Under The Mountain

I was irritated at the beginning and bored in the middle and in the end decided that even if I got to the end, I wouldn't have enjoyed the book.

The book is clearly aimed at anyone who has no understanding of Chinese culture, as nearly every paragraph is filled with explanations of various customs, names, history. It was more like a history lesson than a story. In fact an entire paragraph was dedicated to describing some pots.

Every description was told in a tone of 'you don't know this' rather than just setting the scene and describing it to me. I may not understand some of Chinese culture but I'm pretty sure I know what a lotus flower looks like, we do have these in Europe. I think if person of Chinese culture read this, they'd quickly became frustrated.

The middle was just like trawling through sludge. She'd become a spirit, sort of, and instead of doing what any sane person would do - try and get back in their body after being told they have a limited window - she decided she wanted a holiday in another realm. This is after spying on people.