A review by crimsonreader
Severance by Ling Ma

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


I...did not...expect this...

Something about the way the first paragraphs of the synopsis are written made me think this would have sarcastic, dark, millennial humor in is plot... But instead it truly makes you feel and think.
Obviously this whole adventure hits WAY different in a post covid-19 world and I think that's to it's benefit. While I'm certain the story still gripped and engrossed in 2018, having actually lived the fear of people and air and jobs and future and closures and emptiness really makes the book's feeling real.
More real, even then the reality. I felt more loneliness reading Candace's experience in her NY office than I did going to and from my own city job on empty El cars in 2020. It's surreal and I couldn't stop reading. 

As a note, Ma doesn't utilize quotation marks for any of her dialogue. I think I would have going this a problem in another person's writing but there was a sense of memory in the way Severance is written that made the lack of quotes feel right. Like nothing Candace is saying is correct enough to be quoted. It's paraphrased or untrustworthy because it's only how she recalls it and not for sure how it happened. It really does fit the vibe of the story and only caught me up about 4 or 5 times in total. But I know this might be a deal breaker for others, so I'm letting you know.

But I do highly recommend this. I had been interested in it for a while and it lived up to expectations and then some!

Only reason this doesn't have 5 stars is because of that ending! I flipped pages wondering if I somehow skipped something or had some stuck together! I have to know more!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings