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ani_raven's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Death of parent, Trafficking, and Abandonment
Moderate: Dysphoria, Violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Classism, and Death
Minor: Rape
samwein's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Racism
Moderate: Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
scifi_rat's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, Racial slurs, Bullying, Abandonment, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexism, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Sexual violence, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Sexual content and Transphobia
brynpemery's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Grief, Sexual violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Grief, and Abandonment
tfortilney's review against another edition
The concept of How Much of These Hills Is Gold is fascinating. Two Chinese-American siblings, one of them what you’d probably call gender-queer today, fending for themselves in the American West in the gold rush era — There is so much potential here, and I’m sure a lot of people will love this novel.
It is, however, not a novel for me, and I after reading more than 1/3 I felt it would be fairer to the book to dnf it rather than finishing it knowing I’d not give it a great rating, no matter how the next 2/3 went. I also want to “allow” myself to dnf books more often because forcing myself to finish books I don’t enjoy only makes me less enthusiastic about reading.
There’s two main things I struggled with with this novel, neither something I would ever call bad writing, just things I didn’t vibe with. One is Zhang’s poetic, sometimes abstract style which is just not my jam. (By the way, why is the century obscured when years are given (XX42), when, from the way the setting is described, it has to be the 1800s?)
The other is the immense amount of various kinds of violence the protagonists, particularly Lucy, experience. I understand that they are realistic for the setting, but I found reading such a bleak story very draining and had to force myself to pick the book up again.
To illustrate this, here’s a non-exhaustive list of violent events from the novel:
Physical and psychological child abuse Racism, including racial slurs Violence against animals, including a man purposefully breaking a three-legged dog’s last functioning hind-leg. A grown man hitting on a 12-year-old girl Two kids carrying around their father’s corpse for two months, with detailed description of said corpse’s decay
Nope. I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Animal cruelty
cass_lit's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Racism, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Drug abuse
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape
jialianyang's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Cursing, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Death, Eating disorder, Blood, Excrement, Racism, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Gun violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence
majo_hun's review
4.0
Moderate: Racial slurs
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
jamesdavid's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Rape, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual violence, Animal death, Transphobia, and Sexual assault
lottiegasp's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Xenophobia and Racism
Minor: Sexual violence