This book is tough to review, because of the horrible themes it discusses (child abuse and paedophilia). The most influential book to come out of Taiwan, an important novel part of the #MeToo movement, focuses on the grooming of a 13-year-old girl by her teacher and the trauma that affected her life forever. Her author, Lin Yi-Han, committed suicide soon after this book was published (she was 26 years old only), and there are speculations that the book is based on her experience and trauma. 

The plot follows two 13-year-old girls, best friends and neighbours, avid readers and lovers of life. Their relationship and lives change when a local teacher, living in the same building, offers to do lessons with them weekly, to advance their academic results. Fang Si-Chi has the disadvantage of being much prettier than Liu Yi-Ting, so she becomes the target of this predator, a man 37 years older than the girls. As we go along, we learn that this man had been grooming, raping, and abusing young girls for over twenty years, abusing his job as a teacher and using their fear of exams and grades. The abuse has tragic consequences on Fang Shi-Chi and affects Liu Yi-Ting’s life as well when she becomes aware of it. 

Alongside the girl’s narrative, we are also told another horrible story, of domestic abuse of the young and beautiful Iwen, married to a rich man in the building, who beats her when he comes home drunk from work (which happens very often). Her story is also tragic (she is almost killed during one of the beatings), but it gives a little hope of redemption. The ending of Iwen’s story is the only ray of light in the entire book.

The novelty of the book is that the story is told from multiple points of view, including that of the abuser. We learn his dark thoughts, the entitlement, the view of self as deserving of the love and bodies of the young girls, and, above all, the lack of action or consequences from a social point of view. The book suggests that Taiwan is a closed, traditional society, where blame is put on the girls (even if underage!) rather than on the abuser, which allows and, even more, enables the cruelty this man shows to the girls the uses for his pleasure. It’s sickening to be in this man’s head, hear his horrible thoughts, and feel part of them. You feel dirty after reading this book, just for being a witness to the grisliness he causes (which is shared by other teachers, his colleagues, and the girls they abuse being like badges of honour one carries to show off). The ultimate reward one can win in this group of horrendous men is to have a girl kill herself for them. This is how the world shows them how valuable and important they are, the ultimate conquest.

The multiple points of view make the story disjointed, and fragmented. The writing was as dark as the story, and sometimes it’s hard to understand the metaphors or analogies that the author uses. It’s not the first time I have had this issue with books translated from Mandarin; there might be a lot of context lost in translation that makes the reading cumbersome. At the same time, the jump from one point of view to the other is very sudden and you have to go back and re-read passages to understand which character you are with. Some characters get only a bit of story time, and I felt their interventions were unnecessary. While the narrative is clear, some parts of the story are abstract, which can affect comprehension. But, perhaps, the world feels fragmented and broken when one is abused and shares one’s story, so the writing itself might be fractured on purpose. 

Yes, this story is as terrible as it sounds. It was a challenging read, that made me extremely angry many times, but, after I started, I felt that I must finish and understand this story, especially as it’s based on real events and it’s the experience of many girls around the world. I warn you, there are graphic scenes depicting the abuse and all the content warnings one can attach to telling a story like this. Lin Yi-Han didn’t restrain herself from a narrative that captured the hideousness of the manipulation, gaslighting, and abuse these girls and women suffered. So, if you get to read this book, be aware of the trigger warnings!