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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
I don't really understand why this book has such poor reviews? It definitely has its weaknesses and you can tell it's a debut as you read it, but honestly I didn't think that outweighed its strengths. Some people said that the characters were one-dimensional, but I didn't find that to be the case. I really enjoyed seeing the sister rivalry between Lu and Min, and I liked Min's character and arc a lot! The magic system was really interesting as well. The action, political intrigue, and worldbuilding were written really well, and the writing style itself was engaging and beautiful. The only faults I really had with this book was the predictability of some of the plot twists, the uneven pacing throughout the book, and the insta-romance, but I'm willing to forgive those because this truly was an excellent book! I would definitely recommend it for fans of Asian fantasy and fantasy in general.
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I was lucky enough to get my paws on an early copy of this book, which was one of my most hightly anticipated books of 2019. While it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea I think a lot of readers are going to love this debut.
You all know I love books that feature sisters, and this was the main draw of The Girl King, and this was one of the highlights of the book for me. I really loved the way the sisters’ relationship changes, evolves, and becomes more and more complex. This book had such an interesting take on the sisterly relationship -- they are not particularly close, however their love for each other complicates the separate paths they’re going down. As much as I love reading about sisters who have a fierce love for each other, it was so refreshing to read about a more complicated sibling relationship.
Lu and Min are our two main characters and they’re so incredibly different. I was absolutely fascinated by Min’s story arc. In the beginning, she is so incredibly meek and timid but has such an incredible rage burning beneath the surface. The way that rage begins to develop into mysterious powers was so intriguing, and I loved watching her give in to her anger. It was so easy to forget that she was so young -- only fifteen years old -- and Yu did a great job balancing that rage with the thought process of a child.
While I really enjoyed Min’s side of the story, I had a tougher time with Lu. Lu is our Girl King -- she’s been training to sit on the throne her entire life and it is snatched away from her at the last minute. I think Lu is going to appeal to a lot of readers for her fierce, stubborn personality, however she just didn’t click with me. In a lot of ways her personality reminded me of Lila Bard, a character I dislike but is beloved by so many readers. That kind of character is not someone I enjoy reading about and I really struggled with Lu’s chapters, which make up at least half of the book. The two sisters really overpower Nok, our third POV character, who should have had the best storyline but felt a little underwhelming.
Overall, I liked The Girl King, but it just didn’t quite click with me as a reader. However I think this book is going to be perfect for you if you like fierce, headstrong heroines, political intrigue, complex families, and magic.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
I was lucky enough to get my paws on an early copy of this book, which was one of my most hightly anticipated books of 2019. While it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea I think a lot of readers are going to love this debut.
You all know I love books that feature sisters, and this was the main draw of The Girl King, and this was one of the highlights of the book for me. I really loved the way the sisters’ relationship changes, evolves, and becomes more and more complex. This book had such an interesting take on the sisterly relationship -- they are not particularly close, however their love for each other complicates the separate paths they’re going down. As much as I love reading about sisters who have a fierce love for each other, it was so refreshing to read about a more complicated sibling relationship.
Lu and Min are our two main characters and they’re so incredibly different. I was absolutely fascinated by Min’s story arc. In the beginning, she is so incredibly meek and timid but has such an incredible rage burning beneath the surface. The way that rage begins to develop into mysterious powers was so intriguing, and I loved watching her give in to her anger. It was so easy to forget that she was so young -- only fifteen years old -- and Yu did a great job balancing that rage with the thought process of a child.
While I really enjoyed Min’s side of the story, I had a tougher time with Lu. Lu is our Girl King -- she’s been training to sit on the throne her entire life and it is snatched away from her at the last minute. I think Lu is going to appeal to a lot of readers for her fierce, stubborn personality, however she just didn’t click with me. In a lot of ways her personality reminded me of Lila Bard, a character I dislike but is beloved by so many readers. That kind of character is not someone I enjoy reading about and I really struggled with Lu’s chapters, which make up at least half of the book. The two sisters really overpower Nok, our third POV character, who should have had the best storyline but felt a little underwhelming.
Overall, I liked The Girl King, but it just didn’t quite click with me as a reader. However I think this book is going to be perfect for you if you like fierce, headstrong heroines, political intrigue, complex families, and magic.
*I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
Why did I want to read? Asian inspired fantasy, with two female protagonists? Sign me up.
The Girl King was a 2019 release I was super excited for, and I felt very privileged to receive an ARC of it. Perhaps because my expectations were so high, the reality was bound to fall a little short. Although there were some glimpses of things I really liked and found interesting – probably enough to induce me to continue the series beyond this point – this book was just ok. And not just ok, but problematic in places, in ways that I only began to really question after I’d finished reading.
This book marks another move from Euro-centric fantasy, and I did love not only the setting but also the way it focused almost entirely on the female characters within that world. One thing The Girl King cannot be accused of is not having enough women, even if they don't really like each other too much, which was another source of frustration.
