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zoracious's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
michelleklejmont's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
emmasnothere's review
4.0
4… but probably should be 3.75? i always hesitate to read short story collections because after a certain point the rhythm begins to flail, drag, and repeat; however, this was an absolutely solid sophomore title (with the caveat there were some stories i just didn’t care for as much, hence my struggle to properly rate this as the ones i loved were the sort of bold, underline great). it made me remember how much i enjoy speculative fiction (wow, maybe two years post-english lit degree is healing me?).
chung takes us through an immense range of emotions and relationships (marriage, siblings, parent-child) across korean (-american) womanhood. so raw and tender at times, each individual deals with grief and guilt while ultimately grappling with their cultural identity. of course, it should be said these stories are incredibly distinct and never once suffer from the fate of blending together. it was just SO refreshing to see an author play with narrative styles/perspectives and do it well.
personal standouts include “presence,” “human hearts,” and “attachment processes.” but generally speaking, the ones that shined the most were the ones focused on mother-daughter relationships.
vanessa_177's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
ioanamaria_hara's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
sandytfrench's review against another edition
4.0
Green Frog by Gina Chung
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Publication date: 6 June 2024
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
A short story collection that explores Korean American womanhood, bodies, animals, and transformation as a means of survival.
The first couple of stories didn't really grab me, but oh my goodness, did the rest of this collection absolutely deliver!
All the stories focus on the various experiences of Korean American women (mostly...) and their relationships, whether it is with husbands, parents or children. It's about expectations, the (sometimes) fraught ties to family, sacrifice, loss and heartbreak.
A few of the stories were more on the speculative side, or even magical realism, and were probably my favourites - Presence, Attachment Processes, Honey and Sun. This being said, The Fruits of the Sin and The Arrow were fully rooted in reality and were both raw, compelling and outstanding.
I loved the writing throughout and I will definitely seek out more from this author.
Also, I know that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this one has to be one of my favourite covers ever!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Publication date: 6 June 2024
Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
A short story collection that explores Korean American womanhood, bodies, animals, and transformation as a means of survival.
The first couple of stories didn't really grab me, but oh my goodness, did the rest of this collection absolutely deliver!
All the stories focus on the various experiences of Korean American women (mostly...) and their relationships, whether it is with husbands, parents or children. It's about expectations, the (sometimes) fraught ties to family, sacrifice, loss and heartbreak.
A few of the stories were more on the speculative side, or even magical realism, and were probably my favourites - Presence, Attachment Processes, Honey and Sun. This being said, The Fruits of the Sin and The Arrow were fully rooted in reality and were both raw, compelling and outstanding.
I loved the writing throughout and I will definitely seek out more from this author.
Also, I know that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but this one has to be one of my favourite covers ever!
roshreviews's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.25
In a Nutshell: An astounding collection of speculative fiction with some diverse female characters. Infused with a strong Korean flavour, but with situations and emotions that are universal. A fabulous OwnVoices option for short story lovers, especially those with a fondness for speculative fiction.
This collection of fifteen stories comes with no author’s note. However, the blurb helps us know that this collection of “offbeat, scintillating stories influenced by Korean fairy tales and contemporary ennui, shines a light on womanhood in all of its human (and other) forms.” An intriguing and ambitious theme, met almost perfectly by the stories, which come from varied genres such as speculative fiction, contemporary drama, fantasy, folk lore, and sci-fi.
The author’s imagination is powerful, as is her exploration of emotions. There’s a sense of poignancy underlying most of the stories, though not all the tales are morose. Each of the narratives covers a tangled relationship.
What makes the stories distinct is the approach and the main character. The narrator in the tales covers a diverse spectrum of females, such as a twelve-year-old girl, a mother, a daughter, a kumiho, and even a female praying mantis. The narrative styles are also distinct, with the tales being explored in first person singular, first person plural, second person and third person. Each story felt so fresh and so individual that I never felt any kind of déjà vu while going through this work.
Quite often, an anthology/story collection begins quite strong and then starts getting either dragged or repetitive. This time though, the start of the book was relatively okay for me, partly because of the ‘slice of life’ storytelling style. As I began to wonder if this book would take a nosedive, the stories took a strong turn upwards, and stayed there right till the end. I am so glad I persisted, because this ended up being one of the most creative anthologies I have read this year.
The endings are mostly satisfying, but more importantly, they make perfect sense for their respective storylines without feeling forced. Only a couple of the endings felt abrupt to me.
As always, I rated the stories individually, Of the fifteen stories, a whopping eleven stories reached or crossed the 4 star mark. The remaining four stories scored 3.5 stars. What a performance!
