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A review by mmccombs
But the Girl by Jessica Zhan Mei Yu
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
An absolute stunner! It was kind of slow build, but the way we were able to watch our narrator shift and evolve and contradict herself and grow a bit was so rewarding.
I love a book that grapples with itself (what is even the point of a book? Can we ever be truly honest about what we are trying to represent?) and a book that carves into the white supremacy at the heart of academia. The way Girl describes her relationship with her parents and Ah Ma, how they give and give to her while she drowns in the guilt of all that giving, was eye opening and so nuanced. I also really enjoyed the parts about Plath, I’m a casual enjoyer of her work but the narrator’s relationship with and musings on The Bell Jar and her poetry was very interesting. And her relationship with Clementine?! Don’t get me started…
The author’s writing felt pretty simple and straightforward at first, but then I’d be hit with just astonishing sentences and sit with them for a bit while my mind reeled. Wow, to be able to write like that?! Many highlights on this one!
I love a book that grapples with itself (what is even the point of a book? Can we ever be truly honest about what we are trying to represent?) and a book that carves into the white supremacy at the heart of academia. The way Girl describes her relationship with her parents and Ah Ma, how they give and give to her while she drowns in the guilt of all that giving, was eye opening and so nuanced. I also really enjoyed the parts about Plath, I’m a casual enjoyer of her work but the narrator’s relationship with and musings on The Bell Jar and her poetry was very interesting. And her relationship with Clementine?! Don’t get me started…
The author’s writing felt pretty simple and straightforward at first, but then I’d be hit with just astonishing sentences and sit with them for a bit while my mind reeled. Wow, to be able to write like that?! Many highlights on this one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation