📚Insider book club: A look at the romantic side of cryptozoology

Hi! My name is Penny, and I have often thought about quitting my job and becoming a cryptozoologist.

I haven’t done it yet, but I’ve certainly been thinking about it.

Cryptozoology is the “pseudoscientific” study of creatures or animals that may or may not exist. Popular American examples include the Bigfoot, the Mothman or the Flatwoods Monster.

Now, if I were to make that career move, I would consider moving to the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an.

“Strange Beasts of China” by Yang Ge and translated by Jeremy Tiang tells the story of the many real beasts living in Yong’an, and their impact on the people living there.

Our unnamed narrator is a failed crypto-zoologist and relatively successful romance novel author, who is chronicling her many interactions with the beasts across the city.

Within the universe of the novel, beasts are not only real but are a regular part of their society. For example, “Prime Beasts,” which are big brutish beasts with pensions for violence, are typically hired as security guards throughout the city.

The book is a novel, but it does feel more like a series of short stories. Each chapter focuses on a different beast, the beast’s different qualities and traits and the narrator’s personal experiences with each beast. While there are narrative throughlines and characters that appear in multiple chapters, it feels a lot more like different stories with the same cast.

I listened to the audio version of this book, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller and because of that, it felt a lot like I was listening to a podcast series which was very cool and made for a great listening experience.

There are some chapters of the book, where we go back and forth between what is actually literally happening and the romance stories our narrator is writing about the beasts.

Plus, if you’re the kind of person who needs a little bit of romance in the books you read, you’re in luck. Our nameless narrator has a love interest, who isn’t really her love interest until the end, but there is tension and I’m sure the average fan of the enemies-to-friends-to-lovers trope would have a lot of fun with the relationship between the narrator and her professor’s protege, Zhong Liang.

If there is one thing I feel like I have to make a note of, it is that this is a translated novel. It was originally written in Mandarin Chinese, so there are some pieces that might be a little lost in translation. In the same way, because the book was originally written in Mandarin, there are a lot of cultural references or figures of speech that might not be a normal part of our American vernacular.

All in all, I think if you like mythical creatures, spooky stories that aren’t scary or reading characters that don’t really like each other, ultimately fall in love with one another, I recommend this book for you!

Plus, I think it’s perfect for fall.

Are you reading anything fun? What’s your favorite cryptid? Let me know! Email me at pdelacruz@wkmg.com.

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