This Chinese novel didn't convince me, I found the writing unremarkable, the plot quite convoluted and the construction illogical.

The novel is written as a dialogue between two childhood friends who find each other back after decades. They slowly (in fact very slowly) reveal to each other what really happened between their families in the years during and after the Cultural Revolution.

I had hoped to learn more about this period in Chinese history, but the idea of the novel is rather to study the reverberations and scars left decades on, also on later generations.

And where in modern Japanese or Korean the writing is often quirky but fresh, here it rather felt clumsy.

The first half is really very slow, the second half a bit better. I was sometimes confused with all the granddads and grannies.

Cocoon tells a unique and very interesting story about two childhood friends who reconnect as adults and how the scars of China's recent past still haunts the people of the present. I found the pacing to be a little uneven at times, but overall I thought it was a very important read and an empathically told story.

3.75

This is such a fascinating novel. Set in modern times, Cocoon tells the story of Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi and their families by having these two childhood friends reunite and tell each other their stories. It manages to be both deeply personal and character focused while also very political.

The prose is incredible and for the first half of the book I was really digging the slow unraveling of who these two characters are and how their families have shaped their lives. There seemed to be a shift in the pacing in the second half though and we went from really slow exploration of their childhood to speeding through the time after Jiaqi left and while I appreciated that those threads of the story highlighted the nuance of all of these characters, it didn't stick the landing for me because it felt too rushed. I also noticed that at times it was challenging to keep track of the narrative considering the two narrators are telling each other their stories and flashing back to various points in their histories.

That being said, I still think this is a great book. It deals with the aftermath of China's Cultural Revolution, specifically from the perspective of the millennial generation, and the care and emotion Zhang Yueran (and translator Jeremy Tiang) put into every single sentence is astounding. I felt for each and every one of these characters and there were so many passages that made me pause and grab my highlighter. This will definitely be a book I return to and I look forward to reading more of Zhang's work.

Also, I understand why this book is being marketed as a literary thriller because there is a sort of a mystery surrounding a 1967 crime; however, this book is so much more focused on generational trauma and inherited guilt and redemption and complex family dynamics, so if you go in expecting thriller vibes or even a full mystery, you will likely be disappointed.

“Cocoon” by Zhang Yueran is a complex, lyrical and thoughtful novel – an exploration of the theme of memory and time, set against the backdrop of the recent history of China, particularly the Cultural Revolution.
It switches between the perspective of two key protagonists - Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong - two seemingly separate individuals whose lives are secretly deeply entwined, spanning back generations. Their history, and their fate, is a result of the Cultural Revolution and the struggle sessions, combined with modern day problems including social class and financial barriers.
The book is one of those that takes your attention immediately. A must read. I loved it!

First of all, thank you to World Editions and NetGalley for this ARC! This review was voluntarily written by me.

My first thought while reading this book is there is no happiness in this story, at least for these main characters. Mostly told in second person POV, I would say that is not really an easy read because I do not really read a lot of literary fiction, but the writing and narrative between these two characters really makes me interested towards the end. I am not really sure if this book is a thriller or not, but it definitely has some mystery in it, and for me, the story really shows how a tragic incident can affect people’s lives negatively for generations. For the ending, I’m not sure whether it is a truly happy ending but I think that these two MCs are ready to move on to have a better life. Thank you to the translator for the translation that manages to evoke my emotion when reading this story.

i really wanted to like this but found the writing kind of dense. the way the narrators refer to someone as 'you' also pulled me out of the reading experience.

When is a crime thriller not really a thriller but more of a series of self-discoveries on the path to uncovering the truth of a family secret? Cocoon (original title: 茧) by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang, begins with the reuniting of two childhood friends, Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong, now in their 20s, and is told from their alternate perspectives as they tell the story of growing up from their perspectives, filling in gaps in each other's knowledge to lead each other and the reader towards the truth of a crime that occurred in their family before their time. Given the somewhat reflective, slow pace of this novel, as well as its lack of clear-cut answers, its description as a "thriller" in the blurb is misleading and undoubtedly affected my ability to get into the book quickly as it was very different to what I was expecting. I don't know if there are different expectations of this genre in other languages, but I associate it with plot-driven, fast-paced stories, not the character-focused writing that we find in Cocoon. Another aspect I struggled with was the blurring between the narratives of the two characters in the first third or so of the book: I sometimes couldn't remember whose family was whose as they were (intentionally, I assume) very similar. This eventually stopped being a problem as the book progressed and I think I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.

