Fiction – bookreviewblog

Author: Ocean Voung

The novel is set in the USA from the perspective of a son born to Vietnamese immigrants. Written in the form of a letter, addressed from a son to his mother who can’t read English. It delves into the grief, hurt and the complicated relationship with his mother. The letter signifies a life lived that will remain unsaid and the cumulation of emotions he is forced to carry with never feeling understood.

“Because freedom, I am told, is nothing but the distance between the hunter and its prey. ”

“I was unmoored by this act, its precarious yet bold refusal of common sense. “

“Shifts in the narrative would occur—the past never a fixed and dormant landscape but one that is re-seen. Whether we want to or not, we are traveling in a spiral, we are creating something new from what is gone.”

Tender Is The Flesh

Author: Augustina Bazterrica

The novel presents a virus that turns animal meat poisonous to humans causing humans to slaughter every non-human animal and begin factory farming human beings for food instead. The premise and set up had so much potential. It dragged and plotted out the set up for 100 pages and the buildup just disappointed, the derailing protagonists character development felt unnerving, so close to creating a morally gray character. But ended up just making it uncomfortable; very clear distinction was created immediately. Rushed last scene and abrupt cut off. Wasted potential.

“Does this pose a moral dilemma for you? Do you find it atrocious?” he asks. “Not at all. The human being is complex, and I find the vile acts, contradictions, and sublimities characteristic of our condition astonishing. Our existence would be an exasperating shade of gray if we were all flawless.”