Reviews tagging 'Death'

New York Ghost by Ling Ma

144 reviews

gfiore11's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

A surprisingly thought-provoking read, Ma depicts with shocking accuracy the sensation of disassociation, and the reality of a pandemic. Laced with beautiful and specific details about the Asian-American experience in a background of tragic (but harmless) zombies.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Grief, Death, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic

errie's review against another edition

reflective

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death

arayo's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Gun violence

Minor: Confinement, Xenophobia, Dementia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Vomit

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

I really enjoyed this. It's literary sci-fi with plenty of commentary on immigration and late stage capitalism. I really loved the writing style and the descriptions of places. While I never completely love an open ending, I thought it worked quite well here. I wish I'd felt a little more attached to Candace but I was still gripped throughout. I haven't read many books like it but the most obvious comparison is Station Eleven, which I'm now considering re-reading. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Terminal illness, and Chronic illness

ktdakotareads's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Body horror, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

This book really freaked me out from beginning to end. It was published in August 2018, over a full year before the first case of COVID. Yet, it has so many eerie parallels to COVID. Parts of it were hard to read for this reason. It was a more extreme form of how the pandemic affected society - to the point I expected zombies to start coming to life at any moment. Between the prescience and the severity of the impact, I was so spooked! Lots of other themes underpinning the book too. Great book to teach in school. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

dr_kat's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

I read this tender, troubling, complex, engaging novel and it wedged into the folds of my brain and wouldn’t shake out. Then the world shut down and a plague worked it’s way into our lives. All I could think about was this book. Weirdly, it helped to see how the protagonist handled her situation; her trials and troubles. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Confinement, Gun violence, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

dedusmuln's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Sexism, and Confinement

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

siriface's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Medical trauma

amaya_jam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

i’m embarrassed by how much i enjoyed this. for the first time, in a really long time, I was rushing to do errands and chores just so I could get back to reading this book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Confinement

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Blood