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kdahlo's review against another edition
5.0
Extremely engaging, loved the narrator and the structure. Inventive, fast paced. Not as trendy and sarcastic as the reviews I read made it seem, much more sincere and contemplative than I expected. A nice balance.
darthbiblia's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
medium-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
Whoa. This book came out years before COVID, but the descriptions of the early stages were so uncanny. The dry humor and office politics, concerns about foreign labor and gender issues. I loved the story of her immigrant parents assimilating in the United States, then bringing her as a small child. This was a beautiful story, and I was sad that it ended. I look forward to more from this author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Death, Sexism, Vomit, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Pregnancy, Grief, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Terminal illness
graceliles's review against another edition
4.5
the writing was incredible. i knew from the first page that i was going to love this. idk why but i love consuming fictional media about plagues. very odd but it’s so interesting to compare to my irl experiences. the way nostalgia impacts the disease is genius. i also feel like there’s some Camus influence with how Candace sticks to her daily routine even as the world falls apart.
morganpace127's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
xtie's review against another edition
5.0
Binged it again for book club. Left me feeling the same unsettled way right after. Hits different now that I’m running in my own NYC loop…
melona56's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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? No
4.0
With the shen fever symptoms of repetitive nature, who's to say that Candace wasn't fevered? She participated in the same mundane, repetitive culture of a 9-5, even long after the city was breaking down (corrupting). Her following through with her contract did get her the large compensation she was promised, but at that point, she wasn't even able to use it. That just reminds me of retirement and how we Americans spend our whole lives working for compensation and relaxation for retirement, but in the end, it won't pay off. This book portrays capitalism so well.
elbelfry's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
madig81's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5
i need to stop reading books where the main character is a disaffected millennial woman
randeerebecca's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
misstwosense's review against another edition
3.0
Ling Ma is a Witch
This was far too unsettling to be reading in 2020. Apparently, Ling Ma can see the future. Hopefully not the whole future though.
Anyway, I didn't love this book. Yeah, I'm gonna say it. I hated how she refused to designate who was speaking at any given time. I'm sure it's something many complain about, so I'm just gonna add: while I think I got her intention in parts, and would go as far to say it worked occasionally, I mostly found it extremely hard to follow. I don't think the outcome was worth the extra difficulty to the reader.
It's a subtle book overall, and it both feels like a lot happens and very little at times. She never fully commits to the dreamlike quality much of the story has. I found certain aspects to clash wildly with the overall tone and feel- like the graphic sex scenes, for instance. Or one particularly juvenile description of a dead person's face (as if an editor had told her she needed to make it scarier, so she threw in something ridiculous and self aware to comply). It also became clear while reading that the author REALLY wanted the title to be understood, as well as her main theme. She is NOT subtle in that regard. In fact, it comes off more like a stoned teenager philosophizing than any actual deep insights into the human condition. It's not that I dislike her stance on the things she's discussing, it's just that it turns a fairly compelling premise into one, long, preachy MESSAGE.
I mean, irl the protagonist wouldn't survive. She'd have blown her brains out long before the story got apocalyptic because she's clearly suffering from deep clinical depression. I'm not trying to be facetious, I'm trying to point out that you can tell a good story or write a thesis paper, but rarely does trying to accomplish both in one piece of writing do anything but undermine each element. And sadly, the part I found most compelling here was the story, clearly not in line with the author's desires. So it left me wanting more of the world she created, but not in a good way.
This was far too unsettling to be reading in 2020. Apparently, Ling Ma can see the future. Hopefully not the whole future though.
Anyway, I didn't love this book. Yeah, I'm gonna say it. I hated how she refused to designate who was speaking at any given time. I'm sure it's something many complain about, so I'm just gonna add: while I think I got her intention in parts, and would go as far to say it worked occasionally, I mostly found it extremely hard to follow. I don't think the outcome was worth the extra difficulty to the reader.
It's a subtle book overall, and it both feels like a lot happens and very little at times. She never fully commits to the dreamlike quality much of the story has. I found certain aspects to clash wildly with the overall tone and feel- like the graphic sex scenes, for instance. Or one particularly juvenile description of a dead person's face (as if an editor had told her she needed to make it scarier, so she threw in something ridiculous and self aware to comply). It also became clear while reading that the author REALLY wanted the title to be understood, as well as her main theme. She is NOT subtle in that regard. In fact, it comes off more like a stoned teenager philosophizing than any actual deep insights into the human condition. It's not that I dislike her stance on the things she's discussing, it's just that it turns a fairly compelling premise into one, long, preachy MESSAGE.
I mean, irl the protagonist wouldn't survive. She'd have blown her brains out long before the story got apocalyptic because she's clearly suffering from deep clinical depression. I'm not trying to be facetious, I'm trying to point out that you can tell a good story or write a thesis paper, but rarely does trying to accomplish both in one piece of writing do anything but undermine each element. And sadly, the part I found most compelling here was the story, clearly not in line with the author's desires. So it left me wanting more of the world she created, but not in a good way.