lyctorhood's review
5.0
yes yes yes! big love to these stories organized around loss, hauntings, desire, and transformation. through them k-ming shows that so much abundance can come out of loss, that transformation is law and key, that appetite is way more useful than hope, that reality can be shaped and reshaped, spoken into being, inherited through telling, that there is no separation from your history/body/land and for better or for worse, nobody is truly isolated (defying the efforts of outside forces) because no myth, family, culture or ritual arises out of nowhere. all narrators mention an anecdote or superstition or memory acquired from and attached to someone else. they all make a point of referencing the building blocks of their worldview, unconcerned with accuracy or copyright. here stories can be everything except private, individual properties. in "the nine-headed bird" the narrator admits she belongs to "a family of people who are followed" which is the best way to describe all the characters in this collection who genuinely do form a kind of family. one h(a)unted by losses. a family that asks: what is a ghost? a family that answers: an outlawed language, or a broken-hearted widow, or a mother who died giving birth, or a son choosing to serve, or a stray bullet, or desire for another teen girl as a teen girl yourself, or only being allowed to buy one thing at the dollar store when your brothers get two.
the stories are so well-fed in creativity and liveliness and emotion. from bizarre to mundane all concepts are evenly-matched by the imaginative, bold, vivid writing. k-ming shows dedication to conveying sensation and creating clear images, it's so sensual. there’s so much attention to individual words and her poetry background is evident from the words to the structures to the narrative choices. all of the language is beautiful, a lot of it is disturbing and the balance is achieved perfectly. there’s a scene in "mariela" with two girls exchanging eyelashes and a tooth that made me gag in real life, but i see the beauty in it even when i’m very sensitive to any kind of teeth description. it's so funny cause k-ming chang loves a bloody mouth and cracked tooth imagery but it makes sense for the narration to contain so much of it when you understand that many of the surreal, bloody events depicted are about a character attempting to make the intangible concrete. as one narrator says "memory is meat" which these stories prove over and over. loved them all but these are my faves are "mandarin speakers", "xífù", "anchor", "dykes" (THEEEE SHORT STORY OF ALL TIME. reading it right after tazmuir's deepwater bride made me 10x more receptive to it), "eating pussy", "mariela" and "nüwa" <3
k-ming chang's really good at what she does. she's just getting started, but there is already a surety and weight in her writing. the mark of a true storyteller. picked this up wanting to get familiar with her writing before tackling bestiary (which i've wanted to do for over a year) and i'm so impressed and inspired and excited and to be honest? kinda jealous too omg
the stories are so well-fed in creativity and liveliness and emotion. from bizarre to mundane all concepts are evenly-matched by the imaginative, bold, vivid writing. k-ming shows dedication to conveying sensation and creating clear images, it's so sensual. there’s so much attention to individual words and her poetry background is evident from the words to the structures to the narrative choices. all of the language is beautiful, a lot of it is disturbing and the balance is achieved perfectly. there’s a scene in "mariela" with two girls exchanging eyelashes and a tooth that made me gag in real life, but i see the beauty in it even when i’m very sensitive to any kind of teeth description. it's so funny cause k-ming chang loves a bloody mouth and cracked tooth imagery but it makes sense for the narration to contain so much of it when you understand that many of the surreal, bloody events depicted are about a character attempting to make the intangible concrete. as one narrator says "memory is meat" which these stories prove over and over. loved them all but these are my faves are "mandarin speakers", "xífù", "anchor", "dykes" (THEEEE SHORT STORY OF ALL TIME. reading it right after tazmuir's deepwater bride made me 10x more receptive to it), "eating pussy", "mariela" and "nüwa" <3
k-ming chang's really good at what she does. she's just getting started, but there is already a surety and weight in her writing. the mark of a true storyteller. picked this up wanting to get familiar with her writing before tackling bestiary (which i've wanted to do for over a year) and i'm so impressed and inspired and excited and to be honest? kinda jealous too omg
magsontheinternet's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.5
So weird and so wonderful
astrawitch's review
dark
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
peepsr's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
mlemzor's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
thereadingrecluse's review
I was looking for wild sci-fi, completely surreal stories - and I got them! The writing is beautiful. It often feels like prose more than a plot driven story.
chamblyman's review
4.0
K-Ming Chang's stories are wild. They don't play by the rules. Gods Of Want will take you places that you didn't know you wanted to go. These tales are intense yet delicate, mystical yet down-to-earth. Their black-hole gravity will suck you in before transforming into a warm new sun; a thorny, poison vine that becomes a gorgeous flower. For fans of Karen Russell, Haruki Murakami, George Saunders and Aimee Bender.
munoz32's review
dark
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
oliveckert's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5