DNF at the start of chapter 29.

I really like the concept of this book, and I'm very glad it covers a part of history rarely talked about. the way the book doesn't sugarcoat the atrocities is something I appreciate, but its approach and execution to the overall story is simply Not It.

the sexual parts throughout killed the mood for me, and the middle chapters seemed more focused on Grey's love life and crush on Jason, a man who is merely a creep from the start. I did not get what Grey saw in him at all, nor did I actually get much chemistry between the two. I'm not sure why Hayder thought chucking in this plotline was a good idea, but after a quick skim of her Wikipedia page and finding out that Hayder herself was a white woman who emigrated to Tokyo in the 90s, it very much began to feel as if Grey was a thinly veiled self-insert for Hayder which made it all the more uncomfortable.

maybe it's just me, but when you write a book about the atrocities of the rape of Nanking and the brutality of the Imperial Japanese army, I think it needs to be done sensitively. it didn't feel like Grey's love life added much to the plot, and the way the narrative switched between her chapters and the historical chapters describing these events simply felt disrespectful to the actual victims after a while. we go from chapters from 1937 as the massacre unfolds, followed by either "present day" (1990s) chapters in which Grey's relationship with Jason unfolds (which were also rather repetitive, the constant reminder that he had a chipped tooth was nothing but annoying) or chapters detailing Grey's history which were also rather sexual and/or uncomfortable. the two narratives feel jarring and incongruous with one another, and I really began to hate it after a while.

from the start, it was also rather uncomfortable how insistent Grey was and dismissive of Shi's lived trauma, but I let it slide as I understood it was for the plot; it didn't get any less uncomfortable as it progressed either, but again I got that it was For The Plot. however, coupled with the structure of the chapters, it was hard to ignore how insensitive the whole book's approach towards the actual massacre was. after a while, Grey's obsession of Having To Know despite Shi being clearly uncomfortable as a way to drive the plot forward simply couldn't be overlooked any further.

this book would have probably worked much better without the dual timelines, and instead just focus on Shi's narrative. Hayder wants to remind us that these atrocities were in the not-so-distant past, but the impact is drastically minimised if I have to read chapters that feel more in line with romance novels in between. if you want to read about the rape of Nanking, just read The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang instead.