DNF at 34%.

Not terrible or anything, it just didn't seem like the story was going anywhere. Which as a memoir is totally fine, but not really what I'm interested in reading currently.

DNF at 28%

They're all assholes — albeit of different stereotypes — and I doubt the plot will turn into something I care enough about to see through to the end.

DNF.

3.5 stars

"How trite, but true: things change. Some all at once, some over a lifetime."

disclaimer: I'll be talking about the hyphenated-American rep as a Chinese-American reader; I can't speak to the portrayal of mental illness as I do not have psychology knowledge beyond a college intro course or personal experience in the realm of BPD or schizophrenia, and I certainly don't want to talk over reviewers who do.

With that said, overall I felt that Lee manages to avoid romanticizing or demonizing mental illness; the depiction is sympathetic but not sugarcoated. It might, however, be construed as a "mental illness is a burden on the loved ones" narrative — this is after all a major part of the premise, of the relationships that are at the center of the story. Many viewpoints are presented, ranging from it's her own life and you have to live it to isn't it an older sister's/partner's responsibility to protect her from herself to can there possibly be a middle ground, and it is a genuine moral conundrum that gives rise to many what-ifs.

I didn't know going in that the sisters have different Chinese-American experiences (the older sister, Miranda, immigrated as a child with their mother and learned English as a second language; the younger sister, Lucia, was born and raised in the US); honestly I didn't notice any significant impact from this difference, but thought it was an interesting detail. Although I don't want to dismiss the rep as bad, it felt very much in line with the mainstream portrayal: Chinese wisdom, nasty Chinese medicinal herbs that might or might not work, even a couple lines about eating dog penises (I am not making this up).

The prose is very stream-of-consciousness and conversational. Which means on the one hand, it flows really well and was difficult to put down; but on the other, I felt emotionally distanced from the characters (whose vocabulary varies, but the syntax/structure is similar so it's not always easy to keep straight who's narrating). An interesting contrast is created with their very different beliefs and cultures — you could put it towards an interpretation about the commonalities of the human experience, probably.

The plot also feels very stream-of-consciousness. One thing follows another; you're not always sure where the story is going but you know we're going somewhere. While I wouldn't say that it kept me on my toes per se, there were never moments where I felt bored because I knew what was coming next.

All in all, this was a thought-provoking read and an interesting exercise in empathy. Perhaps that's a bit glib, but really, I'm still working through the themes and not sure how else to put it.

content warnings:

Spoiler

major character death(s), precanon & during-canon parent death, terminally ill characters (cancer), manic-depressive episodes, postpartum depression, mentions of infant death, miscarriages, infidelity, explicit sexual content, ableism (including the r-word), past abusive household (uncle), child neglect, animal (bird) injury and death, butchering animals for food, self-medication, mentions of suicide, fat-shaming

rep:

Spoiler

Chinese-American MC with anxiety, Chinese-American MC with mental illness (conflicting diagnoses, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia; postpartum depression), Russian Jewish amputee MC/love interest, Ecuadorian undocumented immigrant MC/love interest, biracial Chinese-Ecuadorian-American major character, diverse minor characters

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CONVERSION: 10.5 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 4 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 3 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5

Nice play, making Revenge so irresistible even though we know we're not supposed to be rooting for him. Fascinating premise and memorable characters, and just enough boy drama that it was interesting without detracting from the main plot.

DNF at 6%.

I tried, but I can't even get past the opening pages. Excessive adjectives and adverbs litter awkward descriptions that are more "telling" than "showing," and I am utterly uninvested in the fate of "the magnet for all the bad, terrible, and so-so luck that existed in the world."

DNF @ 20%

I was willing to give the jarring prose and all the machismo posturing a chance, but then I got into a violent and gory fight scene that I just couldn't stomach. (Not a condemnation of the writing, just a note that it's not for me.)

DNF at 5%.

Holly's really annoying, the stereotypical self-centered narrow-minded naïve teenage girl; there were some intriguing elements but the writing style didn't appeal to me — I gave up when I read the sentence "Must of." (Don't even get me started on the grammar, let alone the borderline-TSTL ignorance with which Holly dismisses everything out of the ordinary.)

DNF.

(I received a free eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.)

DNF at 5%.

I had a feeling from the beginning that I wouldn't like the writing style - half overly descriptive with adjectives and adverbs, and I barely understood the other half because it was archaic and/or underdeveloped worldbuilding - but chapter two, in which Reine inexplicably prefaces random sentences with "Fuckin" was the clincher. The Christianity/Wiccan conflict and individual backstories seem promising, but I just don't feel like struggling through to pick out the plot.