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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
The plot just moved too slow for me and I wasn’t really invested in the story.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-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
EVEN BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT'D BE!
I already has high expectations, but this was PERFECT.
The exact amount of whimsy magic I wanted, tied with riyal politics (MY FAVORITE THING EVER) and even forbidden romance 🤎🫶
I can't wait to dive into all the other books set in this world, and the sequel for this main doulogy!
I already has high expectations, but this was PERFECT.
The exact amount of whimsy magic I wanted, tied with riyal politics (MY FAVORITE THING EVER) and even forbidden romance 🤎🫶
I can't wait to dive into all the other books set in this world, and the sequel for this main doulogy!
DNF at like 80% lol. it was cute, I liked it at first. however the ease at which maia completed her trials was insane. at one point she was tasked with climbing a mountain (to catch moonlight I think) and described the mountain as being so tall/steep she at first mistook it in the distance for a PINE TREE. and then climbing that mountain took like 1 page maybe?? you’re telling me this mountain climb was at like 87 degrees inclined and in one paragraph she’s at the bottom, two paragraphs (prob slight exaggeration) later she’s at the top?
and then there’s the walnuts. girl was tasked with collecting the sun, the moon, and the stars. she walked into a temple and snapped up the sun in a walnut shell. easy as pie, took minutes. then, she swam to the bottom of a pond and snapped up the moon in a walnut shell. also seemed far far far too easy. I did not read on to find out if she also caught the stars with the walnut shell, but I think I can assume she did.
I don’t think i’ll be reading the second book lol
and then there’s the walnuts. girl was tasked with collecting the sun, the moon, and the stars. she walked into a temple and snapped up the sun in a walnut shell. easy as pie, took minutes. then, she swam to the bottom of a pond and snapped up the moon in a walnut shell. also seemed far far far too easy. I did not read on to find out if she also caught the stars with the walnut shell, but I think I can assume she did.
I don’t think i’ll be reading the second book lol
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
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:
No
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mulan inspired with tailors and Magic, Adventure and a lot of Travelling, easy little book, enemy's to lovers trope but kept very short
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really didn't know what to expect by "Mulan meets Project Runway," but I certainly wasn't disappointed.
I really enjoyed this one, more than I enjoyed the <i>Six Crimson Cranes</i> duo, even though I quite enjoyed those two. This one is definitely a more "upper-YA" book, where the other two I have read from Lim (and in this world) have felt more younger-YA, and I quite liked the more mature vibe that this one had.
The characters were all charming and well-rounded, the mythos was interesting, and the romance was very sweet and believable. I really enjoyed the chemistry that the main couple had.
My only gripe is an audiobook only gripe, and it's purely a petty and personal thing that I can't in good conscience dock the rating for, and it's that the narrator's male voices were a bit...odd, on occasion. Thankfully not with the love interest, but on occasion they came across as very "I'm a woman voicing a young anime boy." So if you can get past that, the audiobook is a pretty good listen.
I really enjoyed this one, more than I enjoyed the <i>Six Crimson Cranes</i> duo, even though I quite enjoyed those two. This one is definitely a more "upper-YA" book, where the other two I have read from Lim (and in this world) have felt more younger-YA, and I quite liked the more mature vibe that this one had.
The characters were all charming and well-rounded, the mythos was interesting, and the romance was very sweet and believable. I really enjoyed the chemistry that the main couple had.
My only gripe is an audiobook only gripe, and it's purely a petty and personal thing that I can't in good conscience dock the rating for, and it's that the narrator's male voices were a bit...odd, on occasion. Thankfully not with the love interest, but on occasion they came across as very "I'm a woman voicing a young anime boy." So if you can get past that, the audiobook is a pretty good listen.
I think that part of my friction with this book comes from the fact that, aside from a couple of slightly racy romance scene, a lot of it reads a bit more like middle-grade to me than I was expecting. That doesn’t make it a bad book, and generally I had a good time reading it.
Our two main characters are somewhat bland – I was hoping Maia would be a bit more gritty, a bit more Mulan-like, since that is what this is meant to be a loose retelling of. But she’s pretty meek once the romance picks up a bit in the second half of the book. Edan is… fine. He’s your run of the mill fantasy love interest, magical, 500+ years old, ‘wise’, but none of these things really felt that impactful. He has one strong magic scene in the middle of the book, but because the writing is so matter-of-fact, it doesn’t convey the weight I think the scene would have if it were in visual format. I felt similarly about the outcome of Maia’s journey. The description of her using the items is good, but we have very little idea of what the dresses she sews actually looks like other than them being beautiful.
This book, despite my gripes, was not all bad. I really really liked the first half of the book: The sewing trial was a lot of fun, and I also personally found the tasks for the items quite unique and interesting. I think it was just the overall tone and the lack of really hanging in the tasks, specifically, for more than a couple of pages that felt a bit lacklustre. It almost felt like the book should have been longer, like we didn't sit with scenes for a very long time at all and I think that was part of what made it feel like it was for a slightly younger audience
Our two main characters are somewhat bland – I was hoping Maia would be a bit more gritty, a bit more Mulan-like, since that is what this is meant to be a loose retelling of. But she’s pretty meek once the romance picks up a bit in the second half of the book. Edan is… fine. He’s your run of the mill fantasy love interest, magical, 500+ years old, ‘wise’, but none of these things really felt that impactful. He has one strong magic scene in the middle of the book, but because the writing is so matter-of-fact, it doesn’t convey the weight I think the scene would have if it were in visual format. I felt similarly about the outcome of Maia’s journey. The description of her using the items is good, but we have very little idea of what the dresses she sews actually looks like other than them being beautiful.
This book, despite my gripes, was not all bad. I really really liked the first half of the book: The sewing trial was a lot of fun, and I also personally found the tasks for the items quite unique and interesting. I think it was just the overall tone and the lack of really hanging in the tasks, specifically, for more than a couple of pages that felt a bit lacklustre. It almost felt like the book should have been longer, like we didn't sit with scenes for a very long time at all and I think that was part of what made it feel like it was for a slightly younger audience
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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