Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang

6 reviews

camillatd's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Small Beauty is an introspective & quietly gorgeous novel about grief, friendship, family, and home.
There’s not much to say by way of plot summary: Mei, a Chinese-Canadian trans woman, moves into her cousin’s house after his death. While there, Mei spends several months in near-complete solitude, kept company by memories of her family. As she reflects on the spaces left behind by her cousin, aunt, grandmother, and mother, she sees more clearly those who fill her life: friends, sisters, unexpected family.

At just a slim 160 pages, Small Beauty manages to be emotionally weighty without feeling heavy. The subject matter is serious, and often heartbreaking, but the suffering of the characters isn’t the central point. There’s a sort of peaceful quality to the rhythm of the book, which oscillates between past and present, childhood and adulthood. But Small Beauty resists the separation of trans stories into “then” and “now”—which felt important as we wove our way through Mei’s life.

The story comes together gradually, with each shift in time and place bringing new pieces of Mei’s life and family to the fore. This short novel is richly layered, and the meditative pace of the story makes each piece feel earned.

I don’t want to say much else! You just have to experience it! For such a quiet book, I flew through it. I could have read it in one sitting, if my schedule had permitted. If you love stories about family, grief, intergenerational queerness, trans friendship, and the meaning of home, this one not to miss.
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frogggirl2's review

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challenging inspiring sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a beautifully written, gentle, layered, and meditative slice of life story about a transgender Chinese-Canadian woman.  It isn't simplistic and it doesn't pander.  Lovely.

"The demanding love of her pushy friend is cold water on a sleepy face" (p. 5).
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mikeybjones's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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noahsingh's review

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

4.0

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thewordsdevourer's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

small beauty is an understatedly melancholic read whose pervading sense of subtle desolation is compounded by the narrative structure where the reader's aware that most of the main character mei's loved ones will be gradually gone. it's a book w/ short-lived yet lovable characters, and a story abt anger, guilt, family, and queerness that's nicely written.
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maxgdy's review

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emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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