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reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting
Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Grief
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Grief
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Blood, Grief, Alcohol
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Firstly, the edition I have (Vintage/Penguin Random House paperback) is 226 pages, not 240 pages as listed on the publisher's website. Publishers don't usually include front matter and blank endpapers in page count, so I have no idea why that's the case in this instance. I've tried multiple times to get this corrected on Storygraph, but to no avail. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day, but I like tracking percentage read, and this sort of thing messes with those statistics.
An interesting and thoughtful read, though it took me far longer to finish than I'd have expected, and didn't go in the direction I thought or hoped it would. The blurb suggests a very different novel, rather than what is truly an exploration of loneliness and grief. I can say I'm pleased to have read it nonetheless. I think it's well written for what it is, (though the translation isn't always flawless) and I'm keen to read more by An Yu.
It's a real pity that the final chapter, a short story in its own right following not the main character, was the most touching and left me wanting more.
An interesting and thoughtful read, though it took me far longer to finish than I'd have expected, and didn't go in the direction I thought or hoped it would. The blurb suggests a very different novel, rather than what is truly an exploration of loneliness and grief. I can say I'm pleased to have read it nonetheless. I think it's well written for what it is, (though the translation isn't always flawless) and I'm keen to read more by An Yu.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Suicide
I was waiting for something more to happen for the entirety of the book. The MC just mopes around from the middle of the book onward and doesn’t develop much of a backbone. It’s like the author lost steam halfway through and instead of fleshing out more of the characters into a sympathetic light, they turned the MC into an alcoholic and pessimistic husk who hates everyone. It’s pretty hard to like her as a character at all.
By the time I got to about 80% of the way through, it felt like I had sat wearily in the back of a marriage councillor’s office for days while the main couple refused to communicate their needs to each other. I DNF’d this book and just came back to blaze through the rest of the book. It was not a good book.
By the time I got to about 80% of the way through, it felt like I had sat wearily in the back of a marriage councillor’s office for days while the main couple refused to communicate their needs to each other. I DNF’d this book and just came back to blaze through the rest of the book. It was not a good book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Infertility, Suicide, Alcohol
Moderate: Infidelity
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Abandonment
Minor: Violence, Grief
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Suicide, Death of parent