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joshloftin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Zhang’s prose simmers with compelling detail and evocative descriptions of place, food, and sex. Her skill with words, however, doesn’t move the story forward. The middle of the book often feels like a slog, while the ending seems both rushed and unnecessary.
Aside from pacing, some of the plot devices and characters also serve as social commentary but remain one-dimensional cutouts and caricatures (in particular, the tech bro). The most interesting character, in fact, may be the cat.
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content
machenn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
rebcamuse's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.25
The imagery and descriptive writing is phenomenal. Zhang is deliberate in linking language across the story: the "calculus of loss" becomes the "connoisseurship of loss"--a subtle juxtaposition spaced several chapters apart, easy to miss. Metaphors abound: "...as I would not serve bitter greens without the consolation of oil, I began to keep back my less palatable feelings..." The insights, too, are plentiful: "Across the years it is hard to make out this version of myself, so blinkered by ambition that she sprinted through thirty years without asking, why?"
It was a slower "read" for me than I anticipated, but there is, forgive me, much to chew upon.
Graphic: Animal death, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
shubka's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
anitaconchita's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Xenophobia
siebensommer's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
how terrifying, how thrilling to be seen
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
wormgirl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Sexual assault, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Classism
daniellemjoyce's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Murder and Pandemic/Epidemic
alleahwebb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
scifi_rat's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic