the characters were with eachother the whole time.
The mystical aspect was both enjoyable and overwhelming. I think it could have benefited from some streamlining. The 5 Confucius values were really cool, and I liked the is -he-isn't-he bit with the weretiger, but I think the concepts were kept too separate that it was difficult to accept that they'd both show up in the same storyline without some connecting factor.
The big problem was the characters' individual endings. The main villian doesn't get their proper comeuppanceWilliam dying instead of Lydia , and the love interest has a scene where they're professing their love that seems vaguely abusive, in the sense of dangerously possessive and manipulative. It felt like, after all this build up and character backstory and memories of misunderstood interactions, the author ran out of time to explain the emotional state of this character, which led them to seeming rather immoral shin continually pressuring ji to have sex so she'll have to be "his," which, considering his father/her step father's abusiveness and attitude towards the family (objects to show off as the perfect family), seems out of character for him to feel and her to accept .
Honestly the ending just disappointed and rather infuriated me. Massive spoiler-filled rant about the William-Ren storyline starts here wtf the Lydia William Li twist came out of no where; she's already admitted to multiple murders, the name matching bit was just the author trying to add more. Additionally, it was getting progressively harder to accept Ren's intelligence with some stuff and utter ignorance with other stuff - like sex and Lydia's evilness. I cannot see how Ren would think tho give William the stuff that Lydia have him while also not really liking Lydia? Especially since Lydia said the medicine was for Ji Lin. If anything, I could see him innocently giving it to her or even Ah Long accidentally. Also the author just skips over the fact that Ren killed William. Like that's never going to be found out or that Ren will never realise, especially since he'll become a doctor himself, which will be traumatising for him, I think.
In summary, it was filled with ups and downs, and I ended up upset that the ending had some really bad bits when most of it had so much potential
Almost every chapter has a narrator change. Of the 3 narrators, 2 are likeable. They're loyal, hard-working and smart. Li Jin is a girl/young woman stuck in a life where she can only watch others accomplish her dreams but still finds a way to be true to herself and protect her mother. Ren is a young, orphan boy who has a seemingly impossible task while navigating a new place and new people. Watching as their lives interwove was enjoyable. The 3rd narrator is not that good of a person, but he's a good foil for Ji Lin and ren.
The pov change were difficult though. With each switch, the tenses changed. This, along with the flashbacks, made reading a bit irritating. Additionally, the pov changes would sometimes start at the beginning of middle of the last pov, meaning you had to backtrack, which was especially frustrating when it was right in the middle of a tense scene and the characters were with eachother the whole time.
The mystical aspect was both enjoyable and overwhelming. I think it could have benefited from some streamlining. The 5 Confucius values were really cool, and I liked the is -he-isn't-he bit with the weretiger, but I think the concepts were kept too separate that it was difficult to accept that they'd both show up in the same storyline without some connecting factor.
The big problem was the characters' individual endings. The main villian doesn't get their proper comeuppance
Honestly the ending just disappointed and rather infuriated me. Massive spoiler-filled rant about the William-Ren storyline starts here
In summary, it was filled with ups and downs, and I ended up upset that the ending had some really bad bits when most of it had so much potential
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Colonisation
Minor: Blood, Domestic abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Incest, Infertility, and Injury/Injury detail
juliamb's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Infidelity, and Murder