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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
Blog Post: https://museofnyxmares.wordpress.com/2019/01/10/review-the-girl-king-the-girl-king-1-by-mimi-yu/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/museofnyxmares/
The synopsis for The Girl King sounded absolutely fascinating to me and so I had a lot of expectations going into this book, however, I was also a bit hesitant as I was aware that it had a lot of mixed reviews. After reading it myself, I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it, if I’m being completely honest. I wouldn’t say that anything was bad, but I just didn’t take to some things as much as others, for example the world building and the storyline in general could have been a bit clearer and more developed. Because of this, I have to say that the characters and the writing itself carried this story for me. The characters just seemed to have more weight to them then the world building and the storyline, although, I do appreciate that this is the first book in a series and so things are just being introduced in this one and will probably be further developed and explained a bit more in the next installment.
Firstly, I want to get into the writing. There were many instances in the book where the author showed that they have a very beautiful and piercing quality to their writing that wowed and unnerved me equally. The writing was hard hitting and brutal at times which felt very appropriate for these complicated characters. Almost none of these characters were ‘good’ and the majority of them seemed to have this darkness inside of them, that the author was able to put across quite well and this for me, is where the writing really shone, “Her voice was beautiful and hideous in equal measure, a hoarse singsong both sweet as a child’s and guttural as a death rattle”. The author also actually made this a realistic look at war, not shying away from including all the gory details that war entails, “She plunged the dagger into the exposed base of his throat. Yanking it free took more effort; she felt the hard, grainy crunch of his trachea, the sucking clench of muscle as it withdrew. Blood shot like a fountain from the hole she’d made. Easy, she thought deliriously”. I don’t normally find such graphic descriptions like this in YA books so that was interesting and reflected the overall darker tone of the book.
Unfortunately the storyline and the world building didn’t pack as much of a punch as the writing itself did. I’m still not quite sure about the different type of magic that existed in this world and who exactly possessed what type of magic. We were spoon fed facts about the magic and the wars of long ago as the book went along, and although I tried my best, nothing really stuck. This was disappointing to me as the prologue and the general idea of the magic seemed fascinating to me and so again, I’m hoping that this is something that will be built upon in the next book. Nok and his shapeshifting ability for example, was something that I really enjoyed and found so interesting, but I don’t feel completely sure that I understand what exactly it is he can do and how and why. It just felt a bit like we’d only scratched the surface of it, and I was desperate to go deeper, but when we did, I didn’t fully get it. Like, I don’t quite understand how Nok and his Wolf are described as being separate things a lot of the time, but then Nok can also feel what happens to the wolf etc and it’s described as apart of his soul, it was quite confusing, “Nok looked down, saw massive shaggy blue fur. His body was gone. He was inside the wolf. He was the wolf. A spear of panic stabbed through him, and the creature came to a standstill, as though confused by it”, I would of loved to spend more time on Nok’s abilities.
The plot seemed simple enough, as it’s quite clear in the synopsis, but I felt like things kept overlapping each other, and the pace was also quite slow at times, which was great in terms of getting to know the characters but not in terms of plot. I just didn’t feel as involved in the story as I wanted to and tended to just savour the more introspective chapters about the characters more. There were some plot twists thrown in, but I kind of guessed what they were pretty early on and so I wasn’t too surprised to be honest when certain things came to light. I generally just enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half, as it was almost as if the pace was too slow in the first half and so things became slightly rushed towards the end. I’m not really too keen on how things progressed throughout the book, like how Nok and Lu’s relationship developed. Nok had a potential love interest at the start of the book and I really liked her and I’m really disappointed that they ended up parting ways so early on, I’m not sure what her role could of been going forward, but I would’ve appreciated her still being around.
