A review by thelibrarydweller
Strange Beasts of China by Yan Ge

4.0

Thank you to @Librofm for the gifted ALC audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

This is a Chinese translated novel about magical beasts who live among humans in a fictional city in China. I enjoyed this but found the last two chapters a bit chaotic and confusing. Overall the story was very lyrical and reminded me a lot of The Empress of Salt and Fortune so if you enjoyed that maybe check this out! The audiobook was very good as well.

-the beasts all look cool and have their own abilities & places in society
-each chapter is about a different beast the main character encounters
-the main character is a cryptozoologist student turned writer
-each chapter feel like its own short story, they are all connected by the progression of the MC’s life
-my fav chapters were 1 & 3
-the stories have commentary on society. Environmental issues, the controlling government who only cares about money, etc.
-Lots of commentary on humanity, and how humans treat nonhuman species badly even when they are innocent.
-Almost like the humans have the least humanity of all the beasts

Overall this was a thought provoking story that I would recommend for fans of fantasy and magical realism stories.