Reviews

The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories by Regina Kanyu Wang, Yu Chen

Only show reviews with written explanations

bethl's review against another edition

4.0

RATW challenge: country #42 China 🇨🇳 (2/3)Hard to rate collections but overall good. I actually enjoyed the essays the most as I found them to be very well written and impactful despite the relative shortness.

onceuponatime's review

Go to review page

fast-paced

4.5

Another collection of stories that has really good and even quality throught — which is usually a problem for collections! I really found the premises of the stories interesting, and I thought they were executed well too. There were maybe two of the texts I didn't find as intriguing, which is pretty damn good out of the 20-ish that are in this book.

blemishedhearth's review

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

tigerlillymelody's review

Go to review page

3.0

A diverse collection of SFF short stories and essays from Chinese authors of marginalized genders. Not every story was for me (sometimes literally as some stories were translated intentionally in a way that alienated Western readers without a background in Chinese culture/literature to maintain integrity of the text and create a less othering experience for those in the Chinese diaspora), but overall I really appreciated the text, especially as often collected works in translation only collect the most mainstream and prestigious authors and those of us who belong to less mainstream communities are not often exposed to the works and thoughts of people in communities like ours in other countries. My favorite story was about the disabled actress who taught the plants in her garden to perform Cats! I also loved the essay near the end of the book discussing the intersection of electronic literature and the rise of popularity and prominence of female authors and readers. Also I picked up this book somehow not realizing that translator Rebecca F. Kuang is the same person as fantasy author R.F. Kuang (I discovered this book as a fan of cover artist Feifei Ruan and not through a connection to an author or translator) and by complete happenstance was already reading this book when to my surprise I was at the front of the library queue for Kuang's new novel about a translators' revolution in Victorian England. It was pretty bonkers in a great way to hear both a story she had translated and an essay from her about her relationship with translation and how it has informed her work while simultaneously reading her opus on language, translation, and imperialism. Considering that there are 143 people in line behind me for Babel after it has been out for less than a week, I am guessing this is going to be one of the more popular books of 2022, so if you are reading this review and you loved Babel and are interested in further exploring some of the concepts discussed in the text, this would be a good companion.

theyellowhobbit's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

I liked most of the stories and essays in this book. The editors did a great job of choosing and arranging the stories and essays so that there was a good variety. There were a lot of different styles of prose, and many different rich settings.

welgan's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

A collection of short stories read for book club.
I love the mix of short stories, which where very varied in genre and tone, and essays. The essays were very interesting and I really liked some of the short stories ! Others were simply not my thing. Overall interesting read !
Glad to have a bit of non binary representation, but if the theme of the collection is "by female and non binary authors", it is not about genre, feminism and queerness (which is fine but if that's what you're looking for, this may not be what you want !)

geekmom's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark informative lighthearted reflective sad

4.0

This was a rich and varied collection of stories and essays. Very interesting and enjoyable.
Note: the "graphic" CWs particularly apply to #16, "Dragonslaying".

This is a story best read during the day if you're like me and don't like reading very unsettling fiction just before going to sleep.

ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.75

Like a lot of anthologies, there were some stories I enjoyed and some I didn't care much for... and unfortunately, no clear stand-outs (for me). This collection leans more fantasy than sci-fi, and I do think you'll get more out of it as a reader if you're somewhat familiar with Chinese fantasy conventions. I also enjoyed the occasional essays on the subject of writing and translating these kinds of stories.

Content Warnings

kainz's review against another edition

Go to review page

These stories are written in Chinese and use a lot of Chinese folklores and classic references, which sound unnatural in English. I don't think this is the fault of translators, I just find it more apprehensible when reading in my mother tongue, which can convey the beauty of this book much better.

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous reflective medium-paced

3.75

Content Warnings

More...