I adore Jiang's writing, and her Linghun is a book that I'll be thinking about and recommending to others for years to come. So, with that in mind, I was incredibly excited to sink into this new work. Yet, I'm left struggling with what to say here.
On one hand, I adored the concept, characters, and writing, and I can understand that the fairy-tale-like style adopted may have come from the author's original conception of the work as a 'Blue Beard-esque retelling'...but at the same time, I have to admit that all of the creativity, characters, themes, and story felt like far too much for such a slim package of a novel. Especially early on, I found myself wishing that the novel would just move more slowly and let me really sink into some of the scenes and get to know the world and characters with more depth. Instead, it often did feel more fairy-tale-ish, in the way that fairy tales are told to the reader (style-wise)...but such fairy tales tend to work in that style because they're relatively fast and simple, at least in terms of development and characterization. Here, though, there are so many fascinating characters, details, and worldbuilding details, and I too often felt like I was being rushed through them.
All in all, if this book had covered the same territory and been written to be twice the length it is, I think I'd be raving about it. Instead, I'm just not sure how I feel about it because it feels like a lot of the power it might have had for me was lost in a rushed forward momentum or a sort of detached style, and so as much as I loved the writing and the ideas here, and appreciate all of Jiang's work, I'm left wishing there'd been...well, more.
I'll be a forever fan of Jiang's work and continue picking up her books, but I haven't decided if I'll read the second book in this series, to be honest.