Review; Broken Wings by Jia Pingwa

Last year I recieved a press copy of the novel Broken Wings by Jia Pingwa through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards, but I haven't published my review until now.

Description from Goodreads
Evening, I made my one hundred and seventy-eighth scratch on the cave wall.

Despite her humble rural beginnings, Butterfly regards herself as a sophisticated young woman. So, when offered a lucrative job in the city, she jumps at the chance.

But instead of being given work, she is trafficked and sold to Bright Black, a desperate man from a poor mountain village.

Trapped in Bright's cave home with her new "husband", she plans her escape… not so easily done in this isolated and remote village where she is watched day and night.

Will her tenacity and free spirit survive, or will she be broken?

My Thoughts on the Book
I really wanted to like this novel, especially as it covers the important issue of human trafficking, but I struggled to read it. A lot of things got a bit "lost in translation" and the writing was detached (especially in regards of the rape), which made me not engage and invest that much in the characters and the story. I also found the book a bit confusing at times. I suspect that if I was able to read Chinese, I would probably like the book a lot more than I did.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spotlight; Dancing in the Rain av Lucy Appadoo

Image
Can she end the turmoil and escape the firmly built trap to find the freedom she craves? Book Details: Book Title: Dancing in the Rain (The Italian Family Series) Author: Lucy Appadoo Category: Adult Fiction, 274 pages Genre: Historical Coming of Age/Romance/Family Drama Publisher: Lucy Appadoo Release date: March 24, 2017 Tour dates: June 5 to 23, 2017 Content Rating: PG-13 + M (There is physical abuse and death involved.) Book Description: Fifteen-year old Valeria Allegro works diligently on the family farm in Italy, where she is torn between her duty to her family and her desire to find freedom from her strict, domineering father. She finds solace in Dario, a young student who provides a blissful escape—until a neighbour’s son, Gregorio, decides he wants her for himself. This raises an alarm for her father, which leads to family conflict and aggression. When Dario is threatened and her family is plagued by a series of suspicious accidents, Vale...
Read more

Announcing the 2022 Diversity Reading Challenge

Image
As we're writing 2022 in two months, I figured out it was time to announce the 2022 Diversity Challenge. I've hosted it in 2019 and 2021, and decided to host it next year too. I’m not going to make any categories or levels for this challenge, as I want it to be a bit flexible. Read as many books as you feel like reading and yes, it can be children’s books, graphic novels, e-books, non-fiction, audio books, poetry and you-name-it. As it is a diversity reading challenge, it would be mean to exclude some types of reading materials, right? Now, what is diversity you might ask? What I mean by diversity is, but not limited to; People of colour/non-caucasian characters/authors Native Americans and other indigenous people LGBTQIA+ Authors/characters defining themselves as trans, intersex, genderfluid or similar Refugees Religious minorities Mental illnesses/disorders Neurodiversity (like ADD, Aspergers and autism) Feminist themes/issues Physical/mental disabilities Characters/authors w...
Read more

Announcing the 2025 Diversity Reading Challenge

Image
Even though I'm technically having a hiatus for my book blogging at the moment, I still wanted to announce the 2025 Diversity Reading Challenge, just in case anyone wanted to participate in it and start planning their TBR pile. I’m not going to make any categories or levels for this challenge, as I want it to be a bit flexible. Read as many books as you feel like reading and yes, it can be children’s books, graphic novels, e-books, non-fiction, audio books, poetry and you-name-it. As it is a diversity reading challenge, it would be mean to exclude some types of reading materials, right? Now, what is diversity you might ask? What I mean by diversity is, but not limited to; People of colour/non-caucasian characters/authors Native Americans and other indigenous people LGBTQIA+ Authors/characters defining themselves as trans, intersex, genderfluid or similar Refugees Religious minorities Mental illnesses/disorders Neurodiversity (like ADHD and autism) Feminist themes/issues Physical/m...
Read more