Reviews with content warning for Violence - Salgın

even though i don't live in new york, the commentary on mindless consumerism in a late-stage capitalistic society that was touched on in this was painfully relatable for the city that i *do* live in. the concept of the mundanity of life and routine that we all eventually settle into turning us into zombies isn't new at all but i love how it was approached in this book. a fever easily spread, an illness anyone is susceptible to. touches on a couple more themes along with this one, like the complicated identity battle for diaspora kids and how cultism/autocratic leadership is bred in the face of a literal world-changing event. death, the transcience of memory and how that feeds into nostalgia even (which was masterfully weaved between the presentation of past and present). breezed through this one, i really liked ling ma's writing style; it was super easy to get sucked in and keep reading. i seriouslllyyyy enjoyed this so much, it might be one of my favourite books ever now!

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claire_lamb's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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darthbiblia's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Whoa. This book came out years before COVID, but the descriptions of the early stages were so uncanny. The dry humor and office politics, concerns about foreign labor and gender issues. I loved the story of her immigrant parents assimilating in the United States, then bringing her as a small child. This was a beautiful story, and I was sad that it ended. I look forward to more from this author.

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samcanuel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is the only pandemic book I have been able to enjoy post-covid to date. Really well written, very thought provoking, and times honestly quite creepy. Ma’s pandemic is an imaginative commentary on the routine way we live our lives under capitalism.

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kirchnerkd's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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querciola's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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crimsonreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I...did not...expect this...

Something about the way the first paragraphs of the synopsis are written made me think this would have sarcastic, dark, millennial humor in is plot... But instead it truly makes you feel and think.
Obviously this whole adventure hits WAY different in a post covid-19 world and I think that's to it's benefit. While I'm certain the story still gripped and engrossed in 2018, having actually lived the fear of people and air and jobs and future and closures and emptiness really makes the book's feeling real.
More real, even then the reality. I felt more loneliness reading Candace's experience in her NY office than I did going to and from my own city job on empty El cars in 2020. It's surreal and I couldn't stop reading.

As a note, Ma doesn't utilize quotation marks for any of her dialogue. I think I would have going this a problem in another person's writing but there was a sense of memory in the way Severance is written that made the lack of quotes feel right. Like nothing Candace is saying is correct enough to be quoted. It's paraphrased or untrustworthy because it's only how she recalls it and not for sure how it happened. It really does fit the vibe of the story and only caught me up about 4 or 5 times in total. But I know this might be a deal breaker for others, so I'm letting you know.

But I do highly recommend this. I had been interested in it for a while and it lived up to expectations and then some!

Only reason this doesn't have 5 stars is because of that ending! I flipped pages wondering if I somehow skipped something or had some stuck together! I have to know more!

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