The best two things about this book was the relationship between the sisters and the character of Min individually, as she is by far one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read about. Min has such a low opinion of herself and I honestly felt so sorry for her at times, but then on the other hand, I wanted to shake her a bit and tell her to pull herself together, “She looked at the mirror, at the girl on the other side. A pale creature, vague in aspect, shrunken in stature…she shifted under the scrutiny of her own reflected gaze. There was something repulsed, almost contemptuous in the way it looked back at her”. At times it was hard to believe that Min was only one year younger than Lu, because she behaved like such a child. However, as whatever’s inside Min starts to grow and she becomes more powerful, we start to see the anger and bitterness that these feelings of inadequacy have bred inside her. Min starts to have such cruel thoughts about herself and almost everyone around her, and she can’t differentiate between her thoughts and the thing inside her, it was very unnerving at times, “They’ll be tortured, kicked and beaten-who cares about her? a voice within hissed. Who cares about any of them? Lu’s nunas, her own, it didn’t matter. They didn’t matter. They’re just maids, anyway, the voice sneered. Was it hers or the other? It was so hard to tell lately”. But Min is offered some sort of victory when she weds Set instead of Lu and she clings to him as her one redeeming quality, even when she begins to realise that he is very much using her, but her loneliness and low self-esteem are so severe that she doesn’t even care most of the time, “I’m sorry” he said…in spite of herself, she felt gratitude flush through her veins”
Min and Lu’s relationship was as complicated as they come, both sisters care about each other deep down, but there is so much jealousy and resentment resting on top of it, that they both constantly struggle with how they feel about each other. Min is very clearly jealous of Lu, as Lu is brave and strong in a way that she couldn’t even dream to be and she makes Min see all her short comings, so very clearly, “She watched her sister…it was too much. Her sister’s lean, strong body and that incorrigible swagger with which she carried herself. Min knew she was being petulant, but that chagrin burned away at her insides, too.” Lu on the other hand can’t fathom why Min behaves so childishly and therefore, can’t fully understand her. It’s even clear to strangers the differences between them, “from what I’ve heard, this younger princess is little more than a child. Soft as down. No father killer like the Girl King”. As Lu starts to become more understanding of others plights and a better person in general, as she forced to run for her life, Min takes a turn for the worst and this inevitably makes her feelings towards her sister that much more strained and ambiguous, this story is as much about them trying to find their way back to each other emotionally and mentally, as it is about Lu trying to get back her throne.
Lu was a character that took a while to grow on me as I found her to be incredibly arrogant and self important at the start of the book, “his words meant nothing to her. She was what thousands of years of warriors had wrought. She had the blood of the tiger in her veins. Who was he to tell her how to swing a sword?”. But as she is forced to go on the run with this unlikely ally she is forced to confront the fact that her people’s history is one full of inflicting suffering on others, such as Nok’s ancestors. We see a new softer side to her, who starts to think about more than herself. I actually did miss the fiercer side to her though and would of loved to see more of it as she is after all, supposed to be the infamous ‘Girl King’. Her relationship with Nok was sweet and he really helped open her eyes, although she did maintain some of her selfish qualities. Overall, she was a good protagonist, but I think Min just had a bit more about her and so I naturally anticipated Min’s chapters a bit more. Nok’s chapters were okay and I liked him well enough, but Min really was the shining star of this book and I would recommend picking it up just to experience her character.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/museofnyxmares/
The synopsis for The Girl King sounded absolutely fascinating to me and so I had a lot of expectations going into this book, however, I was also a bit hesitant as I was aware that it had a lot of mixed reviews. After reading it myself, I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it, if I’m being completely honest. I wouldn’t say that anything was bad, but I just didn’t take to some things as much as others, for example the world building and the storyline in general could have been a bit clearer and more developed. Because of this, I have to say that the characters and the writing itself carried this story for me. The characters just seemed to have more weight to them then the world building and the storyline, although, I do appreciate that this is the first book in a series and so things are just being introduced in this one and will probably be further developed and explained a bit more in the next installment.
