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justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.5
EDITED TO ADD QUOTES AS OF 4/23/24
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
*I'm going to edit this later to add quotes to my review for the examples I'm about to give. I don't want to put the quotes now though because I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share since this is an ARC and the quotes may or may not have changed so I will compare them to my physical copy when it arrives.*
I'm sure many of you (If you follow Booktok/Booktwitter closely know about everything that happened with Molly and that other author I refuse to mention who was incredibly racist toward Molly but I'm not here to talk about that. What I do plan to talk about is what happened after. I've followed Molly for a while (even before that author debacle) because I'd heard about her publishing deal and the story sounded great! I was hyped for it and emphasized with her when everything started to go down. To my surprise, not long after what I'm sure was a completely terrible experience for Molly, I saw a lot of criticism over her novel being thrown her way.
Most of this criticism centered around the main characters Ruying and Antony. People were discussing how Molly had written a colonizer romance (Antony is a Roman and has come from a different world to enslave/decimate the Pangu people using drugs and weapons) and how this narrative was very harmful towards the Asian community, (as well as other communities that have also been colonized by white people). Molly ended up writing a few tweets about how her story is NOT a colonizer romance and the context of the story would show this. I couldn't find the tweet I was looking for to backup my point (so unless I dreamed it) but I remembered reading a tweet from Molly that said something along the lines of, "The next story in this saga is called To Kill A Wicked Prince. Do with that what you will." (EDIT: I HAVE FOUND THE POST SHE ACTUALLY SAID THE NEXT TITLE IS "To Kill A Monstrous Prince" which further solidifies my review in my opinion). So with that tweet in mind, I decided to go into the story with the mindset that Ruying DOES NOT love Prince Antony and that she is a victim of her circumstances. Because of this, I saw the story so much clearer.
Ruying does not love Antony and I say this with my whole chest because I watched Antony manipulate her over and over and over until she felt like she was safe with him. But a false sense of security does not equate love. I can not blame her for seeking comfort in him and his empty promises. Antony threatened her family from the very beginning and Ruying mistook his money and his protection as anything other than another way to control her, to keep her living with the fear that it could disappear. Meiya and Baihu argued with her over and over that she wasn't doing this for peace of for her family but for herself. "So what if I am? There is no sin in wanting to live, in wanting a better life for those I love." Who wouldn't fall victim to Antony though? Especially after the manipulation tactics he applied to make her believe he was going to save her and her people from destruction.
Ruying was also clearly terrified from the beginning of what it would mean to be on the other side of Rome's attention. If she wasn't Antony's guard then she was nothing more than something to be discarded. She is in constant turmoil with herself over what she's doing, struggling between wanting to trust Antony and knowing that she CAN'T trust him because he doesn't fully trust her. "His words were like sweet lies. I wanted these melodies to sing true. I wanted to linger in the world he painted so badly. But Antony couldn't make me a hero. If I stayed loyal to him, I would never be a hero to my people. Not after what I did." There was very little romance between them. Lingering gazes, and small touches barely mean anything. The two of them only kissed once and it was so brief and short it was barely there and Ruying's immediate thought afterwards was, "When tomorrow came, we could never be this close again. Because Antony Augustus was my people's enemy. Nothing could ever change this." Those are not the thoughts of someone head over heels in love. The only reason she's conflicted is because she wants to believe he's a good person even though she knows he's not.
Ruying wanted to believe Antony's lies so bad that she tried to convince herself that killing for him was better than fighting for herself, fighting for freedom for her people. She wanted to live and wanted to help her family and I think a lot of people in her position would find themselves in the same situation as her. "I thought I had to do this for them. For us. For survival. But if I was really doing this for them, I wouldn't fight on the side of our enemy."
I don't know if it was because I went in with the mindset that I couldn't trust Antony, but I didn't believe a word he said the entire novel. Especially after Taohau was never mentioned again I knew that something bad happened. I knew the other should would drop and Ruying would finally see him clearly and be able to shake herself free of him. Nobody should believe this is a colonizer romance after Antony gloats TO HER FACE, "You almost can't blame my people for what we are doing" about the genocide of her own people! She had a very bad visceral reaction to this. Ruying hates Antony she just can't show that to him. Even in Antony's own POV I hated him (there's only one chapter of it) and it didn't endear me to him at all. If anything it made me hate him more because of how he talked about Ruying.
Anyways, this was longer than I anticipated. Overall I truly enjoyed the story. I really liked the magic and the world building. It was like a fantasy world crossed with futuristic one. I'm interested how Rome managed to dimension hop(??) and if that will be explained in the other installments. I'm also curious to see if this mysterious third younger brother will make an appearance in the story. I wanted to see more of Meiya but what we got of her was brilliant. The angry, younger sibling (who will probably not make it until the end of the series judging on a few factors) who wants to save the world is always a fun trope! I also truly think Ruying's real love interest will make an appearance in the second novel. (It's either going to be The Phantom or Baihu himself.) I think the next novel will show more of Ruying trying to break free from Anotony and trying to help her people and I can't wait!
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
*I'm going to edit this later to add quotes to my review for the examples I'm about to give. I don't want to put the quotes now though because I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share since this is an ARC and the quotes may or may not have changed so I will compare them to my physical copy when it arrives.*
I'm sure many of you (If you follow Booktok/Booktwitter closely know about everything that happened with Molly and that other author I refuse to mention who was incredibly racist toward Molly but I'm not here to talk about that. What I do plan to talk about is what happened after. I've followed Molly for a while (even before that author debacle) because I'd heard about her publishing deal and the story sounded great! I was hyped for it and emphasized with her when everything started to go down. To my surprise, not long after what I'm sure was a completely terrible experience for Molly, I saw a lot of criticism over her novel being thrown her way.
Most of this criticism centered around the main characters Ruying and Antony. People were discussing how Molly had written a colonizer romance (Antony is a Roman and has come from a different world to enslave/decimate the Pangu people using drugs and weapons) and how this narrative was very harmful towards the Asian community, (as well as other communities that have also been colonized by white people). Molly ended up writing a few tweets about how her story is NOT a colonizer romance and the context of the story would show this. I couldn't find the tweet I was looking for to backup my point (so unless I dreamed it) but I remembered reading a tweet from Molly that said something along the lines of, "The next story in this saga is called To Kill A Wicked Prince. Do with that what you will." (EDIT: I HAVE FOUND THE POST SHE ACTUALLY SAID THE NEXT TITLE IS "To Kill A Monstrous Prince" which further solidifies my review in my opinion). So with that tweet in mind, I decided to go into the story with the mindset that Ruying DOES NOT love Prince Antony and that she is a victim of her circumstances. Because of this, I saw the story so much clearer.
Ruying does not love Antony and I say this with my whole chest because I watched Antony manipulate her over and over and over until she felt like she was safe with him. But a false sense of security does not equate love. I can not blame her for seeking comfort in him and his empty promises. Antony threatened her family from the very beginning and Ruying mistook his money and his protection as anything other than another way to control her, to keep her living with the fear that it could disappear. Meiya and Baihu argued with her over and over that she wasn't doing this for peace of for her family but for herself. "So what if I am? There is no sin in wanting to live, in wanting a better life for those I love." Who wouldn't fall victim to Antony though? Especially after the manipulation tactics he applied to make her believe he was going to save her and her people from destruction.
Ruying was also clearly terrified from the beginning of what it would mean to be on the other side of Rome's attention. If she wasn't Antony's guard then she was nothing more than something to be discarded. She is in constant turmoil with herself over what she's doing, struggling between wanting to trust Antony and knowing that she CAN'T trust him because he doesn't fully trust her. "His words were like sweet lies. I wanted these melodies to sing true. I wanted to linger in the world he painted so badly. But Antony couldn't make me a hero. If I stayed loyal to him, I would never be a hero to my people. Not after what I did." There was very little romance between them. Lingering gazes, and small touches barely mean anything. The two of them only kissed once and it was so brief and short it was barely there and Ruying's immediate thought afterwards was, "When tomorrow came, we could never be this close again. Because Antony Augustus was my people's enemy. Nothing could ever change this." Those are not the thoughts of someone head over heels in love. The only reason she's conflicted is because she wants to believe he's a good person even though she knows he's not.
Ruying wanted to believe Antony's lies so bad that she tried to convince herself that killing for him was better than fighting for herself, fighting for freedom for her people. She wanted to live and wanted to help her family and I think a lot of people in her position would find themselves in the same situation as her. "I thought I had to do this for them. For us. For survival. But if I was really doing this for them, I wouldn't fight on the side of our enemy."
