Reviews

Gods of Want: Stories by K-Ming Chang

ezrasupremacy's review against another edition

3.0

2.5 ⭐️ rounded up, to no one’s fault but mine really

nicole_schmid's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.0

I found this book highly disturbing and thought-provoking. It was well-written, but in a very surreal style that I personally did not enjoy very much. Some imagery was very brutal; there was a lot of animal death. It also felt like the stories would make more sense for a person who is smarter than me and someone who knows more about Taiwanese history and myths. I read the stories thinking most of it went over my head.

elorathesun's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

kellyfables's review against another edition

emotional funny fast-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? Yes

3.5

natastop's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

clarawasiak's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

mxunsmiley's review against another edition

5.0

Realizing once again that surrealism is my favorite style of art. This collection is greatly creative to me, sometimes grotesque and other times surprisingly tender. I loved her often strange metaphors and figurative language, how she brought the oddest things literally to life. Probably one of the more interesting contemporary writers out there right now, as I also noted in Bestiary, her debut work which I also enjoyed a lot.

jinbin's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

jmontg18's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.75

moth_dance's review against another edition

5.0

Wildly weird short stories. Exactly what I want from a contemporary short story collection. Each one stands out as complex magical-realism diasporic fables that are as unique as they feel universal.

I'm glad I took my time with this one, too. Obviously, I lived for the Moths section at the end of the book. “Mariela” completely stole my heart (and right after finishing a very disappointing historical fiction arc...) Following these two friends around during their brutal exploration of each other and their world had just the right amount of raw and alert details. It felt like an a24 short; my love language basically.