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lucky_stars's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I want to get my hands on the original Chinese since I definitely feel like some things had to be lost in translation. (Even if my Chinese isn’t the best, I’d be willing to struggle for this if I get the extra money to purchase a copy of 异兽志).
Although I might also be saying that because I spent a good portion of the book feeling like I was missing something. Sometimes things connected in ways that seemed impossible since the supposed conclusion reached in one story was contradicted in another.
The narrator’s relationship with the professor was one that endlessly confused me, even as it intrigued me. At times I thought they were lovers, other times just more disappointed mentor and student, and with the Heartsick Beasts story maybe literal creator and invention . The only consistency was the very unhealthy relationship, a common thread in a book that blurs the line between what it means to be beastly. (Lucia is perfect though and I won’t hear a word against her.)
The beasts are brilliantly constructed, although repetitive at times since there is so much death and melancholy. My favorite stories were the Impasse Beasts, the Heartsick Beasts, and the Flourishing Beasts.
The setting of Yong’an is hard to pin down. Most of the time is spent in either the Dolphin Bar or the narrator’s apartment, with a whole lot of un-described mostly unremarkable restaurants that Zhong Liang drags her to. However, despite this, I couldn’t offer a description of any of these locations. There are references to more concrete areas when talking about where the beasts live that are more conversational. These places feel real and made me feel like the narrator was letting me in on some deep secret. The timeline is similarly opaque. You’re left in this timeless place where the only way you can track things is based on subtle hits from secondary characters (their deaths, their institutionalization, their references to the narrator’s books/newspaper column being published). It’s very hypnotic and surreal. It’s strange yes (made even stranger by the epilogue), but there’s whimsy in it even as the beasts brutally commit suicide or otherwise die.
Common thematic ideas: Beasts are whoever the government decides to disenfranchise; Living must include pain to be worthwhile and Death is inevitable (and even an escape from living); People are beasts; Identity is a narrative, not a static idea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Dementia and Vomit
charlie_cheese's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
the grief of figuring out everything too late and the humanity of the other........ great themes in this guy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Gore, Police brutality, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: War, Body horror, and Forced institutionalization
americattt's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
"We'll be dead, but new people will arrive. Back to the beginning, on and on. As for us, we'll meet again in the distance, perhaps as strangers who once brushed past each other. That's destiny."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Suicide
chocolate_pondue's review
I liked the story of the beasts even though they were all sorrowful. However the underlying story of main character and those around her was getting tedious and annoying. All the main character seemed to do was drink, have nightmares, and cry. She had her hand in the solution to some of the stories but it all just to be happening around her and not with her. Overall, I was getting tired of the repetitiveness of the stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, Genocide, Alcohol, Grief, Vomit, Alcoholism, Death, and Violence
lanid's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, and Death
Minor: Gore, Vomit, Grief, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
tigger89's review
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is a strange — but not unsuccessful — hybrid of short story collection and novel. Each chapter stands well on its own, and the first few especially could easily be read out of order. But as the story develops, each chapter builds on what came before, and by the end the reader is expected to draw on a full knowledge of the story to comprehend the whole. In addition, each chapter is bookended by bestiary-inspired text, first introducing and then concluding the species of beast that particular chapter concerns itself with. Despite my initial confusion as to what type of book I held in my hands, I wound up enjoying the unique format, particularly the way the closing bestiary entry would tie the chapter together so matter-of-factly.
The beasts themselves were often used as a mirror to focus the reader's attention on a troubling aspect of human society or behavior. I was strongly reminded of a manga series I'd enjoyed as a teen, Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino. It's not that the story is that similar — for one, the horror elements in Strange Beasts are much lower-key — but I feel like it carried some similar themes at its heart, in terms of commentary on society. I want to write about my favorite chapters and why I liked them, but all of my favorite parts were the bitter twists in the story, things I can't allude to without spoiling them. There is more to it than what I can say here, though. The story evolves and deepens as the chapters go on, uncovering a situation far more complex than it first appears to be.
However, for as much detail as she gave the beasts and societal structures, the day-to-day details of the shops, transit, bars, and so on are left incredibly vague. I found this to be frustrating, feeling as if gaps had been left for the reader to connect the fictional world to the real world. But as I'm not from China, I struggled to know what real-world defaults to fill those gaps with. I'm also not sure if it was an issue in translation or the way the character was originally written, but I didn't find the protagonist to be very pleasant. She was constantly playing social games with people, saying only no-no-no while expecting to be begged around to a yes. I have no patience for this in my life, and as the story went on it began to grate on me in fiction as well. But as I said, this might be something culturally that did not translate.
Speaking of cultural issues, there's one chapter that I feel needs a specific content warning. The depiction of Prime Beasts in Chapter 8 may be disturbing to some readers, due to the beasts being described as dark-skinned and possessing several traits stereotypically associated with real-world Black populations in western society. I doubt it was deliberate due to the author being Chinese and none of the other beasts being ethnicity-coded that I noticed, but it was enough to make me do a double-take. While it's not really fair to hold an author accountable for cultural readings outside of her own culture, that doesn't mean such content won't disturb an unaware reader. So, be aware if that's something that might bother you. Unfortunately, that one's probably not a skipable chapter.
