This book stressed me out - and it's stressing me out while I write this review.  I want to give it 1 star for not being what I expected but I want to give it 4 stars because I secretly loved the suspense.  I guess I will go with 3 stars.

I am so absolutely confused by this book.  I want to hate it but I don't hate it.  It wasn't exactly what I was expecting and I hate it because of that but it's not the books fault because I didn't read the summary.  I thought it was going to be more of a fictional biographical account of exactly what was going on in Nanking but it really wasn't.  It was a suspenseful fiction about an idea of a specific event that happened in Nanking.  I think it would have been a better tale from the eyes of the co-hero than an immature Englishwoman that became obsessed with something she read in the book.

I couldn't put it down but at the same time I was too stressed to turn the page.  I knew it was only a matter of time before something went bad with the gangster, Fuyuki, and before Shujin met a terrible fate.  The main character, Grey, drew me in with her broken soul, making me want to envelope her in a protective hug that deflects all bad things so she has the time to heal.  I feel the book could have done a better job at explaining the connection between her obsession with the live babies being cut out of mothers wombs in Nanking to her own experience of self mutilation to "save" her baby.  Chongming, I would love to read an account from his perspective.  About that fateful night in Nanking; about his escaping; about his guilt, sadness, grief; about his quest to find Fuyuki.  I think that would be a most interesting tale but probably gut-wrenching and horrible and sad - even more so than this original one.

Overall this book delivered a lot but the story was so involved it could have gone further because it leaves more questions than it answered.
This book stressed me out - and it's stressing me out while I write this review. I want to give it 1 star for not being what I expected but I want to give it 4 stars because I secretly loved the suspense. I guess I will go with 3 stars. I am so absolutely confused by this book. I want to hate it but I don't hate it. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting and I hate it because of that but it's not the books fault because I didn't read the summary. I thought it was going to be more of a fictional biographical account of exactly what was going on in Nanking but it really wasn't. It was a suspenseful fiction about an idea of a specific event that happened in Nanking. I think it would have been a better tale from the eyes of the co-hero than an immature Englishwoman that became obsessed with something she read in the book. I couldn't put it down but at the same time I was too stressed to turn the page. I knew it was only a matter of time before something went bad with the gangster, Fuyuki, and before Shujin met a terrible fate. The main character, Grey, drew me in with her broken soul, making me want to envelope her in a protective hug that deflects all bad things so she has the time to heal. I feel the book could have done a better job at explaining the connection between her obsession with the live babies being cut out of mothers wombs in Nanking to her own experience of self mutilation to "save" her baby. Chongming, I would love to read an account from his perspective. About that fateful night in Nanking; about his escaping; about his guilt, sadness, grief; about his quest to find Fuyuki. I think that would be a most interesting tale but probably gut-wrenching and horrible and sad - even more so than this original one. Overall this book delivered a lot but the story was so involved it could have gone further because it leaves more questions than it answered.