This novel may be good. But the tone of the audiobook reader was as if they were reading to children, to the point of distraction and due to this I couldn't get past the first 30 minutes of story to determine if I liked the writing or the novel.

I very much appreciate that this is the first book-length translated work of fiction that deals with the 2019 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. I enjoyed Natasha Bruce’s translated prose, the allegory to Hong Kong-China relations, and the magical realist elements. But despite that, I think the story is somewhat incoherent, probably because Dorothy Tze started writing this novel back in 2011/2012, put it aside for a few years, and then resumed in 2019. Most of the story is about the midlife crisis and extramarital affair of a professor with virility issues. There is something inexplicably compelling in the narrative even though usually I care nothing about narcissistic men and their egos. The student protests are spliced in much later in the novel, and they don't fit very well with the rest of the book. As a few of my Hongkonger friends commented, this part feels like a thinly veiled and not fully processed allusion to the events that happened in 2019, with an effect that is not raw but somewhat uncritical and unoriginal. It is for this that I take off one star.

I both read the novel and listened to the audiobook. I appreciate that the producers selected a native Cantonese speaker to read the piece. However, I am not a fan of Jennifer Leong’s vehement articulation, like she is spitting out the words in constant anger. I would take off half a star for this, but NetGalley doesn't do half stars.

That said, it was a pleasant read over all and I am happy to see more Hong Kong literature in translation. Thank you so much for the ARC.

A very unusual piece story, this is a narrative that very well defines what 'speculative fiction' is. We have our main character Professor Q falling in love with a doll; set in the fictional 'Nevers' (modelled on Hong Kong) the reader is giving insights into Q's life, relationships and feelings among the backdrop of a city in unrest.
The narration is very well done, adding a slightly ethereal quality which suits it well, but I struggled to fully get in board with the plot itself and felt somewhat lost at points. As this is a translated piece of work, I did wonder if something got lost in translation or whether it was just not the right book for me at this time.

Charting the lives of Professor Q and his wife Maria, this - occasionally confusing book (though the confusion may have come from my listening to it rather than reading it) - appears to follow their relationship develops from first meeting up to and including the point where Q's obsession with lifelike dolls seems in danger of destroying not only their relationship but his whole world.

Filled with a number of themes (both obvious and subtle) throughout, the book seems to challenge the reader to determine what is real and what is merely in the head of Professor Q. Questioning the reality, meaning and truth of everything, the book appears to have been written (or at least inspired -judging from the afterword) during a period of uncertainty and distress in the author's life...feelings which seem to come through strongly in the novel.

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Jennifer Leong
Content: 3.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

"Love is blind, as the saying goes. Although, in the case of Professor Q, it would be more accurate to say that love had rearranged his vision."

Owlish is quite a weird (audio)book. It is a surreal fairytale about a professor of literature named Q. His marriage and career aren’t perfect. Quite the opposite.

Professor Q has a collection of dolls and one day, he gets a new specimen for his collection. He is given a large music box with a ballerina doll inside. After some time, he starts an affair with this life-sized doll. The story takes place on a cultureless island called Nevers.

The story contains elements of ETA Hoffman’s, The Sandman. In this short story, a young man falls in love with a mechanical doll. But Owlish is not only a retelling of this story. It is also a political allegory. Nevers, where this story takes place, is a contemporary Hong Kong.

While I usually really like surreal stories, this was only ok. But the reason for this may be because I failed to understand the story in detail as I didn’t know enough about the past events in Hong Kong’s history. So, I recommend reading about the history of Hong Kong before you read this. It helps to understand the political aspect of the story.

Thanks to Fitzcarraldo Editions Audio for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

I had to stop listening half way through. I really, really struggled to know what was going on half the time, and stringing the narrative together was a massive challenge. The audiobook form didn’t really give me the time I needed to pace it slowly and piece it all together. I also found it absurdly sexual, which often felt in-needed. But mainly, the sexual nature of the text doesn’t come across in the description at all. I was expecting a whimsical, almost fairy-tale-like story, and whilst it has that element, it feels twisted up and I feel that should come through on the blurb.

I guess in the end, I didn’t feel clever enough for this. I can feel it’s doing something more than what I feel I have access to. As an english lit grad, I would hope I could bring out those layers, but perhaps it’s the audiobook form that makes it much more difficult to “get”. I would be interested to see how I got on with the novel in physical copy. I’ll be purchasing it to give it another go, as I still hold out hope that it’s possible to go deeper with this story.

An analogy of the recent history of Hong Kong.

