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sasuke's Reviews (152)
dark
reflective
tense
slow-paced
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Interesting themes with layers upon layers, many of them transparent until peeled back, as the title suggests. The world building has the charm of pre-Y2K sci-fi with its dystopian technological hyper-capitalistic future but no smartphones in sight, both very on the nose and slightly off. The context given by the essay at the end was very helpful towards appreciating the themes of this story and the cultural context in which it was created, which retroactively helped me appreciate the story more.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The experience of reading this book is hard to describe, a beautifully written story, harsh and gentle at once, and one that is hard to extract yourself from once you’ve entered from the very beginning and beyond the end. The tension is coiled very tightly and tightens; tension between characters, between times and history, in the physical world and it’s natural and supernatural elements this story occupies.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Writing that escapes a clear genre; a blend of poetry and poetic prose, fiction and creative nonfiction that beautifully describes such a dark period of history and all the cruelty and horror human beings are compelled to commit against one another. This book took over my mind a bit, like it was haunting me, to the point I couldn’t put it down. The allusions to American/Western media are both thematically and historically relevant, and felt to me like specters of the American-born neoliberalism that took over Chile from that time, giving a sense of both political and economic reality. Also a wonderful coincidence that the book’s ending features an allusion to Frankenstein which I’m reading next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
This edition with the essays was very helpful as an introduction to Kafka’s whole body of work. Love this short story and I love it more with the added critical analysis and background.
adventurous
reflective
An interesting anthology that is made better taken as a sum of its parts, which gives you a bit of an on-the-ground and in-the-hearts-and-minds tour of Shanghai and it’s residents. I enjoyed this anthology better for missing my chance to visit family there again before the Pandemic started. It gives a sense of nostalgia for the times I’ve lived there while also uncovering traces of life inaccessible to those of us outside the cultural and historical context of Shanghai.
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was slow until about halfway through. Tone was fun and light-hearted, conversational like hearing a long melodramatic anecdote from a new friend. The humanity of the characters made the story fun once the pace picked up and the intrigue began.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The writing was interesting and the interlocking story fragments were thought-provoking in their choice and structure. The first book on music I have read, actually, so I enjoyed it for the little meditations on music.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Such a fun book to read and live in, I’m sad to part ways with Beanstalk.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Somber, dark, tragic, but with points of light. Not a particularly light read but not overly heavy either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence