Reviews

Al wat goud op de bergen is by C Pam Zhang

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daumari's review against another edition

4.0

A solid debut that really captured the dry loveliness of the western landscape in a time when the land didn't love you back. Lucy and Sam scramble to survive after their Ba dies. About halfway through we see a couple years prior when they're younger and Ma is still around, and then from beyond the grave Ba tells his tale as a youth carrying his own secrets.

Not a cheerful ending, but contemplative.

alisonoreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book. One of my favorites this year. It’s a new take on the old west, and the way it’s structured adds to its beauty.

Content Warnings

mazeman's review against another edition

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4.0

This book WILL be made into a movie. Immigrants... sexual identity... an imperfect America.

The movie WILL be worse than the actual book.

zosia's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 rounded up.

burrrianna's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

laura_corsi's review against another edition

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4.0

Lucy and Sam are orphaned on the edge of the present-day California hills, and they find that life is very hard. Not that they had any other expectation, life was hard even when they had parents. However, before there was a sliver of hope that someday life might be better, different. Now all hope is gone and there is only survival. Lucy and Sam are Chinese, but born to the western hills and knowing no other land...all they have are the tall-tales their father gave them and the few reminiscences their mother spun from her magic chest full of strange perfumes. Lucy and Sam decide that maybe life will be better in China where they have never been and know little of--thus begins a quest for a reverse immigration to find someplace that they truly belong. A very western book.

***trigger warning for animal cruelty***