Both Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong grew up in very dysfunctional families and this is a main theme of the book. How does the lack of a respectable father, a respected mother, loving grandparents and aunts and uncles, affect a child? How does this absence of love and warmth follow a child into the choices and relationships of adulthood? Zhang Yueran explores the answers to these questions, but she also takes a step further by situating them in the context of the legacy of the Cultural Revolution in China: a time when trust between peers was almost non-existent and toeing the line was the only choice, the alternative being social expulsion and punishment from all sides. As one of the older characters describes it, "You don't know what it was like back then, you might get paraded through the streets or dragged into a struggle session at the drop of a hat, they'd denounce you for this today and that tomorrow, you never knew when the arrow was going to point at you." Zhang Yueran does a very good job of showing how the targeting of one man at that time triggered the cycle of dysfunction and destruction of the protagonists' families for generations. She does this not only through the actions of the various characters and the inability of any family member to escape this cycle, but also through the gloomy, pessimistic atmosphere that pervades the entire novel. 

One of the reasons I decided to read this book was to see how a younger writer, based in China, would portray the Cultural Revolution and its effects. Zhang Yueran has taken a different approach to a previous novel I have read on the topic, Beijing Coma by Ma Jian (trans. by Flora Drew). Beijing Coma is very explicit and direct about the events of the Cultural Revolution, portraying in detail the "reform-through-labour" camps, vigilante "justice" carried out on neighbours, colleagues and even family members, and the psychological trauma that the time inflicted on the Chinese population. Cocoon, on the other hand, hardly mentions these events; her novel is focused very much on the personal stories of the characters, but the shadow of the Cultural Revolution falls long over each moment of the present. I think this makes sense especially when the book is translated from Chinese, written for a Chinese readership; the writer implicitly expects a certain level of knowledge of that time for the reader to draw from. After finishing this book, I remembered one of the points of discussion that I brought up in my podcast episode about Beijing Coma: even though many of the events of that time have been censored and people don't always want to talk about them, their impacts on families across China cannot be erased. History cannot be erased. This book portrays that exact point very clearly.

There is much more that could be said about this book: how lack of nurturing childhoods manifest through violence, inability to sustain relationships, guilt in different forms; the methods people who have been through such difficult times use to survive, especially women; how to view our actions between personal choice and inherited trauma; the striking use of imagery and metaphor in Zhang Yueran's writing and Jeremy Tiang's translation; and more, but I'll stop there. I appreciated the writer's, translator's and publisher's notes at the end, which while short triggered some deeper reflection as I processed the end of the book. It was also nice to have a note on the cover design! I won't give any spoilers by discussing the ending in depth. I'll just say that after some thought I realised it is very fitting and leaves us with the message that trauma from the past does not have a simple solution; it is lifelong and manifests itself in complex, unexpected ways. 

Thanks to World Editions and Net Galley for the Advance Review Copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and World Editions for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the story of two childhood friends who reconnect as adults and reminisce, told in alternating POV chapters. There is a tragic event that haunts their families, and they try to unravel what happened so many years ago.

This book is billed as a literary thriller, and I was excited to read it, as I’ve read some translated Chinese literature and enjoyed it. Indeed, there were a lot of aspects I liked, including the setting, as I’m always interested in books that open a window on another culture. Just reading about the details of life gave me some understanding of what living in China in the 1970s up to the 2000s was like. I found the parts of the story about the Cultural Revolution to be fascinating. The prose was skilled, and Zhang is adept at telling a tale in great detail, sometimes with an evocative turn of phrase. I enjoyed her observations of the human condition.

However, the writing felt technically gifted but emotionally detached. Zhang’s story was one of two childhood friends connected by tragedy, and it was interesting, but also exhaustive. The characters searched for meaning and connection by trying to figure out the past, never fully realizing their own agency to move forward. In this way it was frustrating. Near the end, one character says to one of the two: “You insist on occupying a history that doesn’t belong to you. It’s a form of escape, because you can’t deal with your actual life. You don’t know why you exist, so you hide in your father’s era. You feed on that generation’s scars. Like a vulture.”

I was expecting more of a “thriller” aspect as well, given the billing. The mystery surfaced about half way through, and added interest but not enough. The book was more of a character study, without delving deep enough into the characters to allow me to connect, which was surprising given the amount of tragedy on the page.

