Reviews

The Last Empress by Anchee Min

alinaprotti's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

dinosaur_tank7's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

czardumonde's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

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

2.25

brittanitanksley's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring slow-paced

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

4.75

novelestic's review against another edition

2.0

 While I appreciate the effort and creativity put into it, I personally found the pacing a bit slow, which made it challenging to stay engaged. It didn't hold my interest as much as I had hoped. 

jason_pym's review against another edition

3.0

I loved Empress Orchid, but here Min sticks way too closely to historical events, and I never got a clear picture of the empress: She wants her son to rule, yet her son seems terrified of her; she doesn't seem to have enough outrage at what the foreigners are doing to her country; she reads the Times (of London) and cares what the journalists write.

But in the end it just didn't have the emotional drama of the first book, which it could have done.

rachel_a_'s review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the first sort of 2/5ths of this compared to the 1st book. By that point you
know the " characters" and its covering emotional / personal aspects of motherhood and love life. It then slides back towards politics and war that aren't my thing so I ended up taking 2 weeks to read 200 ish pages

kellyquinn13's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

souljaleonn's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

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

4.0

starg's review against another edition

4.0

I started this book almost four years ago. I lost interest and picked it up again to start it over and finally finish it. There was some slow parts, but altogether it was a good read.