Firstly, I want to get into the writing. There were many instances in the book where the author showed that they have a very beautiful and piercing quality to their writing that wowed and unnerved me equally. The writing was hard hitting and brutal at times which felt very appropriate for these complicated characters. Almost none of these characters were ‘good’ and the majority of them seemed to have this darkness inside of them, that the author was able to put across quite well and this for me, is where the writing really shone, “Her voice was beautiful and hideous in equal measure, a hoarse singsong both sweet as a child’s and guttural as a death rattle”. The author also actually made this a realistic look at war, not shying away from including all the gory details that war entails, “She plunged the dagger into the exposed base of his throat. Yanking it free took more effort; she felt the hard, grainy crunch of his trachea, the sucking clench of muscle as it withdrew. Blood shot like a fountain from the hole she’d made. Easy, she thought deliriously”. I don’t normally find such graphic descriptions like this in YA books so that was interesting and reflected the overall darker tone of the book.
Unfortunately the storyline and the world building didn’t pack as much of a punch as the writing itself did. I’m still not quite sure about the different type of magic that existed in this world and who exactly possessed what type of magic. We were spoon fed facts about the magic and the wars of long ago as the book went along, and although I tried my best, nothing really stuck. This was disappointing to me as the prologue and the general idea of the magic seemed fascinating to me and so again, I’m hoping that this is something that will be built upon in the next book. Nok and his shapeshifting ability for example, was something that I really enjoyed and found so interesting, but I don’t feel completely sure that I understand what exactly it is he can do and how and why. It just felt a bit like we’d only scratched the surface of it, and I was desperate to go deeper, but when we did, I didn’t fully get it. Like, I don’t quite understand how Nok and his Wolf are described as being separate things a lot of the time, but then Nok can also feel what happens to the wolf etc and it’s described as apart of his soul, it was quite confusing, “Nok looked down, saw massive shaggy blue fur. His body was gone. He was inside the wolf. He was the wolf. A spear of panic stabbed through him, and the creature came to a standstill, as though confused by it”, I would of loved to spend more time on Nok’s abilities.
The plot seemed simple enough, as it’s quite clear in the synopsis, but I felt like things kept overlapping each other, and the pace was also quite slow at times, which was great in terms of getting to know the characters but not in terms of plot. I just didn’t feel as involved in the story as I wanted to and tended to just savour the more introspective chapters about the characters more. There were some plot twists thrown in, but I kind of guessed what they were pretty early on and so I wasn’t too surprised to be honest when certain things came to light. I generally just enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half, as it was almost as if the pace was too slow in the first half and so things became slightly rushed towards the end. I’m not really too keen on how things progressed throughout the book, like how Nok and Lu’s relationship developed. Nok had a potential love interest at the start of the book and I really liked her and I’m really disappointed that they ended up parting ways so early on, I’m not sure what her role could of been going forward, but I would’ve appreciated her still being around.
The best two things about this book was the relationship between the sisters and the character of Min individually, as she is by far one of the most complex characters I’ve ever read about. Min has such a low opinion of herself and I honestly felt so sorry for her at times, but then on the other hand, I wanted to shake her a bit and tell her to pull herself together, “She looked at the mirror, at the girl on the other side. A pale creature, vague in aspect, shrunken in stature…she shifted under the scrutiny of her own reflected gaze. There was something repulsed, almost contemptuous in the way it looked back at her”. At times it was hard to believe that Min was only one year younger than Lu, because she behaved like such a child. However, as whatever’s inside Min starts to grow and she becomes more powerful, we start to see the anger and bitterness that these feelings of inadequacy have bred inside her. Min starts to have such cruel thoughts about herself and almost everyone around her, and she can’t differentiate between her thoughts and the thing inside her, it was very unnerving at times, “They’ll be tortured, kicked and beaten-who cares about her? a voice within hissed. Who cares about any of them? Lu’s nunas, her own, it didn’t matter. They didn’t matter. They’re just maids, anyway, the voice sneered. Was it hers or the other? It was so hard to tell lately”. But Min is offered some sort of victory when she weds Set instead of Lu and she clings to him as her one redeeming quality, even when she begins to realise that he is very much using her, but her loneliness and low self-esteem are so severe that she doesn’t even care most of the time, “I’m sorry” he said…in spite of herself, she felt gratitude flush through her veins”
Min and Lu’s relationship was as complicated as they come, both sisters care about each other deep down, but there is so much jealousy and resentment resting on top of it, that they both constantly struggle with how they feel about each other. Min is very clearly jealous of Lu, as Lu is brave and strong in a way that she couldn’t even dream to be and she makes Min see all her short comings, so very clearly, “She watched her sister…it was too much. Her sister’s lean, strong body and that incorrigible swagger with which she carried herself. Min knew she was being petulant, but that chagrin burned away at her insides, too.” Lu on the other hand can’t fathom why Min behaves so childishly and therefore, can’t fully understand her. It’s even clear to strangers the differences between them, “from what I’ve heard, this younger princess is little more than a child. Soft as down. No father killer like the Girl King”. As Lu starts to become more understanding of others plights and a better person in general, as she forced to run for her life, Min takes a turn for the worst and this inevitably makes her feelings towards her sister that much more strained and ambiguous, this story is as much about them trying to find their way back to each other emotionally and mentally, as it is about Lu trying to get back her throne.
