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odunayo_y's review against another edition
3.75
The conflict resolution was strange. It was a bit convenient how everything wrapped up but i would not say it was convoluted.
The little bits of worldbuilding were delightful. The Goddess’s Five Fingers was such a cool magic system a shame it only made an appearance towards the end of the book.
One major issue I had was the dialogue. One moment the characters will speak in a period appropriate manner the next it was joss whedon like millennial humor. Not only do I despise millennial cringe speak the tone was just off.
Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Deadnaming, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Gun violence, and Misogyny
Minor: War and Xenophobia
blacksphinx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Violence, Deadnaming, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Transphobia, War, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Racism
You know that thing that happens sometimes as a woman where you make it very clear to a man that you will not have sex with him, and he says that's fine and he understands? And then later reveals he's been seething with resentment this entire time about it, and accuses you of sleeping around with other men, and shows that your friendship means nothing to him because you won't have sex with him? Yeah. "Found family" book my ass.chalkletters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Putting aside heist-y expectations, Zen Cho’s world-building is lovely. The religious Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water has a great name, and the details about the goddess and her followers are spread through the story, building up a background which feels significant and convincing. Without giving anything away, the religion-specific compliments and treasures were a really nice touch.
Zen Cho’s pacing worked well, until the very end, which felt a little abrupt. While there had been hints about the relationships between different characters, these didn’t really have enough time to build before they were suddenly impacting the plot in surprisingly big ways. To a reader used to enjoying novellas, this might not be a problem, but in comparison to a full-length novel it felt somewhat light. While the prose of The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water didn’t stand out, it was pleasant enough, and a longer novel would be enjoyable.
Moderate: Murder and Gun violence
Minor: War, Abortion, and Death
thereaderfriend's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Deadnaming, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, and Gun violence
Minor: War and Genocide
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, War, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Deadnaming, and Gun violence
lacee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Genocide, Sexual content, Blood, and War
house_of_hannah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is essentially a snippet into the lives of a group of "bandits". Not much happens, but there is a lot of talk about the religious order of the same name as the title. This mostly felt like a few chapters taken out of a larger story than it's own contained one; it feels unfinished.
The ending felt like it came out of nowhere. (If you've read it you'll know what exactly I'm referring to) There just wasn't a good lead up to that moment, and the character's reactions felt very anime.
The representation in this novella is great, but unfortunately everything around that just didn't hit the mark for me, and this story was just ok in the end.
Graphic: Deadnaming and Death
Moderate: War
adhdru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Graphic: Death, Deadnaming, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Moderate: Sexism and Misogyny
Minor: Genocide and War
lilifane's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, and Deadnaming
bluejayreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
- The jungles that they keep walking through, as there are a lot more jungles in Malaysia than China.
- The “secret war” (obviously guerrilla warfare now that I have the context) that is mentioned but never encountered.
- The soldiers who are a different ethnicity from the native people and do things like destroy temples and genocide people.
- The “bandits” who are native people and part of the secret war by hiding in the jungles and attacking the soldiers.
I wish this book had been longer. With this context, there is so much that could have been done with the story that just didn’t happen. I didn’t even put together that there was a guerilla war going on in the background, let alone that this was a people fighting for their independence from a colonial power. Heck, I didn’t even work out that this was set in Southeast Asia and not some fantasy version of China. The limited length of this story did it a disservice, and there could have been so much more depth and interest to this story if it had been allowed to expand beyond sketches of characters on a simple delivery quest. I liked the story for itself, but now that I have the context and see what it could have been, I find myself disappointed by the lost potential.
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Blood and Deadnaming
Minor: War, Genocide, and Sexual harassment