saramdeuri's Reviews (310)

Yeah. Yeah pretty good I'm convinced 

A look at grief and how it affects daily life, primarily through the lens of food and nurturing. The characters all felt very real. Lovely translation work.

This was a really beautiful book to read. Very atmospheric and ethereal. The magic felt almost tangible, and I love how the author gave the spices and their magic such character.

There was this feeling of doom and misfortune pervading the main characters the whole way through, so it was nice to finish it and find hope at the end of it all.

an excellent series of short stories! they all tied together loosely, which i wasn't expecting, but it was done so neatly it all felt like a cohesive world. really lovely writing and translation work, too. I think knowing the legends themselves adds an extra layer but reading this without knowing them at all must be quite fun too!

Very middle class therapy session, instagram quotes, stuff that only really sounds moving when your grandma says it to you in a particularly vulnerable evening conversation. Stuff I've heard before, and more impactfully when not surrounded by other very similar words. It's probably not a book to read at once but it's words after words after words.

the one part I found actually moving was "asking for help isn't giving up, it's refusing to give up," which I hadn't heard before.

Another lovely novel from Hwang. Simple and touching. The love and affection felt very real.

A cute little addition to the very beautiful Murderers ape series!

I just... don't get it. Its not for me I'm afraid 

I expected a more linear story rather than a ton of vignettes, but it was a fun read nonetheless. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to my friends though- the sense of humour was a little off for me.