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futurama1979's review against another edition
4.0
There were a few moments in this book that the poetry of the prose was a little too heavy and it lost me, which is what's keeping it from a perfect rating. That aside, this was a beautiful, beautiful book. The tapestry of science and mythology, history and ghost stories, the real and the supernatural perfectly comes together to detail the life of a girl growing up with the expectations of two different cultures on her shoulders.
The prose is for the most part stunning, the content is heavy but good, and the narrative voice is compelling and honest and lovable. And the best thing? While it details a really difficult experience that wasn't pleasant or easy, there's also a strong air of hope that carries it though and just makes it an amazing read.
The prose is for the most part stunning, the content is heavy but good, and the narrative voice is compelling and honest and lovable. And the best thing? While it details a really difficult experience that wasn't pleasant or easy, there's also a strong air of hope that carries it though and just makes it an amazing read.
stephg95's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Really had to mull over my review of this one.
The chapters were super long (some well over an hour each in the audio book) which I always struggle with as it leaves few appropriate stopping points where I can take a break, digest and do other stuff before coming back. It also makes it pretty tough for me to follow and keep up with what's going on.
There were some really poignant and thought provoking elements and points made of femininity and cultural identity but I'm not sure the weaving in of a more mythic style of storytelling really worked for me. Sometimes these sections sort of lost me and I wasn't sure what point they were trying to make.
The chapters were super long (some well over an hour each in the audio book) which I always struggle with as it leaves few appropriate stopping points where I can take a break, digest and do other stuff before coming back. It also makes it pretty tough for me to follow and keep up with what's going on.
There were some really poignant and thought provoking elements and points made of femininity and cultural identity but I'm not sure the weaving in of a more mythic style of storytelling really worked for me. Sometimes these sections sort of lost me and I wasn't sure what point they were trying to make.
bubblesofbayla's review
Ended up doing excerpts. Want to come back to this at another time.
ecstasia's review against another edition
2.0
what I loved the most is the characters addressing white people as "ghosts" xD
lelia_t's review against another edition
4.0
I think I’d have to read this book many times to fully absorb it, but one of the things I love is how, despite the fact that women are so poorly regarded, the real powerhouse in the family is the narrator’s mother. She shapes the narrator’s life and understanding through the stories she tells, even having an almost Tom Sawyer-like love of invention when she’s imagining the possible scenarios that await her recently-immigrated sister. Kingston makes a very layered exploration of the power of story to shape reality and to both control others and empower them. One of the challenges the narrator faces is to develop her own voice so it’s strong enough to hold its own next to her mother’s. I love that she does so in such a way that she honors her mother’s and her own experiences, using story to connect to her lineage and strength. And I love the way both she and her mother use myth to expand their sense of themselves as individuals. Azar Nafisi has a great line in Reading Lolita in Tehran that I thought was applicable here: “Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits.”