Initially I requested this ARC because I liked the look of the cover and the description of drew me in. The start of the book had my attention, which unfortunately started to fade as the plot progressed. I believe this is because it felt like the story started to go in a different direction than what was implied in the blurb. I went into this expecting it to be surrounding the mystery of #19, instead the book primarily focuses on the Cultural Revolution in China.

There were some aspects I liked, and by the end I started to feel engaged in the story again. With it also being a short book I felt like I couldn’t get to know the characters on a deeper level.

The topics of this book and my knowledge on the context are outside of my comfort zone, which may be why I just couldn’t get into this book, though I’m glad I gave it a try. Overall, I don’t think this was the right book for me but it definitely could be for somebody else.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for the ARC.

I judge books by their covers, so it was only logical that I picked this one up. I mean, just look at it—it really is great. The novel's setting also promised an interesting perspective, and it delivered for about a dozen pages. However, at a certain point, the novel and I parted ways. The author's melancholy desire for the pre-revolutionary Chinese past is that point. The narrative, set at the height of the Cultural Revolution, gives the author plenty of ammunition to criticize Mao's China. However, just because the revolution failed many and later turned into what we have now does not mean that the time before the revolution was any better. In fact, I suspect it was much worse for a lot of people. The novel's absence of critical historical consciousness drew me up the wall. But then again, I am an unrepentant anarchist, so this counter-revolutionary propaganda was certainly destined to fail in my case.

This book will stick with me for quite some time, in the best way possible. It’s a hard read, in the sense the hardships the characters faced throughout the book was brutal. It was raw, thought provoking, and deep. Incredibly well written, it places you in the scene and you can easily immerse yourself into the time and place with the main character. I absolutely could not put it down. Before reading, I was unfamiliar with the historical events outlined in the book, and it made me research further once I finished reading. A huge thank you to the author, Ruyan Meng, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book, and the bleak narrative that the author creates.

However, my problems with the book are that I feel the quest to find out what happens to #19 doesn’t feel like it goes anywhere. Given the book is set during the cultural revolution whereby estimated millions died, many will have been undocumented. Of course, this is absolutely fine to happen in a book but I feel there needs to be an explanation at the end? For instance, in There Are Rivers in the Sky, the author outlines here research for the book and fills in the gap. A book like The Morgue Keeper needs that.

I have also noticed a few grammatical / consistency errors which I would happily share with the author.

Very good, I immediately noticed parallels from historic true crime as the morgue keeper meets his victim with the ruined face.

Okay, I’m not really sure how I feel about this one. I want to say I’m just not smart enough to understand this writing. The whole premise is about the terrible life a morgue keeper has during the 1960s in China. There really is nothing that happens in this book. No plot, just the day to day life of this man. The writing style for me was really hard to follow. It was hard to tell what was real and what was just a thought or a dream. I’d probably have to read it again to understand what went on. This one wasn’t for me.

I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to read this ARC of the Ruyan Meng's The Morgue Keeper, provided by NetGalley
This was a painfully beautiful Literary Historical novel. In just under 200 pages Ruyan has waived a multilayer story that is both, in turn a disturbing and uplifting commentary on human kind.

Set during the Cultural Revelation in China we follows Qing Yaun as he tries to solve the mystery of the death of a women No.19 brought to the morgue where he works. Along side the mystery we are given a window into the raise of communism and how the regime change, lead to a period of human atrocity, with the de-humanizing and horrific treatment of one group of people by another.

Despite its heavy topic and at times grotesque depictions of human kind at its worst, this was ultimately a moving and uplifting story, as even though Qing is a broken man, and experiences horrific and humiliating treatment at the hands of his neighbours and government, Qing is able to maintain his humanity and continue to show empathy and care to those around him including a kitten who comes to be his closest companion.

This is not a period of history I don't know well but this novel has inspired me to read more around this in the future.

I would highly recommend this book and will be buying my own copy, and would be interested in picking up any further works by this author.

I truly hope that this book receives the success is so deserves.

This is a book that eats away at you even after you finish it. The blurb almost makes the book seem like a murder mystery. But while the search for the identity and cause of #19’s murder is an early driving point of the plot, it takes a backseat for the majority of the novel. Instead, The Morgue Keeper is a raw depiction of humanity, how it is lost through political control and herd mentality, and how Qing Yuan is able to maintain his despite social, mental, and physical cruelty and torture. Beyond the main focus on Qing Yuan, the complex side characters beg the reader to question how we treat each other and what the morally correct course of action is in tough situations.

The Morgue Keeper is a masterclass in showing without telling which makes it rich for interpretation. I received an eARC for my honest review, and upon publication I will purchase a print copy to annotate and revisit.

"Few if any had considered how far they’d had to stoop to embrace a joy born of savagery." (138)

"Sometimes, he reflected, it’s better to remain in the dark, not for the sake of the dark, but because it was kinder than the light." (167)

Dang. That ending.

Fantastic. Worthy of 5 star. Deep. Dark. Reality. Correlation from the communist uprising in China to the modern fascist uprising in America. The steps are there, and it's eerie.

At the 41% mark: "One evil man, he thought , a single evil man, had reduced him and his millions of fellows to creatures who existed to be crushed."

Eerie. The similarities is off putting and gave me a sinking feeling. The darkness that surrounds our main character is horrendous and happens time after time in human history. Humans are destructive.

And when there's a glimmering line of hope - it gets imprisoned, massacred, shoved into a hell hole.

All we have in the middle of death and insanity is hope. All we can do is hold on. This is a must-read.

Thank you at Netgalley.com for the ARC. I am amazed at this shorter book. It packs a punch.

A strangely compelling read, as misery is topped with misery, yet something still remains hopeful.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, and I feel I got something raw, unflinching and full of human feeling.
Some powerful scenes.

