Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Fireheart Tiger

a cute yet underbaked novella. thanh was, to put it bluntly, a dislikable idiot and her plotlines were unconvincing in regards to the character that we see on the page. the other characters were there mostly, aside from the mother, who i couldn’t figure what the author wanted me to think about her. i’m assuming we’re supposed to feel bad and disagree with her mother calling her a stubborn selfish idiot who’s bad at her job but she IS a stubborn selfish idiot who’s bad at her job.

the

endgame romance

was awfully rushed and uninteresting (considering their backstory, it didn’t need to be) it but it saved me from the clutches of

eldris x thanh

so i can find it in my heart to forgive it.

this book does fall prey to the narrative of “violence upon your abusers / colonizers makes you just as bad as they are! see how you can go too far!” which i feel as if every fiction book that is even vaguely about abuse or colonization takes this position and i’d dearly like for authors to cut that shit out. it is not nuanced, it is not revolutionary, it’s not even interesting. do something else.

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strange_little_ranger's review

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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sidofherran's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

this had a promising start, but the development of the themes and premises fell short for me, probably bc of the short novella format. i really liked the vietnamese matriarchal queendom court politics setting, and the main character's tense relationship with her

emotionally abusive controlling mother.

the idea of an

all-women love triangle was also enticing, yet both relationships were not well-developed. i hope that eldris was not meant to be a genuine love interest, as she seemed to not truly love thanh and instead merely feel entitled to her, while thanh seemed to mostly like eldris as eldris was the first person who acted like she had worth and made her feel desired, especially in the context of thanh's mother treating thanh like thanh is worthless. i found myself shocked that thanh agreed to marry a girl she was merely fwbs with for 6 months 8 years ago - that did not look like healthy love to me, and eldris gave me sus vibes.
i was enjoying the beginning of thanh's romance with giang, how they refer to each other with the intimate names "big sis" "lil sis", but it turned out to not be developed enough and their attraction/feelings for each other was sudden. if this book novella longer, it might be an interesting relationship.

the resolution of the political plots also did not make enough sense to me and did not feel satisfatory, which again is another aspect of the novella that suffered due to how short it is.
all in all, i think this had potential and great premise - vietnamese fantasy setting, political/court intrigue, anti colonialism/imperialism theme, exploring the effects of

having an abusive, controlling mother, a lesbian love triangle, a fire elemental that takes the shape of a tiger

- but these were not developed and fell short of the initial premise's promise. if these themes were explored in a full length novel, it would have been more enjoyable.

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ladykatka's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I struggle through the first half because I found it boring and I couldn't even remember what happened once I finished the page however I pressed on and it got really good in the last half. It was much more exciting and interesting so if you can make it to about page 50 it gets so much better.

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tinyjude's review

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emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I really liked the writing style, the concept and the world presented, however it felt a bit rushed and underdeveloped, mostly with regards to the romance. I feel like with maybe 50 pages more it would have worked for me better, as the characters and relationships felt too surface-level for me to care. Still, a very enjoyable read of filial obedience and defiance, toxic love, manipulation, political intrigues and emotional strength.

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leahrosiee's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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bex_knighthunterbooks's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Contained some interesting ideas with a anti-colonial perspective of a small state trying to resist slowly becoming absorbed. Also interesting Sapphic relationship and a fun magical twist that helped the main character realise her value. The Vietnamese inspired setting had just enough detail to feel real and I would be interested in reading more from this world.

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purplepink951's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

On twitter one person wrote (and I copy) that "in Vietnamese culture, lil'sis/em is a standard pronoun for a woman who's younger than you and whom you're familiar with. It doesn't mean you see her as a blood sister."

My mistake was that I previously took that relationship as incestuous. Still, my rating doesn't change.

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