I think this novel is a great achievement for Zhang, and I’m glad she can have a voice in the English-speaking world as an impressive female Chinese writer. I suspect Cocoon will be a good fit for many readers, but it wasn’t quite the novel I was hoping for.

I like this book, but I wouldn't really consider it a thriller. I think it rather fits in Historical Literary Fiction more and publicising this as a literary thriller could do it a disservice. Like I get there's a murder mystery part but this is more about childhood friends reconnecting as adults in my opinion.

I initially found it hard to get into but after the first few chapters things started to fall into place and I knew what to expect which is multiple POVs between Li Jiaqi and Chen Gong and a dialogue that spans generations which were welcome.

Obviously, with translated fiction, the core essence of any book is lost, I won't feel the same emotions reading this in English as I would if I knew Chinese and could read Cocoon how it was meant to be read, Jeremy Tiang does a wonderful job translating.

I also love that at the end you were told how the cover design related back to the title.

Thanks to Zhang Yueran, Net Galley, and World Editions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book #235 of 2022.

This is a complex, deep and tumultuous story with a non-linear timeline. Though the pacing is slow, I was hooked on the story. It is the type of book I think I could read multiple times and find more that I missed the first time around. Though I wouldn't call this an easy read, the story is woven in such an interesting way that made me curious to know more.

COCOON by Zhang Yueran (trans. by Jeremy Tiang) is a novel about two childhood friends, Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi, who re-encounter each other in adulthood. Each chapter alternates point of view between the two of them as they reminisce about their coming of age in the 1980s and events since then. It’s almost a psychological thriller because it's very cerebral and because various layers of the central mystery - who drove a nail through Cheng Gong's grandfather's head - are slowly revealed as the story progresses.

The style was a bit tricky, as Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi did not have distinct enough voices for me to discern who was speaking (I often found myself flipping back to the chapter heading to remind myself). For the first half, I was confused about the characters (they each refer to their mom, dad, and grandparents in generic ways and it was difficult to remember whose mom, dad, or grandparent we were talking about). Key pieces of information are withheld until later, leaving the reader unnecessarily befuddled.

That being said, there was much I did appreciate about the novel. It gave great insight into the tenor of post-Cultural Revolution life in China and the general mood and concerns of ordinary people. The crafting of the story was very deliberate and conveyed a bleak, tragic picture of two intertwined families and the repercussions on Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi, who seem lost in the dense fog of a history shrouded in secrets. Some of the passages gave me chills (see the pull quotes). Overall, it was a very intelligent book that was maybe too smart for me, but I still found it worthwhile. It’s a valuable contribution to Chinese literature, and one I hope to discuss with others more knowledgeable than myself.

This is how I experienced the book:
-First 15%: Fantastic, great writing, lots of perceptive observations
-15-40%: What is even happening here?
-40-100%: The main action of the book becomes clear and the plot picks up

If reading translated lit from China interests you, I'd definitely give this one a try - it has astute observations about the psyche of this generation.

Cocoon tells the story of two childhood friends that have reunited after numerous years apart. Over the course of the novel we see what happened to pull them apart, and bring them back together, how their lives are deeply intertwined and how the effects of the Cultural Revolution on their families has profound repercussions on their lives and their friendship.

This is definitely a slow burn, with just enough intrigue at the beginning to keep me reading but it was well worth persevering. Cocoon is rich both in language but also in terms of characters. Both the two main characters have detailed worlds with a whole host of characters who often surprised me in their complexity. One thing I found tricky at times, but also lent itself to the narrative, was that the story is told from the first person perspective for both of the characters. Since they often are talking about family members and refer to them as “mum” and “dad” etc. this occasionally got a little confusing, especially if you happen to stop mid-chapter. That being said, I loved the way this novel moves through time, through the generations and the way it is almost a family sage but not quite.

This novel is riddled with secrets and intrigue, and by the end I couldn’t put it down. I’m not a huge fan of historical fiction, but I thought this was really excellent and would highly recommend. 4.5 stars.

Cocoon is a complex story revolving around Li Jiaqi and Cheng Gong, written in beautiful lyrical prose. It jumps around between timelines and POVs, which is interesting and can be a little bit confusing. A lot of themes are being discussed so I found it simultaneously overwhelming and underwhelming. I had expected a strong mystery /thriller kind of atmosphere but it was more of a psychological family drama (which I still really liked). The pace was so slow at first so I found myself quite bored at first but it picked up eventually! The characters are especially well-written and the complex family tales are so raw and real.