I don't know if it was because I went in with the mindset that I couldn't trust Antony, but I didn't believe a word he said the entire novel. Especially after Taohau was never mentioned again I knew that something bad happened. I knew the other should would drop and Ruying would finally see him clearly and be able to shake herself free of him. Nobody should believe this is a colonizer romance after Antony gloats TO HER FACE, "You almost can't blame my people for what we are doing" about the genocide of her own people! She had a very bad visceral reaction to this. Ruying hates Antony she just can't show that to him. Even in Antony's own POV I hated him (there's only one chapter of it) and it didn't endear me to him at all. If anything it made me hate him more because of how he talked about Ruying.
Anyways, this was longer than I anticipated. Overall I truly enjoyed the story. I really liked the magic and the world building. It was like a fantasy world crossed with futuristic one. I'm interested how Rome managed to dimension hop(??) and if that will be explained in the other installments. I'm also curious to see if this mysterious third younger brother will make an appearance in the story. I wanted to see more of Meiya but what we got of her was brilliant. The angry, younger sibling (who will probably not make it until the end of the series judging on a few factors) who wants to save the world is always a fun trope! I also truly think Ruying's real love interest will make an appearance in the second novel. (It's either going to be The Phantom or Baihu himself.) I think the next novel will show more of Ruying trying to break free from Anotony and trying to help her people and I can't wait!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Violence, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Addiction, Racism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Genocide, Grief, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, War, Misogyny, and Murder
mindsplinters's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for an Advanced Reader Copy - pub date 4/16/2024. Just going to get it out of the way here - This is one of the prettiest darn covers I have seen in a long time. It is absolutely breath-taking. Now for the story... Heroes die, cowards live. It's one heck of a power statement to build a story on and to set in front of a character. For one thing, it drives home that this is not going to be a standard Hero's Journey and you can expect a lot of grey shades. The core of this book, of the story Chang offers, is not an easy or even a palatable one at times and, for that, it is strong. Wars (even fantasy wars) are not neat and tidy. Rarely do you have a side that is purely good and one that is purely evil. Fantasy might work like that but not reality and so this book bridges the gap a bit more than most. You have the grit and the grime and the misery, the collaborators and the oppressed and the oppressors.
Even our main character Ruying is a wavering bundle of human wants and needs. Actually, strike that. There is no "even" about it. More than most other characters in the book, Ruying shows the hard choices and compromises that a person might need to make in an oppressed nation. The survival of her sister and grandmother comes first, full stop. She herself is low on the totem pole of People To Protect. In fact, her deeply seated self-value issues put her lower than just about everyone. When your Gift is Death, though, and your mom died giving birth to you and your addict dad blamed you... I suppose it's easy to see how her ego is rock bottom. Equally as easy to see how she can react so well to the slightest bit of respect or praise. (Of course, that does not mean her reaction to a certain someone is HEALTHY.)
The best parts of this book are the descriptions - lush and graphic and powerful - and the growing moral questions and ambiguity. Chang makes it hard to know what the "right path" is and you are right there with Ruying in trying to decide how best to navigate the dangerous world. So many of the choices are no-win, an emotional gut-punch of damned if you do but damned if you don't. Very much like I imagine living in a land under the thumb of another would be.
However, working against these high points, you have a very slow start. Pacing was a weakness of the book, especially in the first half, and I felt like I was constantly revisiting the litany of "Romans are evil and vicious and hateful" and "I am cursed" and such. The second half picks up but then the last 50 pages are a race to the end combined with a sudden science infodump. Very odd.
Two other more personal points. I had to deal with a rather violent dislike/distaste for Ruying's sister but that might be a Me Thing. Also the sudden chapter from Antony's POV was a very odd stylistic choice. After 43 chapters of Ruying's POV, a short 2-3 pages of Antony was more than a little jarring.
All in all, I look forward to reading the second book to see what happens and who betrays who... Because it is definitely going to get worse before it gets better for Ruying. I also am willing to bet that the pacing issues and repetitiveness that interrupted my total enjoyment of this first book will be resolved since the world will be fully fleshed out already.
Even our main character Ruying is a wavering bundle of human wants and needs. Actually, strike that. There is no "even" about it. More than most other characters in the book, Ruying shows the hard choices and compromises that a person might need to make in an oppressed nation. The survival of her sister and grandmother comes first, full stop. She herself is low on the totem pole of People To Protect. In fact, her deeply seated self-value issues put her lower than just about everyone. When your Gift is Death, though, and your mom died giving birth to you and your addict dad blamed you... I suppose it's easy to see how her ego is rock bottom. Equally as easy to see how she can react so well to the slightest bit of respect or praise. (Of course, that does not mean her reaction to a certain someone is HEALTHY.)
The best parts of this book are the descriptions - lush and graphic and powerful - and the growing moral questions and ambiguity. Chang makes it hard to know what the "right path" is and you are right there with Ruying in trying to decide how best to navigate the dangerous world. So many of the choices are no-win, an emotional gut-punch of damned if you do but damned if you don't. Very much like I imagine living in a land under the thumb of another would be.
However, working against these high points, you have a very slow start. Pacing was a weakness of the book, especially in the first half, and I felt like I was constantly revisiting the litany of "Romans are evil and vicious and hateful" and "I am cursed" and such. The second half picks up but then the last 50 pages are a race to the end combined with a sudden science infodump. Very odd.
Two other more personal points. I had to deal with a rather violent dislike/distaste for Ruying's sister but that might be a Me Thing. Also the sudden chapter from Antony's POV was a very odd stylistic choice. After 43 chapters of Ruying's POV, a short 2-3 pages of Antony was more than a little jarring.
All in all, I look forward to reading the second book to see what happens and who betrays who... Because it is definitely going to get worse before it gets better for Ruying. I also am willing to bet that the pacing issues and repetitiveness that interrupted my total enjoyment of this first book will be resolved since the world will be fully fleshed out already.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Torture, and Violence
mythian's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book takes place in an alternate universe where some people are born with magic. Their Chinese-inspired world has been invaded and essentially conquered by Romans from another realm, masters of science and military warfare. The protagonist struggles with her powers of death and the oppression from the Romans, but is recruited by the Roman Prince Antony to be his assassin.
I was immediately hooked by the title and was interested in reading a Manchurian-inspired fantasy. The book started out strong, with good description of the harsh realities of colonization from the Roman Empire. The writing is very flowery. I liked how the author inserted sayings in Chinese text that the characters would use to describe a situation. The book was about 300 pages and read more like YA, so there could be crossover appeal. It does cover dark subjects like addiction, slavery, genocide, and torture. It's a quick read; I read the book in two sittings.
The author set up how bad things are under Roman occupation, that once we started getting to know Prince Antony and see Ruying working for him, the reader has no inclination to trust him and it seems dubious that Ruying would believe anything he tells her. She seems stupid for falling for his lies. The writing is a bit more "romantasy" than perhaps intended; a good portion of the book is Ruying thinking about how hot the prince is. Ruying's friends and family are only brought in for dramatic tension; I didn't feel a great bond between them even though Ruying is working to keep them safe throughout the book. There is a time-jump about halfway through the book that I wish had been fleshed out more. We went straight from Antony making Ruying murder people against her will to them cuddling after each assassination within pages.
If you are into dark romance, this book might be for you because the Romans do some terrible things and it is a colonizer romance, although it is unknown if they will end up together by the end of the series.
Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley.
I was immediately hooked by the title and was interested in reading a Manchurian-inspired fantasy. The book started out strong, with good description of the harsh realities of colonization from the Roman Empire. The writing is very flowery. I liked how the author inserted sayings in Chinese text that the characters would use to describe a situation. The book was about 300 pages and read more like YA, so there could be crossover appeal. It does cover dark subjects like addiction, slavery, genocide, and torture. It's a quick read; I read the book in two sittings.
The author set up how bad things are under Roman occupation, that once we started getting to know Prince Antony and see Ruying working for him, the reader has no inclination to trust him and it seems dubious that Ruying would believe anything he tells her. She seems stupid for falling for his lies. The writing is a bit more "romantasy" than perhaps intended; a good portion of the book is Ruying thinking about how hot the prince is. Ruying's friends and family are only brought in for dramatic tension; I didn't feel a great bond between them even though Ruying is working to keep them safe throughout the book. There is a time-jump about halfway through the book that I wish had been fleshed out more. We went straight from Antony making Ruying murder people against her will to them cuddling after each assassination within pages.
If you are into dark romance, this book might be for you because the Romans do some terrible things and it is a colonizer romance, although it is unknown if they will end up together by the end of the series.
Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Drug abuse, War, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Death of parent
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Death of parent, Genocide, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Suicidal thoughts
nerdybookqueen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
I received a digital copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for a review
I requested this one because the world sounded very interesting, and I was curious about the protag, Ruying. I love stories of badass women finding their worth and being amazing. And I did get that, though it took a bit longer than I personally would've liked, but then again, it is a series, so I don't want to judge it on that when there's at least one more book to flesh out the tale.
