Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford

11 reviews

zosiablue's review

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Lovely (and a bit breathless) book about inherited trauma, with a light sci-fi bent. Really makes you wish we accepted and understood more about epigenetics - how much could we heal ourselves and future generations if we understood the trauma didn't start with us? There were multiple POVs and they weren't always balanced - the frame story was the tightest, but I want the others to feel as important as the author thought they were. Regardless, a comforting way to think about life and I'm glad I read it. 

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apworden's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

3.75

Spoilernot sure I am comfortable with how Dorothy overdosing solving everyone’s problems could be interpreted by someone in a similarly stressful situation
otherwise, a beautiful book

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vistacanas's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.25

Karma is more like a suitcase. You have to be unafraid to open it up and look at what's inside, to unpack the things you do not need. Karma is the climate of the past which shapes how much leeway we have in the future.

Well, this was a wonderful multi-generational ride and an excellent introduction to the concept of epigenetics. It’s a combo of historical and futuristic fiction, as well as magical realism.

It took a bit longer to get totally pulled in to the story because of the multiple characters, but it’s well worth the extra effort. 

Spanning from the early 1800s to the late 2000s, the stories of the women of the Moy family are heartbreaking. The concept of trauma being passed down to future generations becomes completely believable when you read about multiple generations simultaneously. I have no doubt that most of the immigrants and all African-Americans are impacted by this awful phenomenon.

Highly recommend this one for those seeking pleasure and evolution!

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thebookgeek's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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caseythereader's review

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


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lizsurber's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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chrisljm's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was written well but I’m not sure how I feel about taking a real life person and writing a fictional story about her, especially when her story (real and fictional) is filled with so much trauma. I was only able to find one other review from a Chinese person, so I really wish there were more Chinese people who have read/reviewed this. 

Also, just in case there is anyone else out there who will have a similar experience to me, THEY ARE NOT SPEAKING CANTONESE IN THIS BOOK, IT’S TOISANESE 😭 I was losing my mind because I know Cantonese but was unfamiliar with Toisanese, but I’ve since learned it’s because they’re used interchangeably and prior to the 1960s Toisanese was the dominant language spoken in Chinatowns.

Another thing, this part of the blurb was the reason why I decided to read this book, “A stranger is searching for her in each time period. A stranger who’s loved her through all of her genetic memories,” but it was so misleading. 

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indreni's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

4.5


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louisekf's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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unboxedjack's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-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

4.0


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