As I don’t want to pen a lengthy list of top rankers, here are my favourites, with 4.5+ stars:
🐸 Rabbit Heart - Generational complexities explored in this poignant tale about parental connections. Love how it handles emotions. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 Human Hearts - A story of revenge and love and human hearts and not-so-human hearts, made all the more special by the narrator, a kumiho (the nine-tailed fox from Japanese mythology.) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 Mantis - A love story gone wrong. What's special about that, you ask? The narrator is a female praying mantis. 😉 I always love atypical narrators when voiced right. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐸 Attachment Processes - Don't want to reveal any content spoilers about this one, but it has a thought-provoking concept that generates awe, sadness and apprehension all at once. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 The Arrow - A poignant story in second person, about how a life-altering event changes a relationship. Love the exploration of emotions in this bittersweet narrative. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 The Fruits of Sin - Remember the biblical verse, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"? This is a beautiful representation of the practical side of that thought. Loved this to the core! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, this OwnVoices story collection began as good but ended up outstanding. It will be one of my favourite story collections of 2024.
Strongly recommended to all short story lovers who love to read tales blending reality and fantasy. Don’t expect the typical in these tales, and you will be pleasantly surprised.
4.15 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that an average that goes to 4 stars and beyond is outstanding for an anthology.)
My thanks to Pan Macmillan, Picador, and NetGalley for the DRC of “Green Frog”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
This collection of fifteen stories comes with no author’s note. However, the blurb helps us know that this collection of “offbeat, scintillating stories influenced by Korean fairy tales and contemporary ennui, shines a light on womanhood in all of its human (and other) forms.” An intriguing and ambitious theme, met almost perfectly by the stories, which come from varied genres such as speculative fiction, contemporary drama, fantasy, folk lore, and sci-fi.
The author’s imagination is powerful, as is her exploration of emotions. There’s a sense of poignancy underlying most of the stories, though not all the tales are morose. Each of the narratives covers a tangled relationship.
What makes the stories distinct is the approach and the main character. The narrator in the tales covers a diverse spectrum of females, such as a twelve-year-old girl, a mother, a daughter, a kumiho, and even a female praying mantis. The narrative styles are also distinct, with the tales being explored in first person singular, first person plural, second person and third person. Each story felt so fresh and so individual that I never felt any kind of déjà vu while going through this work.
Quite often, an anthology/story collection begins quite strong and then starts getting either dragged or repetitive. This time though, the start of the book was relatively okay for me, partly because of the ‘slice of life’ storytelling style. As I began to wonder if this book would take a nosedive, the stories took a strong turn upwards, and stayed there right till the end. I am so glad I persisted, because this ended up being one of the most creative anthologies I have read this year.
The endings are mostly satisfying, but more importantly, they make perfect sense for their respective storylines without feeling forced. Only a couple of the endings felt abrupt to me.
As always, I rated the stories individually, Of the fifteen stories, a whopping eleven stories reached or crossed the 4 star mark. The remaining four stories scored 3.5 stars. What a performance!
As I don’t want to pen a lengthy list of top rankers, here are my favourites, with 4.5+ stars:
🐸 Rabbit Heart - Generational complexities explored in this poignant tale about parental connections. Love how it handles emotions. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 Human Hearts - A story of revenge and love and human hearts and not-so-human hearts, made all the more special by the narrator, a kumiho (the nine-tailed fox from Japanese mythology.) - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 Mantis - A love story gone wrong. What's special about that, you ask? The narrator is a female praying mantis. 😉 I always love atypical narrators when voiced right. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐸 Attachment Processes - Don't want to reveal any content spoilers about this one, but it has a thought-provoking concept that generates awe, sadness and apprehension all at once. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 The Arrow - A poignant story in second person, about how a life-altering event changes a relationship. Love the exploration of emotions in this bittersweet narrative. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
🐸 The Fruits of Sin - Remember the biblical verse, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"? This is a beautiful representation of the practical side of that thought. Loved this to the core! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overall, this OwnVoices story collection began as good but ended up outstanding. It will be one of my favourite story collections of 2024.
Strongly recommended to all short story lovers who love to read tales blending reality and fantasy. Don’t expect the typical in these tales, and you will be pleasantly surprised.
4.15 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each tale. (If you are familiar with my ratings, you know that an average that goes to 4 stars and beyond is outstanding for an anthology.)
My thanks to Pan Macmillan, Picador, and NetGalley for the DRC of “Green Frog”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
eileen_critchley's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
I enjoyed most of these stories, especially the last one. There is a fantastical element to some of them and that won't be for everyone, but the relationships of the characters were well written.
{library, paperback}
{library, paperback}