Reviews

Apricot's Revenge: A Crime Novel by Song Ying, 松鹰

heather1999's review

2.0

1.5*
I typically love crime/mystery books but not this one. It is very slow to get into. They have so much extra side topics that would be better without. The final point that I don’t like is THERE ARE SO MANY CHARACTERS AND YOU CAN EVEN PRONOUNCE 80% OF THEM. I know it was translated, but I wish they would have put a pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book.

blockofsoy's review

2.0

I honestly cannot finish this book - I am sure it's a great read in its native language (Chinese) but the translated version falls very flat. The story is uninteresting, the characters are hard to get into because they don't seem to have personalities or thoughts, and it reads at a very slow pace. The issue with translating the Chinese language is that the language in itself is very poetic; there may be 10 ways to describe one thing, and it isn't possible to capture that poeticism with the English language. The result is a very dulled and dumbed down version of the story. Perhaps the original is just as bland, but for now, this one will be put back on the shelf and not read again.

carricatures's review

4.0

A new experience to read a book translated from Mandarin! There's a noticeable flavour to it, which I appreciated, and I like to think it's because it was originally written by a Chinese person, in Chinese, for a Chinese audience (I hope). That sets it apart from other books which might write about China or Chinese history from a Western perspective or for a Western audience. 
As with most murder mysteries, the investigation is the main focus so there's less on the character development side.
Would definitely like to find more translated Chinese books after this. 

ferrumage's review

2.0

Perspective shifts that make it not a whodunit.