Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Linghun by Ai Jiang

4 reviews

darlingkelly's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A truly unique and thought-provoking ghost story. This one will stay with me for a while.
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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging reflective sad 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? Yes

3.0

A really interesting novella about being unable to move on from grief and about immigration and how it affects people and their families. There was a little too much going on for me - the book was already so short and the character I found most interesting wasn't featured much until near the end - but a thought provoking read overall.
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howlinglibraries's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

 
This town worships the dead, but it has no respect for the living.

What an incredibly thought-provoking, tragic tale.

Linghun follows a high schooler name Wenqi and her family as they move into their new house in the HOME community: Homecoming of Missing Entities. The community is known for its spiritual activity, and when a family is lucky enough to buy a place to live therein, they do so with a near-guarantee that they'll be able to summon the spirit of a lost loved one into their new residence. Wenqi's family lost her older brother when he was a child, and her parents have never recovered, so they set right to work trying to bring his spirit into their world.

The idea of a family grieving a lost child is sad enough, but Linghun also dwells upon what that grief does to the living who are left behind, especially in an instance like this, where Wenqi feels neglected to the point that she tells us upfront she fully believes her mother would trade her for her dead brother in an instant. It's heartbreaking to watch the pain that she goes through, but it's hard at times to hate her mother when you see how broken this woman is, too.

HOME is such an interesting premise and I would eagerly read more stories set in this community because I'm just so fascinated by the idea of an entire neighborhood of haunted houses, especially ones like this where being haunted is the goal everyone aspires toward and not something to fear. The writing in this story was beautiful and I can certainly see why so many of my friends raved about this novella to me. It's a piece that will certainly be sticking with me for a long time and I'm excited to read more from Ai Jiang!

✨ Representation: Wenqi and her family, as well as numerous side characters, are Chinese; one side character uses they/them pronouns 
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perkyanda's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Really loved this complicated look at family and the ties that bind and heal and harm us. An important reminder that you need to love while people are around to appreciate it. 

Also, loved the short stories at the end being included! Especially the one invoking Sisyphus.
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