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rlawkdal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Nothing like a collection of short stories to get me back into reading print—I really liked Severance which is why I checked this book out from the library. It has the similar haunted/cursed quality of slightly odd characters in pretty absurd situations having very relatable dilemmas and flaws viewed from a meta viewpoint that feels like an endless zooming out of a break of the fourth wall. I realize this sentence is not coherent in any way but my brain has rotted from pretty much exclusively passive consumption of youtube and tiktok videos and I lack the words to better articulate how this book made me felt. G, Office Hours, Returning were stand outs to me. (I felt like I was trudging through the beginning but got more immersed towards the later stories, probably would have given a lower rating if the order of the stories had been different). Yeti Lovemaking was by far my least favorite story. My feelings towards the narrator kept changing, but I was constantly unbelievably AGGRAVATED by one of male characters in each story: Adam, Levi, Sean, the 'cleaning supply salesman', the DOCTOR... but I think it's through the characters that Ling Ma is able to make the absurd seem normal and it's quite the experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Medical content
martinatan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Because I had this as an audiobook, there are w few stories that went completely over my head so I can’t fully attest to every moment of the collection. That being said, I really enjoyed the strange and diverse array of concepts that the different narrators found themselves in the middle of. Audiobooks make it a little difficult to catch when the narrator would change, but it was a cool moment to see the accent of one character signify a POV shift in one of the stories. As a Chinese American, I also really appreciated the relatable experiences with microaggressions, family dynamics that were key to the narratives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Murder
kkulhannie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
plxtoprojector's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Medical content, Grief, and Stalking
Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
clovetra's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
i went in thinking i was gonna love this book. and my main criticism was that i was just bored.
reading this i fully understand why people would love this! i just did not like the writing style at all. and i don't even mean all the speculative fiction. the voice used just didn't vibe with me. it felt very soulless and made me bored. but i did want to see what happened so this is why i did not dnf (also i didn't want any dnfs for 2023 lol don't ask me why) (its probably my autism)
i found it overall incredibly hard to connect with the writing, and not many of the stories were memorable to me.
now a big issue i could've possible had with this book is that this is very. ummm. Smart. writing. and i read this when i had covid! so i may have simply been too dumb to comprehend this and im not even joking bro covid gives me worms for brains.
i found this hard to rank too! like some stories i loved and some i wanted to claw my eyes out because of boredom. in the end i decided to just average out my scores per story but i did round down because ummmmm i wanted to. so lets delve into the stories individually !
los angeles: ok lowkey an odd way to start an anthology! um i kind of enjoyed this one? i liked how it ties into the next one but. the ending is weird. i also did not get what metaphor this is supposed to be! like i couldn't tell if she actually had 100 boyfriends living with her or if she was just a bit insane. did have a bit of a fun time though i won't lie. 2/5
oranges: this one fades into the background for me. i feel like the overall meaning is a bit clearer, as is the protag's voice. i cannot remember anything remarkable about this except where she enters the house. 1/5
g: so cute! this one actually had my attention, as i could empathise with the narrator, but yet again i have no idea what happens at the end lmao. could be my covid brain forgetting what i previously read, could be because my brain thought it wasn't important. the world will never know. 3/5
yeti lovemaking: easily one of the best in this anthology. so insane. balls to the wall core. i love the tenderness displayed and also just how insane this concept is. 4/5
returning: umm this was crazy! i love how a random country was made up i think that's so silly in a good way. anyways i like the interpersonal conflict, as well as the small exerpts from the in universe book. 3/5
office hours: ehh. it was a story. i didn't really find anything to enjoy in this. i think this is just a personal taste thing here, as i could see how this would be considered amazing. i kind of didn't like the protagonist, and not in a "love to hate" way but in a "ur boring" way. oops. 2/5
peking duck: ugh this was great. i forgot i was reading in this one. no comments. 5/5
tomorrow:aaaannnddd im bored again. i did like the dystopian-reality-core, but im sorry the arm really freaked me the fuck out. i could NOT get over the arm. also, with the other stories the ambiguous endings were chill! this ending just annoyed me ngl. i honestly think this should've been moved to the middle as for me, it ruins the pacing of the stories, and probably flows better next to g. but that's just me also shoving the stories i didn't like into one place. also i didn't write this so i should shut the fuck up. anyways personally this is a 2/5.
um i kind of want to read Severance because I've heard such good shit about it!!!! but i also heard good shit bout this and i didn't particularly live laugh love so. we'll see.
anyways much love clover-nation. and ling ma. mainly ling ma im so sorry my love
reading this i fully understand why people would love this! i just did not like the writing style at all. and i don't even mean all the speculative fiction. the voice used just didn't vibe with me. it felt very soulless and made me bored. but i did want to see what happened so this is why i did not dnf (also i didn't want any dnfs for 2023 lol don't ask me why) (its probably my autism)
i found it overall incredibly hard to connect with the writing, and not many of the stories were memorable to me.
now a big issue i could've possible had with this book is that this is very. ummm. Smart. writing. and i read this when i had covid! so i may have simply been too dumb to comprehend this and im not even joking bro covid gives me worms for brains.
i found this hard to rank too! like some stories i loved and some i wanted to claw my eyes out because of boredom. in the end i decided to just average out my scores per story but i did round down because ummmmm i wanted to. so lets delve into the stories individually !
los angeles: ok lowkey an odd way to start an anthology! um i kind of enjoyed this one? i liked how it ties into the next one but. the ending is weird. i also did not get what metaphor this is supposed to be! like i couldn't tell if she actually had 100 boyfriends living with her or if she was just a bit insane. did have a bit of a fun time though i won't lie. 2/5
oranges: this one fades into the background for me. i feel like the overall meaning is a bit clearer, as is the protag's voice. i cannot remember anything remarkable about this except where she enters the house. 1/5
g: so cute! this one actually had my attention, as i could empathise with the narrator, but yet again i have no idea what happens at the end lmao. could be my covid brain forgetting what i previously read, could be because my brain thought it wasn't important. the world will never know. 3/5
yeti lovemaking: easily one of the best in this anthology. so insane. balls to the wall core. i love the tenderness displayed and also just how insane this concept is. 4/5
returning: umm this was crazy! i love how a random country was made up i think that's so silly in a good way. anyways i like the interpersonal conflict, as well as the small exerpts from the in universe book. 3/5
office hours: ehh. it was a story. i didn't really find anything to enjoy in this. i think this is just a personal taste thing here, as i could see how this would be considered amazing. i kind of didn't like the protagonist, and not in a "love to hate" way but in a "ur boring" way. oops. 2/5
peking duck: ugh this was great. i forgot i was reading in this one. no comments. 5/5
tomorrow:aaaannnddd im bored again. i did like the dystopian-reality-core, but im sorry the arm really freaked me the fuck out. i could NOT get over the arm. also, with the other stories the ambiguous endings were chill! this ending just annoyed me ngl. i honestly think this should've been moved to the middle as for me, it ruins the pacing of the stories, and probably flows better next to g. but that's just me also shoving the stories i didn't like into one place. also i didn't write this so i should shut the fuck up. anyways personally this is a 2/5.
um i kind of want to read Severance because I've heard such good shit about it!!!! but i also heard good shit bout this and i didn't particularly live laugh love so. we'll see.
anyways much love clover-nation. and ling ma. mainly ling ma im so sorry my love
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
marissab's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Weird, but in a really good way!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
siebensommer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
favourites: oranges, returning, office hours
She wanted a homecoming, whatever that meant. Maybe it was to be overwhelmed by déjà vu, a staggering tsunami wave.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Classism
mraddd's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cultural appropriation
surlyjackson's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
5.0
Working at a mostly used bookstore, I try to curb my spending by waiting for books on my TBR to appear in the used stock at the store, versus ordering it new. This is why I've yet to read Ling Ma's Severance despite it being one of my most anticipated reads. I think it's a testament to her writing quality that it has yet to appear. Ling Ma has mastered the art of showing, not telling. She uses vivid, poetic language to articulate even the most abstracted of concepts. The main through lines of the collection were abusive or unhealthy relationships and the tribulations of being an Asian immigrant in America. As an Asian immigrant that was seen her fair share of abusive relationships, I felt these stories to my core, an almost eerie amount that it felt like holding a mirror to my life. At times the endings felt too abrupt, but it's to be expected of a short story collection and do not fault the book on that. I just want more, need more.
Needless to say, I have just ordered Severance.
Many thanks to NetGalley and FSG for a copy of this beautiful book for review.
Needless to say, I have just ordered Severance.
Many thanks to NetGalley and FSG for a copy of this beautiful book for review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Medical content
Moderate: Racism and Death of parent