However, the particularly lacklustre romances, problematic queer rep, and unnecessary sexual assault scenes are what really make me hesitant to recommend this to people.
TW: rape/sexual assault
Full review here!
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
short version: would not recommend.
There's no good way to say this.
I've been really really excited for The Girl King (I'm #OwnVoices for it too, so you know I was super pumped!).
But, this ended up being uncomfortable for me? Part of this book felt pretty problematic, and I'm just really sad and disappointed that this did not work out for me.
I dislike writing negative reviews. I try to be picky about the books I choose so I don't have to write negative reviews. And I avoid writing them when I can do it, and I would have done that for this book if not for some of the issues I had. This review isn't even publisher-associated (the lovely Kristen @ Barnie Bookworm sent me this book) and normally for non-publisher associated ARCs, I just won't review it at all if it was going to be negative.
But this is something I think people deserve to know, and I feel the need to let people know about this book.
Know that I am not the person who decides what is wrong and what is right. Maybe these things aren't actually an issue. Maybe they are. But they ended up making me, an #OwnVoices reviewer, feel uncomfortable, and that I believe has a tiny bit of weight.
First off . . .
The only vaguely queer character in this book is a rapist.
There are no queer main characters. There are no queer side characters. There is only one character who is in one scene who is a guard (named Wailun) who is vaguely queer. Wailun tries to rape Nok (the male protagonist) and this made me really uncomfortable.
Not because of a rape scene and obviously not because of queer characters, but because the only character with even a slight hint of queerness ends up being a rapist? Like what?
And I could have missed something. Maybe there are other queer characters. And there probably wasn't bad intent behind this. But this is a really harmful trope and stereotype that is being used, instead of being deconstructed..
I find this to be an issue? That the only portrayal of queerness is when you're villainizing a character? And one that invokes a very real history of trauma queer folks have experienced?
So yeah. This is up to you, but I've laid out the facts (if you have a copy, it's on page 226-227) and it's up to you to judge if it influences if you read. (Also using rape to further the plot was . . . nice.)
The way they talk about some ethnicities is kind of uncomfortable.
One of the more obvious is how they (Lu and Min, the female protagonists) call the Ellandaise "pink."
I assume this is meant to indicate that the Ellandaise (who are like visitors from another country/kingdom) are white people, yet I feel like it's kind of reductive for the (Asian) characters to use this. It's not deconstructed, and it feels like it was never adequately discussed.
Yes, Lu corrects Min to not say that and it's not a huge problem, but I still think that the overall culture of the book was very anti-otherness.
There's a slur for the Gifted Kith ethnicity: slipskin. And this was also used, and even though Lu stops using it, it never felt like she understood the offensiveness of her words.
There's a lot of different ethnicities, and nowhere in the book did I really feel like they were disabling part of that xenophobia and racism. Sure, they stopped using the offensive words. But just because you don't use hurtful words, doesn't mean you aren't racist.
And so I was just uncomfortable sometimes with Lu and Min and a lot of royalty, and how Lu wants her throne back and is willing to help them now, but in my opinion, she never achieves the level of empathy and respect she needs to treat them as equals.
You can use slurs in a book when they have a purpose. I just didn't think they really added anything to the book.
I felt like some of the violence was almost unnecessary.
This is kind of unrelated to the problematicness, but I just felt like some of the scenes (the rape scene among others) were overly violent for no real purpose.
Yes, violence can be used to make a book better and more impactful. But personally, for me? It didn't contribute to the story. It didn't make the book stronger--it only highlighted Lu's flaws and made me like her less.
I feel like the violence in here was elaborated in a way that was a little unnecessary. I'm not squeamish, nor am I anti violence in books. But this mixed in with my general uncomfortableness with different aspects of the book just made it too much for me.
There were some good aspects, but I don't think it was worth it.
I'd rather have not had that reading experience.
I was uncomfortable, and not in the good way that made you think. I think this story had a lot of potential and frankly, it was a pretty good concept and plot. But the way it was executed did not do it for me, and I unfortunately wouldn't recommend.
It might not have been The Continent level of bad, but it was still pretty uncomfortable for me.
If you're looking for a diverse read feat. sisterhood themes, you might want to look elsewhere.
Thank you to Kristen @ Barnie Bookworm for sending me her ARC! All thoughts are my own honest opinion.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
There's no good way to say this.
I've been really really excited for The Girl King (I'm #OwnVoices for it too, so you know I was super pumped!).
But, this ended up being uncomfortable for me? Part of this book felt pretty problematic, and I'm just really sad and disappointed that this did not work out for me.
I dislike writing negative reviews. I try to be picky about the books I choose so I don't have to write negative reviews. And I avoid writing them when I can do it, and I would have done that for this book if not for some of the issues I had. This review isn't even publisher-associated (the lovely Kristen @ Barnie Bookworm sent me this book) and normally for non-publisher associated ARCs, I just won't review it at all if it was going to be negative.
