A review by applesodaperson
Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.75

Yeah this book really just didn’t speak to me. I ended up skimming half the stories because they were either so boring and forgettable, or confusing . I expected this book to be really good, but I felt like it had nothing to say really, and the short stories felt underwhelming, undeveloped, and disjointed. Los Angeles and Oranges were forgettable, which was not a good sign for the rest of the book. G was the most interesting story, with an interesting premise, and was definitely my favorite out of all of them. The ending was very sad though. Yeti Lovemaking started off so strong, with a cool premise, but right as it got interesting, it just ended. It was so abrupt and disappointing. Returning just had way too much going on, with too many plot lines for such a short story. I don’t even remember Office Hours honestly. Peking Duck was okay, and I liked the immigrant experience aspect, but the rest was forgettable. And yeah I don’t even remember Tomorrow, I think I just skimmed it to get the book over with. So yeah this book had pretty much every element of poorly done short story collections in my opinion. Very disappointed and I wish I didn’t read it.
Read from the BYU library.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings