woolgatherer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
2.75
I had mixed feelings about this one. Bryant did a fantastic job with translation because it read wonderfully, and I can only imagine how it must have read in the original language. However, this can only go so far and I felt as though there was a lot left to be desired.
I think my biggest gripe was how there was a fixation on one woman from three perspectives (all men) and the complex feelings—a lot manifesting into love—they have for her. For a story so focused on one woman, it’s kind of incredible that the reader would be so detached from her. Maybe it’s because they were all through the lens of men and pretty much gave her no voice since it was all about what they thought of her. It would have been so interesting to have gotten her perspective on all of this but, alas, that wasn’t the case. Also, why is that each man was calling her by a different name, two of them just giving her one that they felt “suited” her? Ugh.
Another thing that really bothered me was how slow it was. It took me much longer than I would have liked to get through this book because the pacing was too slow for my taste. There was a lot of meandering, especially since each chapter was made up of reflective ramblings on the past from one of the three men. I lost interest pretty quickly and found myself skimming towards the end.
I have to commend Zhang for creating such a strong setting. Everything was clearly well-researched and she laid everything out well. Everything was well-detailed, which included particularly dark scenes that might leave some squeamish; I definitely grimaced at a couple. I think the decision to write unflinchingly was a deliberate one, though, just to show how bad it was during the Second World War in China. It was by no means a pleasant time in East Asia due to the Japanese— I can understand why she would want to highlight this to remind her reader of this.
It’s possible I wasn’t the right audience, because I think it’s objectively not a bad book. It just didn’t work for me is all and I found it somewhat boring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death
mdunajcik's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Death, and Violence
This is a book set in wartime with soldiers as main characters, so expect the horrors of war to be written about.backpackingbookworm's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
To begin, this book is beautifully translated and manages to perfectly capture the essence of Ah Yan and the three men who loved her in his own way. I really enjoyed the switching perspectives and the unique second-person life-after-death narrative. It gave the story a new dimension and very cleverly told the story of Ah Yan's life despite having no chapters delivered from her point of view.
The book explored multiple themes, including war, lust, honour, illness, and abuse, with each connecting Ah Yan to one of the narrators, depending on who experienced/witnessed the event(s) associated with each theme. It was very well constructed, however, I did feel like the ending was dragged out to the point where I did wonder if it was ever going to end.
I loved Ah Yan's character, her selflessness, her resilience, and her gracious nature to forgive despite being subjected to some of the most harrowing circumstances. I liked Pastor Billy but I wasn't as fond of the other narrators, especially after discovering how selfish each of their feelings was for Ah Yan. I do believe most redeemed themselves and felt a sense of guilt/failure in doing what was best for Ah Yan at the time rather than only thinking of themselves. It was good to see this character growth as each reflected on their memories with Ah Yan pre-death.
Overall an interesting novel that was beautifully written but just a little too long to keep my engagement levels as high as they were at the beginning of the novel.
Rating breakdown
The book explored multiple themes, including war, lust, honour, illness, and abuse, with each connecting Ah Yan to one of the narrators, depending on who experienced/witnessed the event(s) associated with each theme. It was very well constructed, however, I did feel like the ending was dragged out to the point where I did wonder if it was ever going to end.
I loved Ah Yan's character, her selflessness, her resilience, and her gracious nature to forgive despite being subjected to some of the most harrowing circumstances. I liked Pastor Billy but I wasn't as fond of the other narrators, especially after discovering how selfish each of their feelings was for Ah Yan. I do believe most redeemed themselves and felt a sense of guilt/failure in doing what was best for Ah Yan at the time rather than only thinking of themselves. It was good to see this character growth as each reflected on their memories with Ah Yan pre-death.
Overall an interesting novel that was beautifully written but just a little too long to keep my engagement levels as high as they were at the beginning of the novel.
Rating breakdown
- Plot/narrative - 3.8
- Writing style/readability - 4
- Characters - 3.9
- Diverse themes - 3.6
- Ending - 3.5
Overall - 3.8
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Animal death
More...