I sadly expected to like this more than I did. The premise was different than what was actually carried out.

There are some things i enjoyed. The writing was clear and has a smooth flow. I especially like number symbolism.

In general i feel like if it was longer it could work better. The characters could’ve been more fleshed out and with some factors added to it, the book could’ve been more compelling. The main character’s development wasn’t shown at first and came out of nowhere.
Then when I just started to really connect with the book, it ended.

Historical fiction isn’t one of my preferred genres, but I went into THE MORGUE KEEPER with an open mind. This debut novel is set in 1966 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution under the leadership of Mao Zedong, and follows conscripted morgue keeper Qing Yuan, whose life as a solitary, introspective man changes as he comes across a murdered young woman in the morgue.

When no one comes to claim her, Qing Yuan sets out to find out what happened to her. But that isn’t the only plot in this book. The other plot describes the brutality experienced by the residents under Mao’s regime, including public “struggle sessions” and frequent beatings by the Red Guard which were common during this time.

With just under two hundred pages, this novel really packs a punch. Beijing was such a dirty, inhospitable, and bleak place during these times, but Qing Yuan’s enduring human spirit, generosity, and compassion for others prevails. I appreciated that he could provide solace to others when he was suffering himself. This book will stay with me for a long time.

🌟Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.🌟

It’s the 1960’s in China, Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. Qing Yuan is a morgue keeper, spending the nights preparing the dead, cleaning them. Everyday for sixteen years, he routinely does his job when one day his monotoneous and silent life comes to an end when a dead woman lies before him, completely mutilated, utterly destroyed and then discarded at the morgue as if it was toxic waste.

This breaks something in him and starts a chain of events that shows the cruelty and violence during the Cultural Revolution. When despair filled the hearts of the civilization. When your dear neighbours could become your greatest threat. When the goverment which claimes to work in your best interest would strip you of your dignity and your very being.

In all his hardships Qing Yuan never gives in to cruelty. He is a silent hero clinging on to his humanity and sympathy towards others.

This was a hard read. Not because it is a bad book - quite the opposite - but because it covers heavy themes. It is a fictional book, but it depicts very real circumstances which took place during the Cultural Revolution in China.

You will not find happiness here, but you will still be rooting for Qing Yuan. He is not a hero and he shouldn’t be. He is just a man who, surrounded by misery and despondency, never let go of his compassion. Never broke and never hardened up, even after the torture and humiliation he endured.

This book was really well written and a unique perspective on the Cultural Revolution in China. It is really accessible, even for people who know little about this time. It definetely motivated me to learn more about it.

It will take me some time to recover from this book. How lucky am I to be able to.

The Morgue Keeper broke my heart more times than I can count. Set during China’s Cultural Revolution, it follows morgue keeper Qing Yuan — a quiet man trying only to survive, to share what little he has, and to hold on to decency while the world crumbles around him. The violence is brutal, the cruelty unbearable, but what stayed with me most was the humanity: cigarettes shared in silence, food offered to those everyone else called trash, a man who still believed people were worth saving.

This isn’t an easy read, but it is a necessary one. Reminded me of Human Acts in tone and emotional weight. I'm grateful to have read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the 7.13 Books for making it possible.

A powerful, well-written, devastating book about the horrors that overcome a man whose morality remains intact despite the depravity befalling his surroundings. Qing Yang is the essence of what it means to stay compassionate despite hard circumstances. Despite his role in life being that of a morgue keeper, where others would have built up a numbness to death, his empathy for not just the living but the dead guides him to seek justice for a woman who was brutally murdered.

Set in China in 1966 during the Cultural Revolution, our protagonist Qing Yang faces repeated tragedies and is a firsthand witness to the worst aspects of human nature. When most people have become uncaring and self-serving, his selflessness and resilience shine throughout this book. I could not recommend it enough!

I was initially attracted by the title because it sounded like it was going to be a dark read and it was. It starts off at quite a slow pace as we follow the morgue keeper as he goes about his quiet daily routine under the rising of the Red Army.

I found it slow to start but I feel this was important to let the reader know what life was like, as the keeper gets dragged into the brutalist regime the pace picks up and I found it quite harrowing. He is quiet in person and in life as though to not draw any attention to himself. In the story, he receives a mutilated female body only known as #19, and is determined to find out what happened to her. The brutality of the regime was beyond comprehension and I think this book will be well received.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started this book based on other reviews, but it was a fantastic read. The story was raw, emotional, violent, and deeply disturbing given the current state of affairs IRL. The main character finds small bits of hope and happiness while being publicly condemned and brutalized for his father’s past decisions. I found it to be less about the mysterious woman in the morgue that’s introduced in the beginning and more about the unbreakable human spirit in the face of unimaginable circumstances.

The plot felt ultimately misleading which diminished my experience of the book, but it was so insightful and pertinent to our current circumstances and written in such a raw, nuanced way.

Ruyan Meng’s The Morgue Keeper is a moody, atmospheric debut that blends mystery, grief, and the supernatural into a story that’s as chilling as it is introspective. At its heart, this novel is more about memory and human fragility than the crime-thriller aesthetic its title might suggest.

The strength of Meng’s writing lies in the haunting prose and the immersive setting—a morgue that seems to echo with the sorrows of the dead. The protagonist, a quiet and deeply introspective morgue keeper, offers a compelling lens into the world of death and the secrets that linger after. There’s a subdued elegance in how Meng explores loss, loneliness, and the weight of the past.

While I was initially very interested in the story, I quickly found myself becoming bored. The plot was very slow moving and there was nothing that kept my interest, not even the unsolved mystery of the Jane Doe brought into the morgue. The social commentary was interesting, but again the entire book just felt like a drag to read.