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traciereads's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Death, Grief, Dysphoria, Cancer, Ableism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment
singrequiem's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Cancer, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Medical trauma, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Chronic illness, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
Minor: Classism and Colonisation
There are graphic descriptions of decomposition and bodily changes in a detached, clinical way. (Alongside less detached scenes)saric7's review
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death of parent, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Suicide, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
unsuccessfulbookclub's review
- 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
Graphic: Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Xenophobia, Body horror, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Pregnancy, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
yooniereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Nagamatsu’s anthology is so visceral and heartbreaking because of the expanse of stories you follow through. What I love about this is how he trusts his audience— he doesn’t spoon feed you the whole picture, because he trusts you to unravel it. That factor lends to how palpable and real these stories felt. His use of language is so intentional, and his writing draws you in so easily in the short handful of pages these characters exist in. You root for them, you cry for them, and you definitely feel for them. It’s simply so masterful at that!
And because of how it closes in on how the big, big chunks of history affects an individual, it’s a good thinking piece of how our social reality constructs so much of how we grieve, how we love, and how we feel. And since you’re following these stories through a span of so many years, you see how it affects people from different walks of life: those who lived before the plague, those born during, and even those born after.
This book is certainly existential, and I know I will spend days thinking of and crying over certain lines. That’s what I love about it. It holds up a mirror to our own current landscape and says, “This is what it means to be human.” I highly recommend, and I hope it brings you the same sense of solace it gave me. :)
Graphic: Suicide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Medical content
Moderate: Medical trauma and Pregnancy
daisylady's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Animal death, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death of parent, Death, and Confinement
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism