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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
Short, sweet, touching, and thought provoking. Obviously I loved it for the Asian mythological elements, and I appreciated the LGBT rep. But the notable thing wasn't either of those two things: I loved it for portraying power in a nuanced and unusual way. The titular empress wasn't powerful because of typical fantasy reasons of military or magical might - she used trickery, spycraft, and intrigue to win her throne, and I thought that was such a refreshing take!
I also want to comment on the subtlety of the storytelling. Neither the POV character in the framing device nor the POV character in the story were the actual masterminds behind the plotting and intrigue, but the author had to still indicate what was going on. It's really remarkable how well done this dual storytelling is - there are the surface layer events, but if you pay attention you can read between the lines and understand the implications beneath
I also want to comment on the subtlety of the storytelling. Neither the POV character in the framing device nor the POV character in the story were the actual masterminds behind the plotting and intrigue, but the author had to still indicate what was going on. It's really remarkable how well done this dual storytelling is - there are the surface layer events, but if you pay attention you can read between the lines and understand the implications beneath
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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
medium-paced
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
I am rereading this series in preparation for A Mouthful of Dust and I am so excited to be back in this world. I love a story within a story and The Empress of Salt and Fortune does such a good job at this! The world building is so lush and the characters vibrant. I can’t wait to continue my reread!!
I honestly am not sure what or how I feel about this.
I picked it up based on the first line and was like let’s read this. It has a good first line. I also wanted something short to finish out the month with.
But I think I was so distracted when I read this because I was pushing so hard to read it fast so I could get it into the month and finish it before I went to bed that I’m missing a lot from it.
Maybe it’s because the reviews of this have it being very fairytale-esq, which is totally does for sure. I’m not sure if it was that or just being super distracted that caused the lower rating.
I think I’ll eventually reread this so I can try again and not rush read it because people really like this but I was a bit lost.
I picked it up based on the first line and was like let’s read this. It has a good first line. I also wanted something short to finish out the month with.
But I think I was so distracted when I read this because I was pushing so hard to read it fast so I could get it into the month and finish it before I went to bed that I’m missing a lot from it.
Maybe it’s because the reviews of this have it being very fairytale-esq, which is totally does for sure. I’m not sure if it was that or just being super distracted that caused the lower rating.
I think I’ll eventually reread this so I can try again and not rush read it because people really like this but I was a bit lost.
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
fast-paced