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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Poignantly brilliant. A gripping masterpiece of dark fantasy.
Pain, beauty, complexity, and nuance, neatly wrapped into a standalone—well written, balanced and perfectly paced.
I don't think I'll shut up about this any time soon. This book is perfection, except one tiny irrelevant detail (and I know I'm petty for this):
Graphic: Violence, Blood
Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, Classism
Minor: Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Sexism, Murder
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual violence
I think my biggest gripe is that the writing is very literal, the themes & lessons translated in a very heavy-handed way. And while I think that the FMC’s naïveté and density were purposeful and symbolic, that did not make her any less frustrating. Anyone with half an awareness of modern racial/colonialist issues will find the politics of this world extremely transparent, and while skin color was never explicitly mentioned, the FMC was obviously meant to represent a White Woman.
It felt like Wang was trying to make a statement about every single conceivable kind of oppression that’s ever existed, when it would have been more impactful with a slightly tighter focus. Obviously, the White Man™️ is the sole catalyst for all suffering - this point was beaten & emphasized over and over and over again. Let me be clear - I AGREE! But the writing lacked eloquent prose and graceful exploration of this. For example,
ASLO, I am desperately begging authors to stop writing FMC’s whose first instincts are to either cry or vomit. Why do I have to read about you sputtering and spewing chunks??
I guess I was holding out for creative prose and the je ne sais quois that I felt in SoK. Unfortunately, BOBH left me feeling like I had read “The Impacts of White Colonialism 101.”
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Classism
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Classism
Minor: Death of parent
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, War, Classism, Deportation
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War