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kappafrog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Pros: I loved the worldbuilding. 19th century Malaya was a cool setting, and I appreciated all the little historical details that went with it like the Dutch ghost, all the Malay folklore, and Tien Bai's education abroad. What I liked most about this book was the way Choo built the afterlife world. It was very spooky and atmospheric. All of the rules and restrictions were interesting. The bond between Li Lan and her horse was really nice. My favourite characters in the book were Amah and Old Wong. This was a really cool imagining of what life would be like for someone in her time and place being caught between life and death.
Cons: The plot was really meandering. There was a lot of time spent with Li Lan wandering around aimlessly, and while it showed off the cool worldbuilding, it left her motivations often muddled. She was a very weepy character which was all right but sometimes got a bit repitive. It was sometimes frustrating as a reader how big the disconnect was between what she was thinking and how she acted - she was often very passive in her conversations compared to what she was thinking. It wasn't unrealistic, but it did make her grate on me a bit. I was also never fully sold on Er Lang as a love interest. He was quite misogynistic and while this is true of most of the male characters in the book, which is appropriate to their place and time, it didn't make him seem that appealing.
Cons: The plot was really meandering. There was a lot of time spent with Li Lan wandering around aimlessly, and while it showed off the cool worldbuilding, it left her motivations often muddled. She was a very weepy character which was all right but sometimes got a bit repitive. It was sometimes frustrating as a reader how big the disconnect was between what she was thinking and how she acted - she was often very passive in her conversations compared to what she was thinking. It wasn't unrealistic, but it did make her grate on me a bit. I was also never fully sold on Er Lang as a love interest. He was quite misogynistic and while this is true of most of the male characters in the book, which is appropriate to their place and time, it didn't make him seem that appealing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body shaming, Murder, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Drug use, Classism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury
lynssss's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
Really cool atmospheric escapism. I thought it would get darker really. But it did later in another way. Very interesting plot and characters that all coincide week with each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Medical trauma, Grief, Drug abuse, Stalking, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, and Adult/minor relationship
MC's father is pretty addicted for a lot of the novel to opium. He gets better for some of it though. One of the main pairings is a relationship between a early to mid 30s man and a 17 yo.
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