While some elements of this analogy are clear many, especially towards the latter half of the book, are not. No doubt, first hand knowledge of Hong Kong's history would surely help with understanding what is going on. Unfortunately, I have limited knowledge of the area and its politics and was therefore left bewildered.

The writing is spectacular. The author's afterword helps decipher some of the coded messages (might have helped me if this was a foreword).

The audiobook's narrator has a chipper delivery which matches the surreal plot.

This was a clever, surreal imagining of modern Hong Kong, with narrative tendrils that twist and blend into each other like a modern day fairy tale. It's a very, very clever book - I unfortunately just didn't get it.

I thought the style of writing was great (very reminiscent of The Master and Margarita) and loved the adventure and risks the book took, using the quiet and aging professor Mr Q's affair with a human doll as a springboard, but I just struggled to follow along with the full scope of the book while listening to the audiobook. I know there will have been lots I missed, and there were definitely huge chunks I failed to properly understand.

I think it's absolutely worth a read, but something that's far better as a physical copy than an audiobook.

This wasn't really for me. Just a little bit too weird, felt like it was mostly going over my head and I couldn't hold on to any aspect of the story. But some passages of description were really evocative and beautiful.

This book is a weird little gem, and I loved how it is almost in on the joke itself, realising how absurd and bizarre it is throughout.

Professor Q, our oblivious and confused main character, tries and fails to understand the world around him, an alternative society where we have sights such as sexualised dancing dolls, protests and the Kafkaesque drudgery of trying to get tenure.

It is a real oddball of a book, with some unforgettable and funny moments throughout.

The audiobook is also a delight, told in this slightly detached and unnerving way that adds to the story.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In an alternate Hong Kong, Professor Q has a dull marriage and mediocre career at a university. While sinister forces are taking over the city and his classes are left empty from student protests, he embarks on an all encompassing love affair with a life-sized ballerina doll, Aliss, who has come to life.

Owlish is an intriguing and somewhat ethereal commentary on the takeover of Hong Kong. It’s a really well written book, and at times very weird. However, I think a lot of the symbolism went over my head and I felt a bit lost at times, especially towards the end. I listened to the audiobook which was well narrated, but I don’t think the book works well as an audiobook - at least for me. It’s definitely a book I would like to revisit again one day in physical form so I can linger over some of the passages a bit longer and appreciate it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the published for the audiobook

Ugh. Not for me. Tse's alternative Hong Kong is interesting, as are the links with other texts but the rest of the content is unpleasantly sexual. The prose is crass and ribald and engaging if often off-putting. The surrealism reminded me of the Master and Margarita, if Bulgakov had a literary trend for sex and genitalia. Here the plot is rather incoherent except for the clichéd story of a sexually and professionally frustrated literature professor embarking on a affair. Except this time it is with a doll. Unfortunately satire of this trope doesn't really land.

2.5 (half a point for the lovely narration).

I have a feeling that I'm missing a lot of metaphors in this novel. As a story it is bewildering, as a metaphor its even more confusing.

Professor Q is having a mid-life crisis. His career and marriage are stagnant. His home country is in flux having been ceded back to its original controllers ten years before. His escape is in a doll collection that he keeps hidden in his study. He finds gratification in dressing and playing with the dolls but that desire becomes out of control when he becomes the owner of Alliss, a life size ballerina doll.

Here's where I started to get lost, mainly because you are never sure what is real and what is dream.

I listened to the audio version and I had to keep going back on what I'd just heard because sometimes the end was so abrupt that I was positive is missed something crucial. After much deliberation I think Dorothy Tse has left so many open ends because life is like that. I understand that Nevers is a metaphor for Hong Kong and its current state of turmoil. No one really knows what will happen there or what is happening to its citizens.

We are left wondering what happened to Alliss, Professor Q and his wife. I am also still bewildered as to whether Owlish was a real person or just another facet of Professor Q's personality.

It's an interesting read. Writing this review (such as it is) has given me more of a headache than listening to the book. I'm definitely intrigued by Dorothy Tse and will search out more of her work.

A very strange tale set in the fictional place called Nevers, an alternative Hong Kong, the main character who is referred to as Q is a professor of literature.
The professor has a weird obsession with dolls which he collects. He comes across Aliss, a life size music box ballerina who comes to life and the professor starts an affair with her
This book is bonkers weird and I’m certain there’s many things that I didn’t understand but I went along with the strange ride and really enjoyed this!
The narrator did an excellent job to bring this to life while the story never got boring
If you like weird then you may like this

A little bit different to my usual audio books, and it was that difference, the quirky, unusual bit that kept me listening.
There were many things that went over my head I'm sure, as other reviews have said, I don't know enough about the politics to have picked up on the full meaning.
At face value though, it was entertaining enough