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foreverinastory's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was something else. If you really do not like snakes, don't read this one. There's lots of snakes especially cobras and other venomous ones. And a snake nose man--inserts a snake in his nose. It was very gross.
Rep: Biracial Vietnamese-American cishet female MC, cishet Vietnamese cast.
CWs: Blood, body horror (including swapping bodies and possession), drug use/abuse, death, murder, animal cruelty (capturing snakes to take venom, attempted dog kidnapping to take to a restaurant), gore, injury/injury detail, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual violence, snakes, suicide, toxic friendship, violence, xenophobia. Moderate: Misogyny, incest, rape, attempted necrophilia, colonisation, sexism. Minor: eating disorder, cursing, racism, war.
Rep: Biracial Vietnamese-American cishet female MC, cishet Vietnamese cast.
CWs: Blood, body horror (including swapping bodies and possession), drug use/abuse, death, murder, animal cruelty (capturing snakes to take venom, attempted dog kidnapping to take to a restaurant), gore, injury/injury detail, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual violence, snakes, suicide, toxic friendship, violence, xenophobia. Moderate: Misogyny, incest, rape, attempted necrophilia, colonisation, sexism. Minor: eating disorder, cursing, racism, war.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, Xenophobia, Body horror, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Incest, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, and Colonisation
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Racism, and War
whatellisreadnext's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต.
In 1986, a teenage girl gets lost in an abandoned rubber plantation, and is forever changed. 25 years later, an unhappy Vietnamese-American woman vanishes without a trace.
This book was fantastic. I read it a few months back, and have just been sitting with my feelings on it. Not quite being sure how to articulate them, but it's well deserved Women's Prize nomination felt like the perfect time to try. Build Your House Around My Body does so much. It is vast and winding and absolutely brilliant.
Part of the fun is going on this journey not knowing how it's all connected, just going with the flow of it, and getting that giddy feeling when a character from a past chapter pops into one of the other story lines. I loved how these characters were hidden throughout the narrative, how in one they'd be named and others just referred to as 'the medium' or 'the policeman', it made putting two and two together even more rewarding.
The only reason this wasn't a 4 star read, is because it took me a lot of time and brain power. Don't get me wrong I loved this, but it didn't have that effortless reading sparkle that makes me give a book 5 stars, but it came pretty damn close. It was empowering, and dark and chock-full of dry humour. Plus the ending, and how it all came together was brilliant. If you've been thinking about reading this, here's your push to do it, I very much doubt you'll regret it.
In 1986, a teenage girl gets lost in an abandoned rubber plantation, and is forever changed. 25 years later, an unhappy Vietnamese-American woman vanishes without a trace.
This book was fantastic. I read it a few months back, and have just been sitting with my feelings on it. Not quite being sure how to articulate them, but it's well deserved Women's Prize nomination felt like the perfect time to try. Build Your House Around My Body does so much. It is vast and winding and absolutely brilliant.
Part of the fun is going on this journey not knowing how it's all connected, just going with the flow of it, and getting that giddy feeling when a character from a past chapter pops into one of the other story lines. I loved how these characters were hidden throughout the narrative, how in one they'd be named and others just referred to as 'the medium' or 'the policeman', it made putting two and two together even more rewarding.
The only reason this wasn't a 4 star read, is because it took me a lot of time and brain power. Don't get me wrong I loved this, but it didn't have that effortless reading sparkle that makes me give a book 5 stars, but it came pretty damn close. It was empowering, and dark and chock-full of dry humour. Plus the ending, and how it all came together was brilliant. If you've been thinking about reading this, here's your push to do it, I very much doubt you'll regret it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Suicide, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
anxiousnachos's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5 stars. This was so good, it was like a jigsaw puzzle of a book, full of so many different stories that all came together at the end to make sense of the mystery. Itโs a horror, ghost story based on Vietnamese folklore, and these elements were so fascinating. There was also big emphasis on the impact colonisation has had on Vietnam, identity (particularly that of being a biracial Vietnamese American), mental health, and female rage, alongside the ghostly elements. Winnie and Binhโs characters were both absolutely brilliant, so brutally raw at times, I felt particularly drawn to Winnie, the biracial character in modern day Vietnam who is deeply depressed and wants to disappear. I thought this was a really fantastic debut, if you like slow, puzzle-like books, then definitely check this one out!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Murder
regal_leaves's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith is a a creepy, fever dream of a novel about two young women who go missing decades apart, both are fearless and lost. And they will both have their revenge.
Right off the bat โ this book is like nothing Iโve read before and in all honestly I donโt know how to describe the experience of reading it. Thereโs magical realism, ghosts, two headed serpents and so much more that will have you on the edge of your seat while reading.
For the most part weโre trying to piece together Winnieโs story as we learn of her disappearance in the first chapter. There are a handful of intertwined timelines that all drop breadcrumbs of information, building to build a complex puzzle of anguish and horror set over several decades.
- READ FULL REVIEW AT https://wp.me/pbWTXv-74 -
- READ FULL REVIEW AT https://wp.me/pbWTXv-74 -
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, and Sexism
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