Opinion: Salt Fish Girl

I picked up this novel by complete accident, and decided to go ahead and read it as I wasn't getting anywhere with my then-current book, The Dream of Water by Kyoko Mori. I was really excited to read Mori's memoir, and kept waiting for the pace to pick up. Half way through, I abandoned it for the promise of a much more shocking story. I figured life's too short to read bad books.
A valiant attempt at a great sci-fi story, the only thing Salt Fish Girl lacks is some explanation of certain aspects that would have otherwise made for a masterpiece. The ideas are not so far-fetched, and easily imaginable in the course of our society. Larissa Lai's writing is beautiful and intriguing, and the future she portrays, one in which humanity comes face to face with the repercussions of its greedy, destructive, nature-meddling ways, is both fascinating and scary.
Following two characters in alternative settings, the reader plunges head first into the pungent smells of 19th century China and the futuristic Pacific Northwest. With an ageless female character who shifts form through time and place, the stink of salt fish and durians, backfiring biotechnology, and love that is not quite human, Salt Fish Girl is an intensely gripping read.
The character development is plausible and the way the story unravels is distinctly different than what I am used to. The aura of mystery doesn't dissolve completely at the end, and leaves the reader fitting together the puzzle pieces. The various components play exceptionally with each other, and come to perfect harmony at the end.
The story itself is captivating and highly readable, balancing the elements of surprise and calmness quite well, allowing the reader some breathing breaks between plot line shocks. Playing more on the emotions of the reader rather than making fool-proof logical sense, the book made me glad that my fate was not that of the characters, that I was safe and sound at home.
It would be rewarding to read the novel more than once, as there are some parts that do not click together immediately. More than a few times, I had to flip back a few chapters to connect the dots, and moments of epiphany like these made the novel shine.