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imlikesia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Is this book as good as people say it is? No, because it’s better.
I would highly recommend Little Mushroom to anyone in a reading slump. It’s been a while since I read a book in one sitting, and I finished both volumes in less than 24 hours.
Shisi writes uniquely and wonderfully. It was sad, really sad at times, but profound. It delves into themes of morality and makes you think about humanity in so many different ways. Heavy themes are explored in a subtle, ordinary manner, so it doesn’t feel overwhelming, until it does.
I hope to read many novels like this one, but I’m not quite sure they exist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and War
halfcactus's review against another edition
dark
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
Post-apocalyptic novel where gene contamination has caused inter-species mutation all over the world. And the more that humans try to keep their biological humanity intact and survive as a species, the less human they become.
I didn't expect this book to be as bleak as it was but in retrospect it's pretty thematic. It pursues the question of "how far are humans willing to go?" wholly and unflinchingly, and it allows you to inhabit an interesting emotional space as the events unfold before the eyes of a mushroom who has absorbed human genes but doesn't experience emotions or attachment the way that humans (and by extension, the novel readers) do. There is some comedy and humor in between all the horror, so it's not horrifying the whole way but it was still terrible, lol.
I really loved the first chapter: it draws you in atmospherically and emotionally, with the right amount of mystery to make you keep reading, as the information that's filtered through An Zhe's PoV comes to you piece by piece. The visual aspects of the story are beautifully, vividly rendered, but the worldbuilding is pretty shaky so it was hard for me to predict which details would be plot-relevant or not because there were some aspects that seemed like they could be a cause for concern.
I did get a better handle on the storytelling style and its themes in the second half (Roses), which had a longer series of intertwined mysteries and plot points.
I really enjoyed the writing when An Zhe was simply being a mushroom thinking mushroomy thoughts that had nothing at all to do with humans. The action-horror chapters are very well done too (those were the ones I couldn't stop reading).
Vol2 ends at a really good place where it's not a sudden cliffhanger but still leaves you with all the unanswered questions that An Zhe wasn't invested in finding out.
English translation had good parts, and is generally readable, but felt pretty rough and severely underedited, especially towards the end (or maybe I just got tired idk).
CONTENT WARNINGS: body horror, gore, giant bugs and worms (horrifying), attempted rape, racism/weird depiction of racism at the beginning (not in the English translation)
I didn't expect this book to be as bleak as it was but in retrospect it's pretty thematic. It pursues the question of "how far are humans willing to go?" wholly and unflinchingly, and it allows you to inhabit an interesting emotional space as the events unfold before the eyes of a mushroom who has absorbed human genes but doesn't experience emotions or attachment the way that humans (and by extension, the novel readers) do. There is some comedy and humor in between all the horror, so it's not horrifying the whole way but it was still terrible, lol.
I really loved the first chapter: it draws you in atmospherically and emotionally, with the right amount of mystery to make you keep reading, as the information that's filtered through An Zhe's PoV comes to you piece by piece. The visual aspects of the story are beautifully, vividly rendered, but the worldbuilding is pretty shaky so it was hard for me to predict which details would be plot-relevant or not because there were some aspects that seemed like they could be a cause for concern.
I did get a better handle on the storytelling style and its themes in the second half (Roses), which had a longer series of intertwined mysteries and plot points.
I really enjoyed the writing when An Zhe was simply being a mushroom thinking mushroomy thoughts that had nothing at all to do with humans. The action-horror chapters are very well done too (those were the ones I couldn't stop reading).
Vol2 ends at a really good place where it's not a sudden cliffhanger but still leaves you with all the unanswered questions that An Zhe wasn't invested in finding out.
English translation had good parts, and is generally readable, but felt pretty rough and severely underedited, especially towards the end (or maybe I just got tired idk).
CONTENT WARNINGS: body horror, gore, giant bugs and worms (horrifying), attempted rape, racism/weird depiction of racism at the beginning (not in the English translation)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
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