Reviews

The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera

mousie's review

Really slow paced (each chapter is one character's POV and rhen the other character's narrations via long letters) and character-centric, not plot centric, which wasn't what I thought it would be based on the blurb. World building als  seems to be mixing together a bunch of asian cultures together which is a little off to me

lulu_bean's review

4.0

Wlw book!
It is more romance heavy than action adventure epic heavy which can feel a little misleading if you read the back of the book. It does get action adventure-y later on in the book. This book has some of the prettiest descriptions of love of read like the language used to describe it had me highlighting and annotating so much.

I can see why some people weren’t crazy about the writing style (it being told via someone writing an extremely long letter to another) but I enjoyed it. It did take me a bit to get into because I’m not use to the authors writing style but once I got into it I finished the book pretty quickly.



Quote light spoiler below:





“The sky is full of stars beyond number, each one representing a life. And yet and all those lives beyond number, and all those millions of years, live by those before us, and all their shared experience, none have loved so thoroughly as we.”

lunaballz's review

4.0

The story itself is really inventive and intriguing, I was looking forward to seeing what happened next the entire time I was reading. I also loved the format: it's mostly a letter from Shefali to Shizuka recounting how they got to their current separation, with a few chapter in between focusing on Shizuka in current time.

My big problem with it is the weird combination of different Asian cultures. Other people have explained it more eloquently so I'll just say that it was weird and offputting.

Otherwise I actually enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel

christie_esau's review

4.0

At times, a smidge hard to follow because of the epistolary format (the letters aren't dated and switch a bit between time), but overall a lovely novel. Slow burn when it comes to the fantasy components and also a lifelong love story. Great book!

emilyrandolph_epstein's review

4.0

The prose are lush and gorgeous and conjure fantastic imagery and the tone is at once mythical and intimate. I loved the characters to bits. However, I found it a bit difficult to get into the story. The use of second person viewpoint didn't entirely make sense to me and I think I old have liked it better in 1st or 3rd. That said, I would definitely recommend to lovers of epic fantasy with an lgtbq+ twist.

baillie's review

5.0

I wish I gave and received love as fiercely as them

paperbookmarks's review

dark mysterious reflective 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? No

3.5

I absolutely lovely the narrative framing for this book and will be continuing the series. I have read some own-voices reviews that criticise the way the author utilises Asian influences for her story so I encourage anyone to read on this. 

ponyoplant's review

adventurous 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

4.75

aaixhi's review

slow-paced

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

2.0

DNF- too slow 

vitaminemgee's review

3.0

I have problems with this (and I think there are very legitimate problems too), but I still enjoyed it for what it was overall.