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A review by hannahsheil
Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I feel very conflicted and slightly confused on how I feel about this book. I wanted it to be good, I really did, but there’s something generally about it that is just off. 

Things I had issues with:
 
  • the fact that everyone just goes along with her pretending to be someone who is clearly decades older
  • The whole main relationship: she gets into a relationship with the woman who is supposed to be her daughter (who is also almost 10 years younger)???
  • We’re simultaneously supposed to hate the rich but also feel for them; they’re so complicated but then they literally bribe the police after a kid is killed 
  • Ending is super rushed and kind of random. Where does her kid come from? What are all of these random ventures she takes part in? Why do we still care for the dead situationship and why is this the way we’re spending our last days on earth? Even the smog disappearing was just like yaya everything is ok <3 like what 
  • We never even find out what happened to Eun-Young — they just keep hinting that she was killed but also left on her own so who knows

Was really expecting there to be some human meat consumed at this compound, though I did not want that and would probably be even more confused about the book if that was included. Although I feel like there were some moments that hinted at the possibility.

I also did not expect romance / relationship to be such a big part of the book. 

Overall, not the worst thing I’ve ever read, just not the best either. There was a lot of things that could’ve been expanded upon; it’s a really interesting (and relevant) concept to consider, but meh. 

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