I found the world very interesting, and the magic system as well. I would love to learn more about how the magic works, and if possible see more stories like the myth Ruying tells about how her people have their powers.
The "romance," however, was questionable, and put me off a bit from the story. Not only was it rather clunky and awkward, the pairing was just a bit...uncomfortable. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers but I'm not sure "man who's the prince of the country that colonized mine" is a great pairing. With the ending, I'm hoping this relationship is not the endgame, and that the clunkiness and uncomfortable parts were meant to read that way, as to me, it really didn't read as a romance at all, and I mostly got the impression it was meant to be from the book description and things the characters said.
I'm looking forward to the next book, and did enjoy my time reading this one. I would especially love seeing her with her sister, I really like a good(or sad) sister dynamic.
I requested this one because the world sounded very interesting, and I was curious about the protag, Ruying. I love stories of badass women finding their worth and being amazing. And I did get that, though it took a bit longer than I personally would've liked, but then again, it is a series, so I don't want to judge it on that when there's at least one more book to flesh out the tale.
I found the world very interesting, and the magic system as well. I would love to learn more about how the magic works, and if possible see more stories like the myth Ruying tells about how her people have their powers.
The "romance," however, was questionable, and put me off a bit from the story. Not only was it rather clunky and awkward, the pairing was just a bit...uncomfortable. I enjoy a good enemies to lovers but I'm not sure "man who's the prince of the country that colonized mine" is a great pairing. With the ending, I'm hoping this relationship is not the endgame, and that the clunkiness and uncomfortable parts were meant to read that way, as to me, it really didn't read as a romance at all, and I mostly got the impression it was meant to be from the book description and things the characters said.
I'm looking forward to the next book, and did enjoy my time reading this one. I would especially love seeing her with her sister, I really like a good(or sad) sister dynamic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Gaslighting, Racism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, War, and Torture
Minor: Slavery, Sexism, Misogyny, and Medical content
bookedatnight's review against another edition
I wrote a review for this on netgalley and goodreads. I made it pretty far, enough to make a review, skim the ending and form a decision.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Addiction, and Drug abuse
abception's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Death, War, Drug abuse, Genocide, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Drug use
Minor: Alcoholism, Medical content, Confinement, and Gun violence
reyap30's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
3.5
Note: I was not aware of the discourse around this book or the controversy that had occurred until after I finished reading it and went to post my review on Goodreads. Even now, I do not know everything that happened. I will only be doing more research after I post this review. I want to be as unbiased as possible. This review's content will only contain me reacting to the contents of the book. Nothing more.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
When you encounter stories that touch on colonialism and how it impacts both sides of the scale, I feel like as a reader I need to broaden my perspective. This is a story that encompasses deep loss turning into rage. It is also a story of greed.
Ruying as a character is so flawed and undergoes a peculiar developmental arc throughout the book. She has been raised under a regime that oppresses her people in so many ways. In the beginning, the hopelessness and fear she feels that she can make any difference feels incredibly relatable. The feeling only heightens when considering the responsibility she feels to provide for her family, one being an elder that needs medicine and the other being, for a lack of a better term, drug addict.
Too often, we expect the main character immediately to rise above and combat the injustices they see in the world. This, combined with powers that grow stronger with a short training arc is an archetype that is overdone. It was refreshing to see a power that weakens its wielder. However, the nature of her power itself raises a line of moral questioning, which I feel was appropriately done within the book. We see her go from being reluctant to kill, to being forced to kill, to then justifying herself over and over again.
Which brings me to the relationship she has with the male lead. This books really benefits from the lack of Antony's POV. I rather enjoyed the uncertainty of whether or not Antony was truly the white savior he was presenting himself to be. I find the author's storytelling choices to keep us guessing on that front to be impressive. It's the way literally every side character tells her not to trust him, to stay true to her people and to not forget how their colonizing has personally affected her. Every single time, this is usually followed up with the violent ideas of a vigilante that wants to revolt against Rome. On side keeps preaching war while the other side preaches ideas of peace. For Ruying, who desperately wants to live in a world of peace, where her loved ones can remain out of danger, combined with her sense of duty towards her family, I can empathize with which ideas she would latch on to, even if they are coming from the enemy to her people.