But this is something I think people deserve to know, and I feel the need to let people know about this book.
Know that I am not the person who decides what is wrong and what is right. Maybe these things aren't actually an issue. Maybe they are. But they ended up making me, an #OwnVoices reviewer, feel uncomfortable, and that I believe has a tiny bit of weight.
First off . . .
The only vaguely queer character in this book is a rapist.
There are no queer main characters. There are no queer side characters. There is only one character who is in one scene who is a guard (named Wailun) who is vaguely queer. Wailun tries to rape Nok (the male protagonist) and this made me really uncomfortable.
Not because of a rape scene and obviously not because of queer characters, but because the only character with even a slight hint of queerness ends up being a rapist? Like what?
And I could have missed something. Maybe there are other queer characters. And there probably wasn't bad intent behind this. But this is a really harmful trope and stereotype that is being used, instead of being deconstructed..
I find this to be an issue? That the only portrayal of queerness is when you're villainizing a character? And one that invokes a very real history of trauma queer folks have experienced?
So yeah. This is up to you, but I've laid out the facts (if you have a copy, it's on page 226-227) and it's up to you to judge if it influences if you read. (Also using rape to further the plot was . . . nice.)
The way they talk about some ethnicities is kind of uncomfortable.
One of the more obvious is how they (Lu and Min, the female protagonists) call the Ellandaise "pink."
I assume this is meant to indicate that the Ellandaise (who are like visitors from another country/kingdom) are white people, yet I feel like it's kind of reductive for the (Asian) characters to use this. It's not deconstructed, and it feels like it was never adequately discussed.
Yes, Lu corrects Min to not say that and it's not a huge problem, but I still think that the overall culture of the book was very anti-otherness.
There's a slur for the Gifted Kith ethnicity: slipskin. And this was also used, and even though Lu stops using it, it never felt like she understood the offensiveness of her words.
There's a lot of different ethnicities, and nowhere in the book did I really feel like they were disabling part of that xenophobia and racism. Sure, they stopped using the offensive words. But just because you don't use hurtful words, doesn't mean you aren't racist.
And so I was just uncomfortable sometimes with Lu and Min and a lot of royalty, and how Lu wants her throne back and is willing to help them now, but in my opinion, she never achieves the level of empathy and respect she needs to treat them as equals.
You can use slurs in a book when they have a purpose. I just didn't think they really added anything to the book.
I felt like some of the violence was almost unnecessary.
This is kind of unrelated to the problematicness, but I just felt like some of the scenes (the rape scene among others) were overly violent for no real purpose.
Yes, violence can be used to make a book better and more impactful. But personally, for me? It didn't contribute to the story. It didn't make the book stronger--it only highlighted Lu's flaws and made me like her less.
I feel like the violence in here was elaborated in a way that was a little unnecessary. I'm not squeamish, nor am I anti violence in books. But this mixed in with my general uncomfortableness with different aspects of the book just made it too much for me.
There were some good aspects, but I don't think it was worth it.
I'd rather have not had that reading experience.
I was uncomfortable, and not in the good way that made you think. I think this story had a lot of potential and frankly, it was a pretty good concept and plot. But the way it was executed did not do it for me, and I unfortunately wouldn't recommend.
It might not have been The Continent level of bad, but it was still pretty uncomfortable for me.
If you're looking for a diverse read feat. sisterhood themes, you might want to look elsewhere.
Thank you to Kristen @ Barnie Bookworm for sending me her ARC! All thoughts are my own honest opinion.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Yes
The Girl King is an exciting action tale featuring court life with intricate traditions and brutal violence. Eldest daughter of the Emperor, Lu always expected to ascend the throne, but instead her father names her cousin -and enemy -Set as the new heir. Lu's aggressive nature leads her to reject a destiny as Set's wife, so she fights back and is soon ostracized by the court. As she gets close to Nokhai, a boy with extraordinary abilities who has experienced the brutal consequences of royalty asserting their control, Lu recognizes the responsibilities of true power as she learns to fight for herself even more than for her crown. Meanwhile, Lu's younger sister Min realizes that she does not have to stay in her fixed position as the weak, subservient girl in her sister's (and the throne's) shadow. Lu, Min, and Nokhai all discover who they really are and what they can do with all the violence and factions that exist in their Empire. All three of these characters find it difficult to stick to their stereotypical roles, and they break out as they discover their true power. This book has all the main elements of popular successful YA fantasy series: a cast of strong and diverse characters, a unique magic system, royal and court intrigue, and transcendent themes such as securing individual identity through outer turmoil. Yu's novel combines expert world-building with engaging characters, with a decent balance between action and dialogue. I wanted to give it five stars, but I felt as though the ending was holding back a little bit from the denouement I wanted to read. Instead the end felt more like a set-up for an upcoming book in the series rather than completing a stand-alone novel. Still, The Girl King lives up to its book jacket and provides an engaging reading experience.