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Celeste Ng

Start date: August 1, 2023

Finish date: August 31, 2023

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What Members Thought

Oct 26, 2022 Trisha rated it really liked it

Shelves: goodreadschoice2022

"They'd been dangerous, he thought; they'd loved him so fiercely it had made them dangerous."

WOW! This is a powerful read, one that I went into a bit lightly and wasn't prepared. This isn't Celeste Ng's Little Fires Everywhere. This is dystopian, a world we both recognize and don't. One where our zealous need to control what people are consuming has tripped us in to an over-reaching government and a very afraid people.

This is the story of Bird. His mom suddenly marked a rebel, she disappears. B ...more

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Dec 05, 2022 Jenn rated it liked it

Shelves: 2022-finished, fiction, dystopian

Seeing a new Celeste Ng book come out and I was excited to venture into her new book. What I read though wasn't what I was expecting and I definitely have some mixed feelings about it.

This book is quite different from her previous books. The overall idea for the story I commend her on but the execution of the book was a bit lacking. The book is eerily close to what is happening in today's world. This book appears to have been written during covid times.

This book had no dialogue between the char Seeing a new Celeste Ng book come out and I was excited to venture into her new book. What I read though wasn't what I was expecting and I definitely have some mixed feelings about it.

This book is quite different from her previous books. The overall idea for the story I commend her on but the execution of the book was a bit lacking. The book is eerily close to what is happening in today's world. This book appears to have been written during covid times.

This book had no dialogue between the characters. It's about a family who end up living in a time where there is much racial discord especially within the Asian community due to the fact of a new government ruling called PACT. (The Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act.) The reasoning for this act happened because of an event which triggered the hate for anyone that looked Asian. This hits way too close to home as that is what has been going on throughout the country due to Covid. This act, though, takes things too far. Not only does it cause horrible discrimination, it triggers brutalities within the Asian community. Because of this Margaret, Bird's mother, must leave to help keep her son, Bird, safe.

Ethan and Margaret met on happenstance one night and they were in love. They had a son together. HIs name was Noah, but his mother called him Bird. Ethan was caucasian and Margaret was asian. Noah took after his mother. Margaret had written a poem book while she was pregnant. It was an innocent book but things went out of control when an event happened that put her and her book in the limelight and not in a good way.

I was not enjoying this book with Noah's portion of the story. (Part I) In fact I was ready to chalk it up and DNF it because it just wasn't interesting to me. Then when it got to Margaret's story the book became interesting and more enjoyable to read. Much more backround was given leading up the Crisis, then the act, and how her life had changed. This book was very descriptive. Great imagery throughout, even it did become a bit much.

The overall storyline was a bit weak but it gives the reader some things to think about since the world is changing rapidly. The scary thing is that what happens in the book could be a possibility sometime in the future with the way the world is right now with all the racism going on. I did find the whole issue on the taking the children away to be a bit far fetched and disturbing.

I can't say that I really enjoyed this book. I understand that the author most likely was trying to portray that atrocities that can happen when a government passes something this. While I usually enjoy seeing Asians being represented in stories I can't say I was that thrilled to see portrayed this way. Maybe because this something we are starting to see more and more frequently. It's sad that books seem to be coming out that centers on either covid or the rampant racism in the world. These are books, that right now, I don't really want to be reading. It was a bit shocking to see this author come out with a book like this. The characters overall weren't very strong and therefore not all that very interesting to be honest. What this book does do is make one think of all the issues in the world and just how powerful the people and the government can be and how much it influences everything. The book seemed to be wanting to highlight all the bad issues in the world right now, and I personally would rather read something a bit uplifting. I wouldn't rush to get this book as it really wasn't that enjoyable of a story. Honestly it was a bit of a disappointment from the author. ...more

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