Considering all this, I do have to acknowledge that not once throughout this entire book did I feel that Ruying had complete agency over her actions. The dynamic between her and Antony was at times sickening, and at others somewhat fascinating. But if I was to convince myself as a reader that these feelings between them were real, then this is truly an enemies to lovers situation. It's dark and morally questionable that these two should feel anything for each other. Initially, Antony merely sees her as a tool and Ruying is constantly afraid of her loved ones dying. On this front, I was actually relieved that any bond formed off the page, in the midst of a time skip of about 4-6 months. As a reader, I did not want to feel as attached to Antony as Ruying. He was keeping secrets (his literal war crimes) all the way til the end of the book. To me, it felt as though she had constructed a defense mechanism in her mind in order to maintain a sense of normalcy. There are a few times she wishes that she could just play pretend that they are just a boy and a girl, with no burdens or responsibilities. Yet because of the core nature of their relationship, I like that it feels like even when she trusts him that she never fully puts her faith in his cause. (For me personally, this is the first time I have wanted the childhood best friend second lead to be the one that gets the girl. Thank you to Baihu for constantly making her doubt Antony when she's being gaslit a little too hard.)
Antony as a character is still shrouded in mystery. I wasn't a fan of the one POV chapter we had from him, not because it confirms he has real feelings for her, but because of where it was placed in the narrative. I would have rather we discovered that after we learn his secret and betrayal. Other than that through Ruying, we were only able to see a few aspects of his true motivations. From Ruying's perspective, we see her humanize him, because he has a backstory that he shares with her. It was bound to happen with the prolonged time spent together and the nature of her work for him. And yet the ending of this book reinforces that any society that endeavors to colonize and steal resources from another is doing it, and will always be doing it, out of greed. As I was reading, I thought it was always a bit iffy that she saw past the monster that he is to her people and trusted him.
But when I really thought about it, it was a great starting point on a few questions. Would it be wrong to empathize with your enemy? Wouldn't it be easier to act against an enemy when you understand them better? Is Ruying a weak character for aligning herself with the path of least resistance? Is Antony truly the lesser evil? Can their societies even go back to the way things were? What if war and death is the only solution to save the people of Pangu?
So then comes the rage. I love how this book ended but also not quite. How she was in such a vulnerable place mentally and emotionally throughout the entire book and finally pushes back to regain some agency. The way I see she's switching allegiance from one charismatic leader that wants the dirty work to happen in the shadows to a charismatic leader that is pushing for an all out war. I would rather she lean into the archetype of becoming a badass leader that forges a path that neither of these men can fathom.
My fascination with the characterization aside and relationship dynamics between the two leads, I was pretty happy with the prose. It was riddled with proverbs, metaphors and similes, sometimes to the point of being overdone. I would rather see this then simplistic writing style, which has been my experience as of late. I was intrigued by the use of Chinese characters within the novel as well.
Which brings me to the worldbuilding aspect. It's clear that Pangu as a whole represents a historical period in China. Rome represents today's western civilization. I feel like the real world inspirations behind the fantasy settings was a way for the author to not have to delve so deep into creating a world from scratch. If the reader can draw upon the real world knowledge, they can fill in any gaps in the holes. I would have liked to have Pangu's geography and history a bit more fleshed out. Rome is barely touched on, other than that they brought disease, weapons and drugs to Pangu. I did find it intruiging when Antony had mentioned that Rome was just one country in their home world. I had so many questions after that piece of information.
There are some triggering topics covered in this book. The descriptions of how Rome has destroyed Pangu's culture and continues to find ways to take more and more from its people is tragic.
The more I think about this book the more nuance I feel it has. By this I mean, Ruying's response to everything that happens to her. Antony just sucks so far. I do want to know more about him though.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants a thought provoking read for topics on morality, war, poverty, global pollution, and anti-colonialism. I wouldn't call this a romance, which is how the author has been presenting it as on her social media. It has a romance subplot but it's not heavy on the romance at all.
Happy reading!
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
When you encounter stories that touch on colonialism and how it impacts both sides of the scale, I feel like as a reader I need to broaden my perspective. This is a story that encompasses deep loss turning into rage. It is also a story of greed.
Ruying as a character is so flawed and undergoes a peculiar developmental arc throughout the book. She has been raised under a regime that oppresses her people in so many ways. In the beginning, the hopelessness and fear she feels that she can make any difference feels incredibly relatable. The feeling only heightens when considering the responsibility she feels to provide for her family, one being an elder that needs medicine and the other being, for a lack of a better term, drug addict.