Lu was a character that took a while to grow on me as I found her to be incredibly arrogant and self important at the start of the book, “his words meant nothing to her. She was what thousands of years of warriors had wrought. She had the blood of the tiger in her veins. Who was he to tell her how to swing a sword?”. But as she is forced to go on the run with this unlikely ally she is forced to confront the fact that her people’s history is one full of inflicting suffering on others, such as Nok’s ancestors. We see a new softer side to her, who starts to think about more than herself. I actually did miss the fiercer side to her though and would of loved to see more of it as she is after all, supposed to be the infamous ‘Girl King’. Her relationship with Nok was sweet and he really helped open her eyes, although she did maintain some of her selfish qualities. Overall, she was a good protagonist, but I think Min just had a bit more about her and so I naturally anticipated Min’s chapters a bit more. Nok’s chapters were okay and I liked him well enough, but Min really was the shining star of this book and I would recommend picking it up just to experience her character.
Of course NOW I see #1 next to it! Dammit! So, in a word, I'm hooked.
It was a little too slow for me at the beginning, but that's simply because like all good fantasy novels, world building and character creation is a bit required. However, The book picked up quickly and then at the end, I fumbling for more pages. Surely there's more pages I neglected to see? Sigh. No. Now I must patiently wait.
So, what makes this book awesome? Great characters, plot line, etc.!
What makes this book awesomely unique? Gender and race.
Gender: Both the protagonist and the antagonist are strong girls/women. In the world of Syfy and Fantasy, female anythings that are strong, poignant, flawed, get any paragraphs about them, are (less) rare to come by. So, The Girl King's power house of female dominance is gloriously staggering.
Race: Growing up in the 80's and 90's minority representation was fleeting, especially Asians. It wasn't until 1990 that I came across Amy Tan's the Joy Luck Club that I read any book that had any prominent Asian role beyond bowing demure grandmother, opium puffing prostitute, or young virginal beauty that didn't have much to say (South Pacific...yeah, Mr. Michener, you).
I almost forgot that Syfy and Fantasy didn't necessarily have to be a Caucasian thing. Don't get me wrong, I love European alternative worlds. I mean, Hobbits! Need I type more? However, The Girl King truly presents an alternative world that is rare. It's not Europe. It's not a bunch of "white guys" clashing swords. It's alternate Chinese world that is full of magic and beasts. I joyfully got lost in all the predominantly Chinese/Asian faces and characters.
This book should be included in any high school library, because not only is it fun, engaging, and exciting, it will add the color to the palette of teen fiction. Teen Asian readers (especially girls) will have great characters to draw inspiration or deterrents from, and maybe see a bit of themselves while reading.
It was a little too slow for me at the beginning, but that's simply because like all good fantasy novels, world building and character creation is a bit required. However, The book picked up quickly and then at the end, I fumbling for more pages. Surely there's more pages I neglected to see? Sigh. No. Now I must patiently wait.
So, what makes this book awesome? Great characters, plot line, etc.!
What makes this book awesomely unique? Gender and race.
