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A review by maiagaia
Severance by Ling Ma
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The past is a blackhole cut into the present day like a wound, and if you come too close, you can get sucked in.
This was an amazing read. It's a rumination on isolation, capitalism, family, and otherness. I love, love, LOVE an emotionally stunted, disassociating main character (ie Catherine House), add that to a global tragedy that destroys society as we know it, and that's a winning combination for me.
I'm not an immigrant or the child of immigrants, but the portrayal of the MC's relationship with her extended family hit close to home. Her trips to China and interactions with Chinese coworkers were beautiful and sad and wonderful.
I do have a complaint, though. The blurb is technically correct, but it also focuses on the wrong things. It mentions her taking photos for her blog, but that isn't shown until late in the book. It's mentioned once or twice earlier on, but I was expecting and would have preferred more of that because I loved the sections where she did explore the city.