heyyyyy I read the night tiger toooo tell me what u thought of it if that's ok
trigger warning for pseudo-incest //
To preface let me just say I had such high hopes for The Night Tiger: I love historical fiction, mysteries, and magical realism and this seemed like all that wrapped into one book. I loved Ren as a character, and I thought the concept of 5 people intrinsically linked through their names was very strong. But the book was just such a massive disappointment to me. I feel like we were promised a big moment where Ren and Ji Lin met, and there was never any payoff, and that felt cheap. They don't have a single substantial conversation, which I feel is merited considering the whole book is supposed to be based off this link they have. I also thought the two antagonists were introduced and then dispatched within a matter of chapters, so quickly it felt random and almost nonsensical.
My biggest beef is Shin and Ji Lin's relationship. I have honestly never been more uncomfortable reading something than I have their confession chapter. Like. Pseudo-incest is bad enough, but there's this added element of Shin brooding in the background of Ji Lin's entire life, driving away men she might have been interested in, emotionally manipulating her into believing that is acceptable behavior, that comes across as distinctly predatory. And Choo writes it like it's romantic when it's just creepy and manipulative. (Sidenote: I wonder whether Choo's portrayal of Shin as a manipulator was intentional, just done really badly, so I literally went to Twitter and asked, but surprise surprise I was ignored.) Ji Lin could have been such a great character, but the "romance subplot" really ruined her character arc and supplanted any of her motivations that could have been further in-line with the greater plot of the story.
Okay, to summarize, the Night Tiger wasn't the worst book ever, but in my opinion it was genuinely terrible and made worse because I went in with such high expectations LOL.
Shes so correct and smart
