gigireadswithkiki 's review for:

Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

5.0

adventurous emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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"Strange Beasts of China" truly felt like a perfect melding of literary fiction and fantasy. Told through the lens of an amateur cryptozoologist as she documents the many beasts of Yong'an, the author Yan Ge masterfully breaks down each Beast into its own chapter, with the preface of each being a fascinating physical and personality-based description of the Beasts, akin to a museum info plaque. Although each Beast's chapter is distinct and unique, the stories are tied together through our main character and the progression of her observations on how the Beasts alter the human sociopolitical landscape. Yan Ge dives deeply into the crytozoologist's psyche, slowly unfolding the character's backstory, motives, and ennui throughout each story. Though there are times when there are snippets of plotless literary fiction, the fantastical elements balance them all super well, and I really enjoyed my experience reading this.