kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
i was gonna be generous and do 3 stars because the cultural parts of this book were compelling, but frankly this book was a snooze fest with a whimper of an ending
warm bodies starring nicolas fucking hoult managed to make me feel more about an apocalypse and the ~literary~ elements of this book are so overwrought it borders on self-sucking. the most poignant moments in this story are overshadowed by clunky cult shenanigans, a terrible flashback and flash-flashback structure, and an incredibly silly detour into strange & unnecessary sex. not to sound like the internet purity police but the phrase “Schwarzenegger dick” should be banned on every continent. jail for 1000 years
when are synopses going to stop using “satirical” and “deadpan” when they just mean that the author is too dry to write an actual apocalyptic novel so they wrote some handwavy overly meta shadow of one & called it literary fiction. boooooooo tomatoes tomatoes
warm bodies starring nicolas fucking hoult managed to make me feel more about an apocalypse and the ~literary~ elements of this book are so overwrought it borders on self-sucking. the most poignant moments in this story are overshadowed by clunky cult shenanigans, a terrible flashback and flash-flashback structure, and an incredibly silly detour into strange & unnecessary sex. not to sound like the internet purity police but the phrase “Schwarzenegger dick” should be banned on every continent. jail for 1000 years
when are synopses going to stop using “satirical” and “deadpan” when they just mean that the author is too dry to write an actual apocalyptic novel so they wrote some handwavy overly meta shadow of one & called it literary fiction. boooooooo tomatoes tomatoes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Blood, Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Gore, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
skyba3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Stalking, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child death, Dementia, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body horror, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Classism, Addiction, Racism, Alcohol, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Cursing
joensign's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy
minnxes's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Blood, Gore, Murder, and Pregnancy
baguettekelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Suicide and Gore
raphtseng's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
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
4.0
Kind of made me feel scared and sad and shocked at times. It toes the line between dark and satirical, where at times things are so dark you have to choose to laugh. I found both the past and the present well woven, it kept the pace moving. Not too sure what to take away from it. Kind of wild that it was written pre pandemic. And also very meta that candace works at Spectra. Defo made me feel lots of emotions, found it overall unsettling. Loneliness and made me think of Taiwan, some vivid descriptions of missing home, or what home is like, and what having a Chinese parent is like.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Suicide, and Confinement
josi1911's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.5
I normally never read dystopian (if this book can be called that after we all have experienced COVID), but since it was for a book club, I was rather excited. The Beginning until maybe the 17/18 chapter were strong, but then it turned into the typical dystopian story of someone trying to escape their group mixed with cult-esque leadership.
The ending was such a letdown and the themes the book tried to tackle weren't fleshed out enough. How did the Fever transmit? It can't only be fungal, or at least it seemed to have to do with routine, nostalgia and remembering. But I can only say those keywords, because the story lacked fulfillment/tying up the loose ends and like I already said delving deeper into the social criticism it started.
The Author has sometimes beautiful prose with a minimalist but hard hitting tendency and some of the scenes (especially the gruesome ones) felt all too real. So it's sad that that wasn't utilized more to really make strong points regarding the mentioned themes.
The ending was such a letdown and the themes the book tried to tackle weren't fleshed out enough. How did the Fever transmit? It can't only be fungal, or at least it seemed to have to do with routine, nostalgia and remembering. But I can only say those keywords, because the story lacked fulfillment/tying up the loose ends and like I already said delving deeper into the social criticism it started.
The Author has sometimes beautiful prose with a minimalist but hard hitting tendency and some of the scenes (especially the gruesome ones) felt all too real. So it's sad that that wasn't utilized more to really make strong points regarding the mentioned themes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Gaslighting, Drug use, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide and Vomit
brookebatesratesbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: Gore
j_m_alexander's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
On the surface this book could be described as a pandemic novel published prior to COVID-19 (2018) or even a zombie book (maybe?), but the heart of this book is about relationships, directionlessness, worth, autonomy, and big questions around purpose... at least that's my quick take on it - what is below is much more interesting than the surface-level.