Too often, we expect the main character immediately to rise above and combat the injustices they see in the world. This, combined with powers that grow stronger with a short training arc is an archetype that is overdone. It was refreshing to see a power that weakens its wielder. However, the nature of her power itself raises a line of moral questioning, which I feel was appropriately done within the book. We see her go from being reluctant to kill, to being forced to kill, to then justifying herself over and over again.
Which brings me to the relationship she has with the male lead. This books really benefits from the lack of Antony's POV. I rather enjoyed the uncertainty of whether or not Antony was truly the white savior he was presenting himself to be. I find the author's storytelling choices to keep us guessing on that front to be impressive. It's the way literally every side character tells her not to trust him, to stay true to her people and to not forget how their colonizing has personally affected her. Every single time, this is usually followed up with the violent ideas of a vigilante that wants to revolt against Rome. On side keeps preaching war while the other side preaches ideas of peace. For Ruying, who desperately wants to live in a world of peace, where her loved ones can remain out of danger, combined with her sense of duty towards her family, I can empathize with which ideas she would latch on to, even if they are coming from the enemy to her people.
Considering all this, I do have to acknowledge that not once throughout this entire book did I feel that Ruying had complete agency over her actions. The dynamic between her and Antony was at times sickening, and at others somewhat fascinating. But if I was to convince myself as a reader that these feelings between them were real, then this is truly an enemies to lovers situation. It's dark and morally questionable that these two should feel anything for each other. Initially, Antony merely sees her as a tool and Ruying is constantly afraid of her loved ones dying. On this front, I was actually relieved that any bond formed off the page, in the midst of a time skip of about 4-6 months. As a reader, I did not want to feel as attached to Antony as Ruying. He was keeping secrets (his literal war crimes) all the way til the end of the book. To me, it felt as though she had constructed a defense mechanism in her mind in order to maintain a sense of normalcy. There are a few times she wishes that she could just play pretend that they are just a boy and a girl, with no burdens or responsibilities. Yet because of the core nature of their relationship, I like that it feels like even when she trusts him that she never fully puts her faith in his cause. (For me personally, this is the first time I have wanted the childhood best friend second lead to be the one that gets the girl. Thank you to Baihu for constantly making her doubt Antony when she's being gaslit a little too hard.)
Antony as a character is still shrouded in mystery. I wasn't a fan of the one POV chapter we had from him, not because it confirms he has real feelings for her, but because of where it was placed in the narrative. I would have rather we discovered that after we learn his secret and betrayal. Other than that through Ruying, we were only able to see a few aspects of his true motivations. From Ruying's perspective, we see her humanize him, because he has a backstory that he shares with her. It was bound to happen with the prolonged time spent together and the nature of her work for him. And yet the ending of this book reinforces that any society that endeavors to colonize and steal resources from another is doing it, and will always be doing it, out of greed. As I was reading, I thought it was always a bit iffy that she saw past the monster that he is to her people and trusted him.
But when I really thought about it, it was a great starting point on a few questions. Would it be wrong to empathize with your enemy? Wouldn't it be easier to act against an enemy when you understand them better? Is Ruying a weak character for aligning herself with the path of least resistance? Is Antony truly the lesser evil? Can their societies even go back to the way things were? What if war and death is the only solution to save the people of Pangu?
So then comes the rage. I love how this book ended but also not quite. How she was in such a vulnerable place mentally and emotionally throughout the entire book and finally pushes back to regain some agency. The way I see she's switching allegiance from one charismatic leader that wants the dirty work to happen in the shadows to a charismatic leader that is pushing for an all out war. I would rather she lean into the archetype of becoming a badass leader that forges a path that neither of these men can fathom.
My fascination with the characterization aside and relationship dynamics between the two leads, I was pretty happy with the prose. It was riddled with proverbs, metaphors and similes, sometimes to the point of being overdone. I would rather see this then simplistic writing style, which has been my experience as of late. I was intrigued by the use of Chinese characters within the novel as well.
Which brings me to the worldbuilding aspect. It's clear that Pangu as a whole represents a historical period in China. Rome represents today's western civilization. I feel like the real world inspirations behind the fantasy settings was a way for the author to not have to delve so deep into creating a world from scratch. If the reader can draw upon the real world knowledge, they can fill in any gaps in the holes. I would have liked to have Pangu's geography and history a bit more fleshed out. Rome is barely touched on, other than that they brought disease, weapons and drugs to Pangu. I did find it intruiging when Antony had mentioned that Rome was just one country in their home world. I had so many questions after that piece of information.
