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hobbithopeful's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5 stars
I love fantasy, especially mythology, so I was so excited to read this, but the execution made me regret reading it.
An overall boring read, it lacked the type of writing that made you want to stay up all night. I don't know exactly what it is about this story or the style that makes it so hard to stay engaged with, but I largely attribute my dislike to the writing. The dialogue was very cheesy at times, and there is a lot of telling rather then showing that occurs in this book. The characters were hard to like, and the disability rep is quite frankly terrible. Suzhan was infantilized numerous times, and it feels like the author has no idea what it is actually like to live as a blind person. She is treated more as an invalid then an actual person. It reads more of an after thought then something that was put genuine time and research into.
The characters just feel so...I can't even put into words what is so wrong with them. They are fleshed out, and have different characteristics, they just feel dull. A book about fantasy and magic should never feel dull.
I did enjoy the world-building and all the magic, that was very fun to read.
It becomes very obvious within the first few chapters what is going to happen. While that is not unusual for books, instead of being excited by the journey from point a to point b, it lacked substance.
There is a lot of queer rep, in that the characters that are queer seem to flirt with everything that moves.
It has taken me an inordinate amount of time to slog through this book. I received it as an ARC through Netgalley, and heavily considered dnf-ing it several times.
I personally would not recommend this, nor I will I be reading the next book in the series. At this time I don't think the authors' writing style is for me either.
This is a winning cover, it is absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of people will definitely buy this for how pretty it looks. The composition and design work seamlessly, and I love the font used.
Thank you netgalley for this ARC
I love fantasy, especially mythology, so I was so excited to read this, but the execution made me regret reading it.
An overall boring read, it lacked the type of writing that made you want to stay up all night. I don't know exactly what it is about this story or the style that makes it so hard to stay engaged with, but I largely attribute my dislike to the writing. The dialogue was very cheesy at times, and there is a lot of telling rather then showing that occurs in this book. The characters were hard to like, and the disability rep is quite frankly terrible. Suzhan was infantilized numerous times, and it feels like the author has no idea what it is actually like to live as a blind person. She is treated more as an invalid then an actual person. It reads more of an after thought then something that was put genuine time and research into.
The characters just feel so...I can't even put into words what is so wrong with them. They are fleshed out, and have different characteristics, they just feel dull. A book about fantasy and magic should never feel dull.
I did enjoy the world-building and all the magic, that was very fun to read.
It becomes very obvious within the first few chapters what is going to happen. While that is not unusual for books, instead of being excited by the journey from point a to point b, it lacked substance.
There is a lot of queer rep, in that the characters that are queer seem to flirt with everything that moves.
It has taken me an inordinate amount of time to slog through this book. I received it as an ARC through Netgalley, and heavily considered dnf-ing it several times.
I personally would not recommend this, nor I will I be reading the next book in the series. At this time I don't think the authors' writing style is for me either.
This is a winning cover, it is absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of people will definitely buy this for how pretty it looks. The composition and design work seamlessly, and I love the font used.
Thank you netgalley for this ARC
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Minor: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Death of parent
ezwolf's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I feel like I've hit a bit of a wall with enjoying the books I've read recently, but this book was a fun and fast paced read.
The way the author used English to mimic how characters would have spoke in other languages was so interesting and gave it a unique quality. The magic system, while similar to others I've read about, still felt different than what I've read before.
I loved that both Zhara and Han had younger siblings that they were fighting to protect. And Xu! I loved Xu, they are probably my favorite character with Yuli coming in close second. Even though there was a romantic subplot with Zhara and Han, the friendship between them and Xu and Jiyi and eventually Yuli felt genuine and just as important as the romance. And the inclusion of queer characters was a delightful surprise.
The writing was a bit repetitive at times, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
The way the author used English to mimic how characters would have spoke in other languages was so interesting and gave it a unique quality. The magic system, while similar to others I've read about, still felt different than what I've read before.
I loved that both Zhara and Han had younger siblings that they were fighting to protect. And Xu! I loved Xu, they are probably my favorite character with Yuli coming in close second. Even though there was a romantic subplot with Zhara and Han, the friendship between them and Xu and Jiyi and eventually Yuli felt genuine and just as important as the romance. And the inclusion of queer characters was a delightful surprise.
The writing was a bit repetitive at times, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, Body horror, Alcohol, Grief, Kidnapping, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Homophobia, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Animal death
chronicacademia's review
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Child abuse, Blood, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Medical content
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