This book is more focused on building out the main character and relationships than driving plot, not to say there isn't plot, it's just not the most important thing. I wonder if some people reading this book now will get too hung up on the pandemic details to appreciate the subtle relationships and character studies? I hope not. There is a back and forth in timeline and the slow cobbling together of details that I think was executed well. I don't think we are supposed to love our protagonist, Candace, but I can absolutely empathize with her, same with her mother, and ditto to other more minor characters. The writing itself was good, moody, restrained but had real feeling - Ling Ma knows how to build some quiet seething tension. Also, this feels very much a millennial book, I mean this as a compliment, I feel like we're just starting to get more quality books that get to the experiences and feelings of this generation - my generation. Ling Ma has a unique voice and in this book she lends it to feelings of powerfully bleak, barely controlled pointless rage and a questioning searching nature.
For many it may not be the time (or never be the time) to read a pandemic novel, with all the illness and death that goes along with that, but that is not the only trigger warning I feel should be mentioned, I will cut right to it - there are no quotation marks in this book, I repeat NO quotation marks. It is not necessary to use quotation marks in fiction, and in fact unquoting seems to be in fashion, but I know some readers still find this distressing when they come upon it on the page, so be forewarned - this book is devoid of quotation marks. I personally have gotten over this pet peeve, even find it can be make for a more seamless reading experience at times, but that's just me, you do you readers, if you "can't, JUST CAN'T", when it comes to the omission of these little marks well then just move right along, there are plenty of other books in the store/library.
This book is more focused on building out the main character and relationships than driving plot, not to say there isn't plot, it's just not the most important thing. I wonder if some people reading this book now will get too hung up on the pandemic details to appreciate the subtle relationships and character studies? I hope not. There is a back and forth in timeline and the slow cobbling together of details that I think was executed well. I don't think we are supposed to love our protagonist, Candace, but I can absolutely empathize with her, same with her mother, and ditto to other more minor characters. The writing itself was good, moody, restrained but had real feeling - Ling Ma knows how to build some quiet seething tension. Also, this feels very much a millennial book, I mean this as a compliment, I feel like we're just starting to get more quality books that get to the experiences and feelings of this generation - my generation. Ling Ma has a unique voice and in this book she lends it to feelings of powerfully bleak, barely controlled pointless rage and a questioning searching nature.
For many it may not be the time (or never be the time) to read a pandemic novel, with all the illness and death that goes along with that, but that is not the only trigger warning I feel should be mentioned, I will cut right to it - there are no quotation marks in this book, I repeat NO quotation marks. It is not necessary to use quotation marks in fiction, and in fact unquoting seems to be in fashion, but I know some readers still find this distressing when they come upon it on the page, so be forewarned - this book is devoid of quotation marks. I personally have gotten over this pet peeve, even find it can be make for a more seamless reading experience at times, but that's just me, you do you readers, if you "can't, JUST CAN'T", when it comes to the omission of these little marks well then just move right along, there are plenty of other books in the store/library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, and Suicide
potatokao's review against another edition
slow-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? N/A
4.5
the writing was beautiful and illustrative. i underlined in every chapter a sentence i needed to read. the back n forth between past and present was seamless, like a rocking chair. (rating especially writing over plot)
my original expectation was simply “zombie novel,” that’s all i had really heard. because of that, i felt the book was slow paced as i was waiting for adventure to happen.
however, once i realized what the book was about, i wept. her identity, her relationships, her family. i didnt expect to cry but her relationship with her mother was everything to me and i want to know more. i want to hear candace’s active voice on who she is, who she is in relation to her mother even her tender moments with her father had me in pain.
candace is a passive character stuck on routine but i want nothing more than her to actively participate. if not now, then when.
there were moments where i felt underwhelmed from how passive candace was but i understand this is who she is. i wish she’ll grow more from here, away from our gaze.
my original expectation was simply “zombie novel,” that’s all i had really heard. because of that, i felt the book was slow paced as i was waiting for adventure to happen.
however, once i realized what the book was about, i wept. her identity, her relationships, her family. i didnt expect to cry but her relationship with her mother was everything to me and i want to know more. i want to hear candace’s active voice on who she is, who she is in relation to her mother
Spoiler
, and who she will become as a mother.candace is a passive character stuck on routine but i want nothing more than her to actively participate. if not now, then when.
there were moments where i felt underwhelmed from how passive candace was but i understand this is who she is. i wish she’ll grow more from here, away from our gaze.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Xenophobia