Reviews

I enjoyed the first half of the book and got through it quickly. It really slowed down for me in the second half. There is a ton of build up to Something Big that makes you want to get through it quickly to see what it is, but the ending leaves a lot of unknowns.

This is a book that made me stop and think and find alignment between dystopia and US past/present. I think there was an opportunity to really dive deeper into things with more character development. The book left me wanting more.

jcpdiesel21's review against another edition

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5.0

Incredibly moving. I have enjoyed all of Ng's books so far, but this one felt like it had a little more weight to it than the others and as a mother it hit me especially hard. I enjoyed getting the story first from Bird's more sheltered perspective, followed by an explanation for all of those missing years from his mother leading to a heartbreaking finale. I cannot even imagine having to choose between a child and a revolution that was unwittingly sparked, and my heart ached for Margaret. I especially appreciated the importance placed on libraries as well as books, poetry and storytelling within the story. Ng does a nice job of lifting from child relocation within history and anti-Asian sentiment that flared during the early days of COVID-19 to create the rich, semi-dystopian world on these pages.

jammons's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

piqandsee's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 rounding up.

Ok. I get what other reviewers are complaining about. Trust me I am not one for slow pacing. And when we finally get to Margaret and she’s literally just telling what she did like a non fiction essay, I was like wtf?!

And then we get to part 3.

Ok. I 100000000% get why part 2 was the way it was now. As well as part 1. Bird and Margaret were completely removed from their emotions through the split from each other because they had to: Bird because he had to survive and Margaret because she had to finish.
Because once we get to the end of part 2 and the two of them connect and open… the book feels so much more free and open and less secretive…

…and then you piece everything together why the rest of the book felt that way and I totally bawled my eyes out.

However, that doesn’t mean that getting through some of this wasn’t boring. It was.

But it was worth it.
It would have been 4-5 if that emotional thread could have been woven in a bit more deftly throughout instead of just feeling like it was tacked on to the end of part 2 through 3 (the shortest part of the book).

jillians24's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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