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A review by cryptofauna
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
it was nice but i wasn’t really itching to pick it up so it took FOREVER to finish. it felt so long when it was really only like 400 pages 😭.
however!! it was super interesting and very different to what i usually read which had its pros and cons. i really loved how historically accurate it felt (i don’t know if it was 100% accurate of course) but you can tell how well researched it is. the footbinding was really icky to me but that’s just sort of a me problem bc it comes with the territory.
i struggled with her sort of place in society?? in most books with these vibes you sort of expect that she’s going to rebel and like face her privilege and make all these big changes but she really doesn’t? i assume that’s because of it being a historical novel that’s really leaning into the historical part (esp bc she was based on a real person) but it felt sort of frustrating for a bunch of people around her (meiling especially) to call her out on being like privileged and lowkey spoiled and for her to be like oh sorry. and then move on?? like she barely resists the patriarchy and ends up just sort of joining the system that sucked for her to be in just being a little nicer in it (being lady tan slash head of household.)
it was interesting especially more at the end (random mystery i guess) but i had to work hard to get there and it didn’t feel worth it. definitely an interesting story and i loved learning about this era in chinese culture but it wasn’t a huge winner for me personally.
however!! it was super interesting and very different to what i usually read which had its pros and cons. i really loved how historically accurate it felt (i don’t know if it was 100% accurate of course) but you can tell how well researched it is. the footbinding was really icky to me but that’s just sort of a me problem bc it comes with the territory.
i struggled with her sort of place in society?? in most books with these vibes you sort of expect that she’s going to rebel and like face her privilege and make all these big changes but she really doesn’t? i assume that’s because of it being a historical novel that’s really leaning into the historical part (esp bc she was based on a real person) but it felt sort of frustrating for a bunch of people around her (meiling especially) to call her out on being like privileged and lowkey spoiled and for her to be like oh sorry. and then move on?? like she barely resists the patriarchy and ends up just sort of joining the system that sucked for her to be in just being a little nicer in it (being lady tan slash head of household.)
it was interesting especially more at the end (random mystery i guess) but i had to work hard to get there and it didn’t feel worth it. definitely an interesting story and i loved learning about this era in chinese culture but it wasn’t a huge winner for me personally.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism