PanObserverKilling Moon is so cruelly, brutally misogynistic and brimming with every savage cliche of crime fiction that it’s barely readable ... Storytelling that relies on tired cliches that frame women as hapless gold-digging victims who are lucky to have an ancient, alcoholic ex-cop on their case is a literary tradition we can do without.
Celeste Ng
RaveShondalandIs this a book about big themes? Yes, and openly so. It is also deeply poetic, beautifully and succinctly written, and thoroughly immersive. It arrives at a time when we are still measuring the wake of the pandemic lockdowns upon mental health and seeing our own prejudices writ large play out in public policy, in social media rants, in everyday violence ... To Ng’s great credit, Bird and his mother are not merely tokens used to make any number of political points. They are nuanced and relatable ... Ng’s book provokes a greater appreciation of the power of words and language, and the beauty of uniting through stories. She is naturally attuned to setting a scene, then weaving cadence, fluidity, and the beauty of language into a world we can exist within only briefly, but it makes a permanent heart-shaped imprint.