I've found Cocoon by Zhang Yueran to be a compelling read, which is usually the case, in my opinion, with Eastern or Asiatic literature. The pace and rhythm of the prose is so peculiar and different from ours, that to me feels quite hypnotic and captivating.
So you might love the characters, or the story of their families and their secrets, or the historic background the novel provides, all these elements are excellent, but the key player in this book is the beautifully poetic prose that leads you through them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and World Editions for the arc.

This is one of the books that I wish I listened the audiobook instead, anyway, let’s start with the pros:
- The writing was sooooo poetic and that’s the one that kept me going
- I loved how the “mystery” unfolded eventually
- I loved the arrangement of the conversations and their stories like I’m going through a family tree while listening to the stories of each member

Why I only gave it 2.75-3 stars/cons:
- It was too slow for me and I know that’s on me but yeah it’s a slow burner
- This is not a thriller book, which I was expecting and was so excited about
- I wanted to love this so much, but I guess it’s just not for me

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I think the writing was smart, but I could not get invested in the direction of the characters. I would love to try to pick this one up again in future!

Cocoon
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 out of 5 stars

Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi have known each other since childhood in the 1980s. Now, they reunite to reminisce about the past…

Cocoon is an original position. Written in beautiful, lyrical prose, the novel explores love, family and friendship. The narrative blends the present and past as the author weaves her tale that touches on complex topics in recent Chinese history, like Cultural Revolution and Korean War. This book is full of stories the main characters tell about their ancestors, parents and grandparents. It is a fascinating but slightly overwhelming read.

Blog: A Bookish Daydream
https://abookishdaydream.wordpress.com/2022/09/28/mini-review-cocoon/

Set in China, The Cocoon by Zhang Yueran is a complex and tragic story of dysfunctional families, inter-generational trauma, secrets, inherited guilt, and redemption. It is an interesting mesh of both the personal and the political.

The socio-political movement–the Chinese Cultural Revolution and its impact on people form the backdrop of the story. The English translation is by Jeremy Tiang.

Cocoon is set in present-day China, but the past is very much a part of the present. Li Jiaqi returns to her childhood home after decades to take care of her dying grandfather, a renowned surgeon. After his demise, she visits her estranged friend, Cheng Gong. The two childhood friends get together on a snowy evening and unravel the intricate web of secrets that had caused them to fall apart.

Over the course of the evening, they open up to each other, discussing their childhood friendship and the circumstance that drove them apart. Through their conversation and alternating perspectives, we learn their stories, their different societal status, family structures, strained familial ties, and a gruesome crime committed in the 1960s that ties these two characters and their families.

The prose is poetic, almost lyrically layered in flow. Yet the mood is strangely bleak and melancholic. The hard lives of the protagonist make for a profound and intriguing reading experience.

The title is quite interesting as aptly depicts the manner in which Jiaqi and Gong’s lives are

There are many characters in this novel, and sometimes I got confused by the names and had to go back a few pages to place them correctly.

Navigating through the dual non-chronological flashbacks was slightly challenging. At times, I struggled to clearly identify and separate the speakers because of similarities in their struggles and storylines.

The first half of the novel is very slow, and I stopped reading more than once. It is only after crossing the halfway mark that the events begin to crystallize.

I don’t know why this novel is being presented as a literary thriller. It’s quite misleading. Labeling it as literary fiction would be more suitable and justified.


Cocoon is a wonderful work of literary fiction. It is complex and hopeful, and yet difficult to read. Readers who enjoy books simmering with complex family dynamics, in-depth characters, or contemporary literature set in China.

I received a free copy of this book from World Editions through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Fascinating depiction of intergenerational trauma, with beautiful vivid writing. The story is told in a series of non chronological flashbacks which at times found hard to wrap my head around, especially given the number of characters. I did find that this was less "thriller", being quite slow paced with not much mystery to it, more a study on family dynamics, would have appreciated a little more context at the start to make it easier to grasp and less of a slow start. However, it picked up at the 30% mark and despite none of the characters being "likeable" in any sense I did really enjoy reading about them especially Jiaqi. I haven’t read a lot of books translated into English unfortunately, but I thought this was done seamlessly here!

The two main characters meet one evening and spend the time sharing everything that has happened in the years since they last saw each other.

Intertwining stories and two POVs showcases the author’s ability to switch between timelines and narrators.

The story, however, is character-driven and in order to enjoy this book you’ll need to love one or both of the main characters. Told in second-person, each section focuses on the multi-generational experiences of each family.