Reviews

I enjoyed this a lot. Okay, maybe "enjoyed" isn't the right word seeing as there is death, torture, misery and a lot of general unfairness... but it was a compulsively readable book that made me grateful that I was born in the time and place I was. And it was an interesting education on Chinese history, politics and culture.

sosohk's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

monicaa_d's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An incredible story of a family and their experience with communist China. The author and her relatives all endured unthinkable hardships as a result of China's political upheaval, and showed nearly unwavering strength and resolve.

The best and the worst of humanity is lain bare for the reader. The author spells out the difficulties her family went through, while acknowledging that they were luckier than many- stories of other families destroyed are plenty, and details are not spared.

The overall narrative not only helps identify how and why the Communist party came to power and the effect on the people, but is a fascinating story of a family through the generations.

Readability ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Impact ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

chekareadswhat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

mgaunty's review against another edition

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4.0

I really can't express the amount of love I have for this book. The amazing story of Jung Chang's family history kept me immersed like no other book has before, it taught me so much about the Chinese Revolution in a fantastic way.
I admit the amount of pages gave me a sense of dread as I'm a reader who finds it a challenge to stick with lengthy reads, but I truly wasn't able to put this book down. Couldn't recommend it more.

jmarchek's review against another edition

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4.0

I missed this discussion for book club, but I really loved the book. It was especially great to have read before traveling to China myself. You see aspects of each of the women's lives as you travel across China. This is a long, yet fascinating book.

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