arnoles 's review for:

Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

3.0

informative sad medium-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: No

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This book is interesting conceptually and sheds light on an important, horrific, and often overlooked era of America's past. But the plot was very scattered for me. It didn't seem like we got any forward momentum -- the whole plot felt one step forward, two steps back. The characters also felt very flat to me, especially the peripheral characters. I also HATED the ending -- not saying it was a bad ending story-wise, but a book that is so unrelentingly bleak and depressing isn't really for me.