Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Strange Beasts of China

Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

18 reviews

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

charlie_cheese's review

Go to review page

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

americattt's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

elisaviihde's review

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This is a novel about beasts yet it is so very human by the end.

Content Warnings

lanid's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

spaceteapot's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

flyawaytruelove's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

It was a light read to me! I was not expecting the change in format; rather than being one solid story, it instead is divided up into short stories that deal with each type of beast. Looking back, I appreciate this format as it helps highlight each type specifically whereas in a typical format, it might be hard to include everyone.

My favorite type of beast was the Joyous Beasts. I personally thought their lifecycle was the most unique (and maybe a bit horrifying) out of all of them. Heartsick Beasts are a close second.

I didn't feel like the narrator developed too drastically as the book. There were some points where her behavior felt a bit predictable, but she developed! Maybe as not as I hoped.

Overall, I think it's a good read! It's short and sweet so no harm in trying it.

Content Warnings

theatrix's review

Go to review page

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

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

More...