I N C L U D E S A F F I L I A T E L I N K S
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Title: Bury What We Cannot TakeAuthor: Kristin Chen
Published: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 300
Rating: 3/5
Summary:
A family living under Maoist rule on Drum Wave Islet decides to try and escape to Hong Kong under the ruse of a family member being sick, but finds it's impossible to get an exit permit for the whole family and ends up having to leave their youngest daughter behind.
Review:
This was a pretty interesting book, although I feel like it fell a little flat towards the ending.
I thought reading about the communist regime and the oppression the family experiences while under it was really interesting, and I liked seeing how the different family members dealt with it, as well as dealt with the situation of having to leave one of their own behind while they make a new life for themselves in another place. I especially liked reading about the grandmother and the mother and seeing how they thought and felt about the situation they were in. I also really liked reading from the perspective of the girl who was left behind and her coming to terms with what has happened.
That being said, some of the characters felt a little one-dimensional and I felt like the story lost itself a little bit the further into the book I got; it became a little repetitive and I found myself losing interest. I also thought the ending was a little underwhelming. It started off really strong but just tapers off a little bit.
There are a lot of interesting themes going on in the book, but it doesn't really do anything with the plot, the writing or the characters to make it stand out.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
