PositiveThe AtlanticBy imagining the planet stretched to near destruction, Zhang poses complex questions about self-interest. She asks the reader to consider how meaningful individual behavior actually is when the environment continues to decay, regardless of whether one tries to do the right thing ... Zhang’s writing skates between prose and poetry, balancing the haziness of emotion with the grounding of detail. In some instances, the heaviness of her sentences can tip a passage out of balance or make the story harder to follow. But it is deeply refreshing to see plot intentionally cast in a supporting role ... When depicting...tensions, the novel can feel preachy, distracting from Zhang’s otherwise mesmerizing prose ... A bold encouragement to dwell within our desires.
