Reviews

The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

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pastelmeganes's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

taibell07's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

Good closure to what happen to her friend and I enjoyed what she learned about herself. However, I honestly just want to read more about her and Rangi.

purplejumping's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

pondwyn's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

danilanglie's review against another edition

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4.0

I'm extremely impressed with this duology, honestly! It speaks to the brilliance of the Avatar property that I can know it's primarily for a younger audience and still wonder in the epilogue if possibly the protagonist of this novel sent her assassin friend to murk the Fire Lord. I mean, obviously Kyoshi didn't do that, but she wasn't above threatening it and I kind of love that.

So much of the brilliance of the world building in these novels is in how you can see the origins for a couple generations down the road when it's Aang's turn. Like Fore Lord Zoryu strengthening the Fire Nation and starting to chip away at specific clan alliances, giving us the Fire Nation united under a strong tyrannical leader we get in the show.

The characters in this text are all so rich and specific and conflicted and flawed. Yun, and Rangi, and Zoryu, and the Flying Opera Company, and Hei-Ran... also, the way Kuruk is portrayed kind of broke my heart. Kyoshi's journey to accept this flawed former self was one that also forced her to accept herself as the Avatar, to embrace the role.

This was an excellent book that kept me on the edge of my seat! If I had any major complaints it would be that I wish I could have seen more of Kyoshi's time as the Avatar, how she ultimately founds the Dai Li and stuff like that. It felt like this entire duology was all about her establishing her position as the Avatar, and we didn't get to see what she actually built once she got there.