The beasts themselves were often used as a mirror to focus the reader's attention on a troubling aspect of human society or behavior. I was strongly reminded of a manga series I'd enjoyed as a teen, Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino. It's not that the story is that similar — for one, the horror elements in Strange Beasts are much lower-key — but I feel like it carried some similar themes at its heart, in terms of commentary on society. I want to write about my favorite chapters and why I liked them, but all of my favorite parts were the bitter twists in the story, things I can't allude to without spoiling them. There is more to it than what I can say here, though. The story evolves and deepens as the chapters go on, uncovering a situation far more complex than it first appears to be.
However, for as much detail as she gave the beasts and societal structures, the day-to-day details of the shops, transit, bars, and so on are left incredibly vague. I found this to be frustrating, feeling as if gaps had been left for the reader to connect the fictional world to the real world. But as I'm not from China, I struggled to know what real-world defaults to fill those gaps with. I'm also not sure if it was an issue in translation or the way the character was originally written, but I didn't find the protagonist to be very pleasant. She was constantly playing social games with people, saying only no-no-no while expecting to be begged around to a yes. I have no patience for this in my life, and as the story went on it began to grate on me in fiction as well. But as I said, this might be something culturally that did not translate.
Speaking of cultural issues, there's one chapter that I feel needs a specific content warning. The depiction of Prime Beasts in Chapter 8 may be disturbing to some readers, due to the beasts being described as dark-skinned and possessing several traits stereotypically associated with real-world Black populations in western society. I doubt it was deliberate due to the author being Chinese and none of the other beasts being ethnicity-coded that I noticed, but it was enough to make me do a double-take. While it's not really fair to hold an author accountable for cultural readings outside of her own culture, that doesn't mean such content won't disturb an unaware reader. So, be aware if that's something that might bother you. Unfortunately, that one's probably not a skipable chapter.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Car accident
laurareads87's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Strange Beasts of China follows an unnamed narrator who writes about beasts: creatures of various kinds who inhabit the city of Yong'an and who are different in some way but 'otherwise are just the same as humans.' Each chapter relates the story of one type of beast, while also touching on the relationships between the narrator and other characters, particularly her professor and his assistant. The whole book has a sort of eerie, mysterious tone, and the writing is beautiful. The author addresses many themes -- labour exploitation, gendered oppression, urban alienation, grief -- in nuanced ways. I will say I did like the beginning of the book more than the ending, and the 'twists' at the end felt abrupt and a bit out of place, but overall I really enjoyed this and would happily read more from the same author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Suicide, Violence, Misogyny, Death, Medical content, Sexism, Grief, Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Cannibalism
jayisreading's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.5
I feel like I was stuck in a haze as I read this book, not entirely sure what was happening for a lot of it. I don’t know if this was a translation issue or what, but it made it hard to stay totally engaged. It could very well be that Yan Ge’s writing style just isn’t for me, since I really didn’t enjoy The Chilli Bean Paste Clan. That being said, I did find Strange Beasts of China far more intriguing and better written/translated, even if the book was a bit repetitive in the end. I can’t help but wonder if I would have enjoyed this book more if a different author had written it, admittedly.
I’d be curious to know about the social commentary that’s being made in this book and its connections to Chinese society, specifically (or maybe just generally). There’s an interesting thread throughout these stories that focuses on how beasts are taken advantage of and mistreated, as well as an exploration of tradition versus modernity.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Body horror, and Suicide
theatrix's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was a quick and engrossing and thought-provoking read, but also challenging, both due to the wide range of disturbing themes (there are many, but most are touched on pretty briefly), and due to the style, which doesn't baby you with explanations and trusts you to put pieces together yourself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Abandonment, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Stalking, Chronic illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Pregnancy, Torture, Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Slavery, Trafficking, and Vomit
thenovelmaura's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
My friend Gabrielle (@overbookedbibliophile) gave me the best audiobook recommendation for this book I'd never heard of. She totally gets me and I'm obsessed with this weird and wonderful story. My review is in the form of a list of things I enjoyed about it that will hopefully encourage you to read it too.
- <250 pages: What can I say, I liked that Ge kept things short and sweet here.
- Books in translation: I find it fascinating that I'm effectively reading the combined work of two writers: the original author and the translator.
- Audiobook narrated by Emily Woo Zeller: I immediately recognized her voice from when I listened to White Ivy and she did an amazing job with both books!
- Unnamed narrator: I liked the contrast between the narrator being a very popular and recognizable writer in her city while the reader doesn't even know her name.
- Bestiary set in a bustling city: Each chapter of this book is about a different beast, and the chapters are bookended with explanations about the beasts' appearances, habits, and social structures. In between these sections lie the adventures of our author/zoologist narrator, who writes stories about the beasts she encounters in this strange city. I loved this setup and how the beasts were not always as they appeared in the chapter openings.
- Noir vibes: Most of the chapters were written like short detective stories, with our cynical narrator wandering through the smoky streets and in and out of the Dolphin Bar in her search for clues about the beasts. The mood was dark and contemplative, interspersed with bits of humor as characters poke fun at and hang up the phone on one another.
This book lives up to its name and I loved being transported to the fictional Yong'an on my walks to and from work earlier this year!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, and Death