There are some triggering topics covered in this book. The descriptions of how Rome has destroyed Pangu's culture and continues to find ways to take more and more from its people is tragic.
The more I think about this book the more nuance I feel it has. By this I mean, Ruying's response to everything that happens to her. Antony just sucks so far. I do want to know more about him though.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants a thought provoking read for topics on morality, war, poverty, global pollution, and anti-colonialism. I wouldn't call this a romance, which is how the author has been presenting it as on her social media. It has a romance subplot but it's not heavy on the romance at all.
Happy reading!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Gaslighting, Grief, Drug abuse, and War
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Torture and Violence
roseleebooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, and if the entire story had been written more like the last 20% this review would have been mostly positive.
Let me start with what I did like: the world was really interesting. The Romans are a direct reflection of the modern West, but with access to a world that was relatively unspoiled by pollution and exploitation of natural resources. Pangu is a world built around magic which the Romans don't have and this setup has so much potential in the science vs magic.
However, the story is hindered by the first 70% of the book in which it felt like very little happened except a lot of internal monologue of the main character. The book spends so much time telling us how the FMC feels and what she's thinking without showing us the world or characters around her in any meaningful way. The last portion of the story gets better with a bit more plot but I nearly stopped reading so many times leading up to that.
Overall I was disappointed by the pacing and limited view of the world and characters. I'm not sure if I will pick up the next book or not at this time.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House publishing group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.
Let me start with what I did like: the world was really interesting. The Romans are a direct reflection of the modern West, but with access to a world that was relatively unspoiled by pollution and exploitation of natural resources. Pangu is a world built around magic which the Romans don't have and this setup has so much potential in the science vs magic.
However, the story is hindered by the first 70% of the book in which it felt like very little happened except a lot of internal monologue of the main character. The book spends so much time telling us how the FMC feels and what she's thinking without showing us the world or characters around her in any meaningful way. The last portion of the story gets better with a bit more plot but I nearly stopped reading so many times leading up to that.
Overall I was disappointed by the pacing and limited view of the world and characters. I'm not sure if I will pick up the next book or not at this time.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House publishing group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Torture, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Colonisation, Child death, Addiction, Death, Slavery, Drug abuse, and Violence
cballar5's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.0
I received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Since the new year started, I’ve begun reading ARC’s and also actively looking for new cultures and nationalities outside of the norm. This definitely fit the bill. The plot was interesting and fueled by the fight between magic and science, with war right around the corner. I enjoyed the spirituality of this culture and how well thought out it is in the book. The plot did drag at a few points for me, but not for long. By the time I finished this book, I don’t know whose side I’m actually on.
The characters are multi faceted and have great backstories. The reader really gets a sense of how the characters came to be where they are in life. Even minor characters have a lasting impact. I am hoping we’re not heading towards a love triangle in this next book though; I’ve never been a fan and honestly, I really like Antony. The author does a great job of blurring good and evil; it’s hard to root for someone who has committed atrocities, but she’s successfully done just that.
The author has a flowing writing style that fits the content of the book. It’s almost reverent in describing the people and their cultures. It was beautiful to read.
All in all, this was a fun read. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, although it is obvious this is written for an age group younger than the one I’m in. It drug a bit in spots and was a bit juvenile for me in a few spots, but I still give it 4⭐️.
Since the new year started, I’ve begun reading ARC’s and also actively looking for new cultures and nationalities outside of the norm. This definitely fit the bill. The plot was interesting and fueled by the fight between magic and science, with war right around the corner. I enjoyed the spirituality of this culture and how well thought out it is in the book. The plot did drag at a few points for me, but not for long. By the time I finished this book, I don’t know whose side I’m actually on.
The characters are multi faceted and have great backstories. The reader really gets a sense of how the characters came to be where they are in life. Even minor characters have a lasting impact. I am hoping we’re not heading towards a love triangle in this next book though; I’ve never been a fan and honestly, I really like Antony. The author does a great job of blurring good and evil; it’s hard to root for someone who has committed atrocities, but she’s successfully done just that.
The author has a flowing writing style that fits the content of the book. It’s almost reverent in describing the people and their cultures. It was beautiful to read.
All in all, this was a fun read. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, although it is obvious this is written for an age group younger than the one I’m in. It drug a bit in spots and was a bit juvenile for me in a few spots, but I still give it 4⭐️.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Torture, Death of parent, and Violence