A review by makealongstorycourt
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

3.75

I appreciated the feminist perspective of the 1940s communist regime in China. I found the middle of the book to be a little slow and the plot really relied upon the “traveling between locations” at times, which can cause a little boredom on my part. THE BOOK OF LONGINGS is a masterclass on transitioning between setting/time without so much prose. I wish this book had had that balance, because I do feel like that’s where the majority of my critiques arise with this one. 

Other than the pacing, this is really a fantastic debut novel. It is clearly well researched and conveys physical and emotional trauma in a gripping way. I look forward to seeing more from this author in the future!

Thanks to @berkleypub and @netgalley for the digital review copy!