Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

4 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.75

I really enjoyed Zhang’s debut novel, so I entered Land of Milk and Honey with relatively high expectations. Much like How Much of These Hills Is Gold, Zhang delivered exquisite lyricism and a distinct writing style that will be hit-or-misses for readers. She also presented some really interesting themes in Land of Milk and Honey—especially in relation to a dystopian world—which was a variety that included beauty, social class, pleasure, and climate change. I will say, though, that the themes were not overtly stated and might require the reader to tease them out, which could be frustrating given the prose. I also thought it would have been nice if Zhang had stuck with fewer themes to explore in-depth as opposed to the multiple that she seemed to have wanted to discuss.

I think Land of Milk and Honey fell flat for me because I wasn’t entirely invested in either the story or the characters. Regarding the story, there certainly was a plot, but it was a very slippery one to grasp that resulted in me losing interest over time. As for the characters and their relationships with one another, they were interesting enough, but I didn’t think they were particularly memorable. With all this said, I will say that I think I may have picked this book up at the wrong time and just wasn’t in the right headspace for it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, and Violence

Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Eating disorder

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, and Car accident

daniellemjoyce's review against another edition

adventurous challenging sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Racism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Violence, Eating disorder, Grief, Drug use, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit

Minor: Murder and Pandemic/Epidemic

rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Animal death, Classism, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Drug use, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Chronic illness

Minor: Vomit and Cancer

Deals frequently with not only

animal>/spoiler> death but also

extinction of various species.

amhud1030's review against another edition

Just wasn’t for me, wasn’t what I expected. I did not like any of the characters, a lot of the food that was cooked sounded disgusting. There was a lot of descriptions of food that was being thrown away and wasteful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, and Drug use