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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I sometimes find second books in a series to be a lacking but this was not the case. The story was just as captivating and held my attention the whole time. I highly recommend this series.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Honestly... what???
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
It's a solid 4. Chapter 1 starts with Kang's perspective, so I had to skim through the first book again to figure out what was happening. While he was mentioned in Chapter 47, the last time he really did anything was in Chapter 41 of the first book, and I had kind of forgotten that he was the princess's cousin. After skimming through Magic again, I was able to catch back up.
Magic was about a magical tea brewing contest, under which political grievances simmered, all from the perspective of a teenage girl. Venom is about a political coup and magical items, as told by the wannabe emperor's son and the fugitive tea brewer. The palace conspiracies have turned into war. It was an interesting story, but it wasn't as much fun? Worth finishing the duology, worth reading another book from this author (these were a debut, so pacing issues are not exactly a surprise here), I was just confused by the tonal shift and the rather abrupt jump into Kang's story.
Magic was about a magical tea brewing contest, under which political grievances simmered, all from the perspective of a teenage girl. Venom is about a political coup and magical items, as told by the wannabe emperor's son and the fugitive tea brewer. The palace conspiracies have turned into war. It was an interesting story, but it wasn't as much fun? Worth finishing the duology, worth reading another book from this author (these were a debut, so pacing issues are not exactly a surprise here), I was just confused by the tonal shift and the rather abrupt jump into Kang's story.
This was not a great second book it’s taking too long to get to any real action points.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i like that even though his father became the vessel for gongyu, the snake deity, ning refers to kangs father as someone who gave his life to save his son, just as her mother had done for her. his father "avenged and ruined the world." i really like the emphasis on nings relationship with her sister, shu, too. ning spent the first book trying to save her, and now shu can finally try & stay by her sisters side even going behind nings back to ensure they continued to travel together. i like that the poison effected shu's magic, but she found another source to draw on instead, and that the serpent could sense ning when she used magic through the bite & how it would throb when she tried to use it. she had to be careful with her powers, which made what she chose to use them on all the more important.
also being able to talk to the forest & have it just pop them open when they wanted & etc was just really fun
also being able to talk to the forest & have it just pop them open when they wanted & etc was just really fun