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thequiltyreader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
A lovely story and murder mystery all wrapped up around a Folklore tale.
I found the characters loveable and was was really routing for some of them throughout the book.
I quite enjoyed jumping back and forward between the main characters perspectives. I did find the timeline a little hard to follow though so gave up on that part and just enjoyed the story.
I felt there were a couple of things never quite fully explained but I think this worked well with the fact this book had a strong link to a Folklore story that in itself has a lot of mystery wrapped around it.
I found the characters loveable and was was really routing for some of them throughout the book.
I quite enjoyed jumping back and forward between the main characters perspectives. I did find the timeline a little hard to follow though so gave up on that part and just enjoyed the story.
I felt there were a couple of things never quite fully explained but I think this worked well with the fact this book had a strong link to a Folklore story that in itself has a lot of mystery wrapped around it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
marigold_faye's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Incest, and Death of parent
obfuscatress's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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
Progressing from a languid look into the lives of two young people to a dizzying, complex mystery that's rich with legend, this novel is a stunning foray into magical realism that draws expertly on its setting. Its unique atmosphere will keep you engaged, turning page after page long into the night.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, and Violence
Minor: Incest, Infertility, and Murder
unsure's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-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? No
3.5
Other than the unusual writing style, specifically the tense, it starts off strong. You're dropped right into the action, but with that comes a lot of flashbacks. You can never be quite sure if something is supposed to be mysterious, or you were just not paying enough attention.
Almost every chapter has a narrator change. Of the 3 narrators, 2 are likeable. They're loyal, hard-working and smart. Li Jin is a girl/young woman stuck in a life where she can only watch others accomplish her dreams but still finds a way to be true to herself and protect her mother. Ren is a young, orphan boy who has a seemingly impossible task while navigating a new place and new people. Watching as their lives interwove was enjoyable. The 3rd narrator is not that good of a person, but he's a good foil for Ji Lin and ren.
The pov change were difficult though. With each switch, the tenses changed. This, along with the flashbacks, made reading a bit irritating. Additionally, the pov changes would sometimes start at the beginning of middle of the last pov, meaning you had to backtrack, which was especially frustrating when it was right in the middle of a tense scene and the characters were with eachother the whole time.
The mystical aspect was both enjoyable and overwhelming. I think it could have benefited from some streamlining. The 5 Confucius values were really cool, and I liked the is -he-isn't-he bit with the weretiger, but I think the concepts were kept too separate that it was difficult to accept that they'd both show up in the same storyline without some connecting factor.
The big problem was the characters' individual endings. The main villian doesn't get their proper comeuppanceWilliam dying instead of Lydia , and the love interest has a scene where they're professing their love that seems vaguely abusive, in the sense of dangerously possessive and manipulative. It felt like, after all this build up and character backstory and memories of misunderstood interactions, the author ran out of time to explain the emotional state of this character, which led them to seeming rather immoral shin continually pressuring ji to have sex so she'll have to be "his," which, considering his father/her step father's abusiveness and attitude towards the family (objects to show off as the perfect family), seems out of character for him to feel and her to accept .
Honestly the ending just disappointed and rather infuriated me. Massive spoiler-filled rant about the William-Ren storyline starts here wtf the Lydia William Li twist came out of no where; she's already admitted to multiple murders, the name matching bit was just the author trying to add more. Additionally, it was getting progressively harder to accept Ren's intelligence with some stuff and utter ignorance with other stuff - like sex and Lydia's evilness. I cannot see how Ren would think tho give William the stuff that Lydia have him while also not really liking Lydia? Especially since Lydia said the medicine was for Ji Lin. If anything, I could see him innocently giving it to her or even Ah Long accidentally. Also the author just skips over the fact that Ren killed William. Like that's never going to be found out or that Ren will never realise, especially since he'll become a doctor himself, which will be traumatising for him, I think.
In summary, it was filled with ups and downs, and I ended up upset that the ending had some really bad bits when most of it had so much potential
Almost every chapter has a narrator change. Of the 3 narrators, 2 are likeable. They're loyal, hard-working and smart. Li Jin is a girl/young woman stuck in a life where she can only watch others accomplish her dreams but still finds a way to be true to herself and protect her mother. Ren is a young, orphan boy who has a seemingly impossible task while navigating a new place and new people. Watching as their lives interwove was enjoyable. The 3rd narrator is not that good of a person, but he's a good foil for Ji Lin and ren.
The pov change were difficult though. With each switch, the tenses changed. This, along with the flashbacks, made reading a bit irritating. Additionally, the pov changes would sometimes start at the beginning of middle of the last pov, meaning you had to backtrack, which was especially frustrating when it was right in the middle of a tense scene and the characters were with eachother the whole time.
The mystical aspect was both enjoyable and overwhelming. I think it could have benefited from some streamlining. The 5 Confucius values were really cool, and I liked the is -he-isn't-he bit with the weretiger, but I think the concepts were kept too separate that it was difficult to accept that they'd both show up in the same storyline without some connecting factor.
The big problem was the characters' individual endings. The main villian doesn't get their proper comeuppance
Honestly the ending just disappointed and rather infuriated me. Massive spoiler-filled rant about the William-Ren storyline starts here
In summary, it was filled with ups and downs, and I ended up upset that the ending had some really bad bits when most of it had so much potential
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Colonisation
Minor: Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
story_goblin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.5
Honestly, I have no idea what to say about this book. It's so different! That's not a bad thing, it just makes it difficult to find words to talk about it. There's so much going on! There's no easy way to even describe the premise to someone? I think I should have read this instead of listening to it. It's beautifully read by the author, but it's so long and complicated that there were multiple times I wished I was reading a physical copy. But also, it really lingered in my mind. I found myself thinking about it multiple times throughout the day- just wondering about what would happen or what the characters would choose. The characters felt extremely real but also unlike anyone I happen to know.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail