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horizonous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I think this type of short story collections, where the stories all follow a connected thread work a lot better for me than a book filled with separate stories.
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
lucky_stars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Toxic relationship, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Vomit and Dementia
breeoxd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Genocide, Slavery, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Colonisation
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault
charlie_cheese's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Moderate: Gore, Self harm, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Forced institutionalization, and War
chocolate_pondue's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
tigger89's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The beasts themselves were often used as a mirror to focus the reader's attention on a troubling aspect of human society or behavior. I was strongly reminded of a manga series I'd enjoyed as a teen, Pet Shop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino. It's not that the story is that similar — for one, the horror elements in Strange Beasts are much lower-key — but I feel like it carried some similar themes at its heart, in terms of commentary on society. I want to write about my favorite chapters and why I liked them, but all of my favorite parts were the bitter twists in the story, things I can't allude to without spoiling them. There is more to it than what I can say here, though. The story evolves and deepens as the chapters go on, uncovering a situation far more complex than it first appears to be.
However, for as much detail as she gave the beasts and societal structures, the day-to-day details of the shops, transit, bars, and so on are left incredibly vague. I found this to be frustrating, feeling as if gaps had been left for the reader to connect the fictional world to the real world. But as I'm not from China, I struggled to know what real-world defaults to fill those gaps with. I'm also not sure if it was an issue in translation or the way the character was originally written, but I didn't find the protagonist to be very pleasant. She was constantly playing social games with people, saying only no-no-no while expecting to be begged around to a yes. I have no patience for this in my life, and as the story went on it began to grate on me in fiction as well. But as I said, this might be something culturally that did not translate.
Speaking of cultural issues, there's one chapter that I feel needs a specific content warning. The depiction of Prime Beasts in Chapter 8 may be disturbing to some readers, due to the beasts being described as dark-skinned and possessing several traits stereotypically associated with real-world Black populations in western society. I doubt it was deliberate due to the author being Chinese and none of the other beasts being ethnicity-coded that I noticed, but it was enough to make me do a double-take. While it's not really fair to hold an author accountable for cultural readings outside of her own culture, that doesn't mean such content won't disturb an unaware reader. So, be aware if that's something that might bother you. Unfortunately, that one's probably not a skipable chapter.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Suicide, and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident
laurareads87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Cannibalism
spaceteapot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body horror, Vomit, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Car accident
theatrix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
charleyroxy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Strange Beasts of China is the most recent offering from Tilted Axis Press and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Written by Yan Ge over ten years ago, when she was just 21, and recently translated beautifully from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang. I was interested, though not surprised, when I found out this novel was originally released episodically for a monthly publication. There is a definite storyline that runs throughout but each beasts profile and story could stand on its own.
We are whisked along by our nameless protagonist, who was once a promising cryptozoologist and now a novelist, to the city of Yong'an. The city is populated by a host of beasts that have sometimes visible and sometimes invisible effects on the inhabitants. The novelist is trying to make deadlines for each beast story while juggling interactions with her friends and colleagues (enigmatic former professor, her boisterous friend Charley and another zoology student, Zhong Liang), looking for the different beasts and binge drinking at the Dolphin Bar.
I really enjoyed spending time in Yong'an and, whenever I put the book down, I couldn't wait to get back to the city. There many aspects of the writing I loved from the language used to the forumlaic way each chapter was organized: here is what we know about the beast, the action takes place, revelation and the truth. I was always reading with a large amount of anticipation and searching for clues everywhere. I also loved the layers. There was the story but there was also a lot of commentary as well like how as humans we often seem to be fearful of and try to destroy things we do not understand.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit