Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

New York Ghost by Ling Ma

68 reviews

46jjsg's review against another edition

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? Yes

2.0

Who is this novel for? What was this novel for?? Sometimes there are stories told to just to be told and I get that- I seriously do; however, I feel so tricked into reading this because where's the satire on capitalism and the modern workforce that I was promised?? For context, I'm an Asian American immigrant who is 25F + works in corporate + in the Midwest. You would think I would be able to relate to the mc but the more I read the more I found the mc of this novel to be frustrating and by the end of the novel I was tearing my hair out like that's it?? I don't know if it's because I'm gen z but I just wanted to grab the mc by the shoulders and a scream at her to get herself together it's so embarrassing!!! I don't understand the author, am I supposed to root for Candace? Is she meant to be unlikable? I've read novels with unlikable characters (see: Wuthering Heights) but at least they have actions that revolve around a theme and you learn something as a reader or it opens up a discussion. Candace is so passive and just so emotionally detached literally pre and post shen fever that I just feel like if she doesn't care about her own life (multiple self destructive behaviors) so why should I care for her?? Candace longs for connection and the sense of belonging, but her attempts (if they can even be called that) at building meaningful relationships are so lack luster?? Like I said. Maybe it's because of my age, but I just don't get this. I like contemporaries. I like dystopians. I like nonlinear storytelling. But this novel just wasn't it. 2 stars because despite all of this, the premise is really interesting at a surface level and I'm impressed this was published pre-covid. The bar is low. Maybe I would've rated this higher if I wasn't a asian american woman myself but who knows.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, and Confinement

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Terminal illness

corin_134340's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy

arayo's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Confinement

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Death of parent, and Blood

bookrokosmos's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Sexual content, Gun violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

iro_san's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Vomit, Cursing, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Alcohol, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Gun violence, Blood, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, and Grief

mirrorbug's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Somehow I got it into my head that this was a tragicomedy when that is not what it was. Humor was not in the forefront, but it had its moments. I'd like to read it again without that preconception. Still really enjoyed it. Candace is a character I grew to respect more than anything and the worldbuilding was fantastic. It's crazy this book was released preCOVID, you definitely see some similarities there. I think the parts of seeing the apocalypse start to unfold felt so realistic and were definitely my favorite chapters in the book. Definitely worth the read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Chronic illness, Grief, and Body horror

skyba3's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Cursing

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.25

Don’t believe the blurb on the back - this is NOT a “The Office”-like parody of work culture. This is a frequently sad, often tense, and occasionally whimsical view into the millennial struggle of never being at home. “Severance” takes on many meanings here, and all of them hit hard.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Death

Moderate: Confinement, Suicide, and Sexual content

Minor: Pregnancy

taratearex's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

5.0

 I was very skeptical about whether I would like this book based on some reviews I've seen, but I think going in knowing this isn't a typical "zombie apocalypse" book helps. I think the audiobook really enhanced my experience, but honestly I think it was just the perfect book at the moment for me and I loved it. I thought everything worked so well, I loved the critiques of capitalism, especially in the face of a pandemic- the fact that this was written in 2018 and gets so much right is so disturbing and depressing. I loved the focus on the mundane routines as the world slowly falls apart, I wanted to scream "why are you working right now?!?!" but then I look around at where we're currently at, sigh. I've seen a number of reviews say they didn't like the ending and personally it totally worked for me, honestly everything just totally worked for me. It was all a little too close to home, but somehow comforting in a really fucked up way.

I highly recommend the audiobook read by Nancy Wu, I already looked up books she narrates as I just think she was so amazing and got the character vibe and the satirical mood so perfectly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Child death, Pregnancy, and Sexual content