Gender: Both the protagonist and the antagonist are strong girls/women. In the world of Syfy and Fantasy, female anythings that are strong, poignant, flawed, get any paragraphs about them, are (less) rare to come by. So, The Girl King's power house of female dominance is gloriously staggering.
Race: Growing up in the 80's and 90's minority representation was fleeting, especially Asians. It wasn't until 1990 that I came across Amy Tan's the Joy Luck Club that I read any book that had any prominent Asian role beyond bowing demure grandmother, opium puffing prostitute, or young virginal beauty that didn't have much to say (South Pacific...yeah, Mr. Michener, you).
I almost forgot that Syfy and Fantasy didn't necessarily have to be a Caucasian thing. Don't get me wrong, I love European alternative worlds. I mean, Hobbits! Need I type more? However, The Girl King truly presents an alternative world that is rare. It's not Europe. It's not a bunch of "white guys" clashing swords. It's alternate Chinese world that is full of magic and beasts. I joyfully got lost in all the predominantly Chinese/Asian faces and characters.
This book should be included in any high school library, because not only is it fun, engaging, and exciting, it will add the color to the palette of teen fiction. Teen Asian readers (especially girls) will have great characters to draw inspiration or deterrents from, and maybe see a bit of themselves while reading.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This should have been one of those “I’ve read this before books”, and although the premise is similar to many books out there, the author brings an utterly fresh take and I found myself unable to put this book down.
Lu and Min are two sides of a coin. Lu the first daughter, trained all her life to take over the throne, described as beautiful and strong willed, and Min the daughter no body really takes notice of, not as pretty or as self-assured as her older sister. However Min has a power within her that no one foresees.
Read the full review here: https://crooksbooks.blog/2019/03/07/review-the-girl-king-by-mimi-yu/
Lu and Min are two sides of a coin. Lu the first daughter, trained all her life to take over the throne, described as beautiful and strong willed, and Min the daughter no body really takes notice of, not as pretty or as self-assured as her older sister. However Min has a power within her that no one foresees.
Read the full review here: https://crooksbooks.blog/2019/03/07/review-the-girl-king-by-mimi-yu/
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
***This review is based off of an advanced uncorrected proof, so elements written about in this review might not be present in the final version***
You’d think Goodreads would’ve implemented half star ratings by now so you wouldn’t have to click on this spoilery review to find out I ideally want to rate this book 3.5 stars. Oh well I guess 🤷♀️
I hadn’t heard about this book until my friend sent me an arc of it as a Christmas present. It intrigued me right away and decided it was going to be the first book I read after the one I had been reading at the time. The prologue was kind of confusing, but I was hooked once we started getting into the meat of the story. Lu is beyond arrogant and entitled and reminded me of people I know in real life that I’m not very fond of. They have everything they want and aren’t afraid to flaunt it.
I suppose that’s not entirely true, considering she had to fight for her right to the throne and that’s what set (heh) all this into motion. I ended up really liking Lu, and watching her grow and change throughout the novel was honestly pretty enjoyable. I feel like a lot of that change is due to Nokhai. His character was satisfying throughout, and only continued to grow even more so by the end. Nok and Lu’s relationship felt almost natural and progressed much in the same way throughout the novel. The only thing I didn’t really like about their relationship was how sudden their kisses happened? There was long term build up, but no short term. One minute they’re just sitting there, the next they’re making out. A lot of the time it feels a little more intense than what it actually is?? I’m not sure, this could just be me.
As much as I loved the book and story, there were some elements that made it kind of hard for me to really lose myself. I feel like there were often little details missing that would’ve helped me better understand what was happening. One example would be the kisses, another would be how much time passes. I forget exactly what it was, but there was something Lu mentioned after they reached Yunis, how her cut had already scarred? And it just really caught me off guard because I legit thought they had only been traveling together for like a week tops at that point. I feel like the passage of time was better displayed in Min’s chapters, but that could possibly be due to the fact that there were probably twice as many Nok and/or Lu chapters than Min ones. I also had no idea Shen died until Lu realized his people were probably going to blame her for his and Vrea’s deaths. Like?? Did I accidentally skim over it? Did I read too fast? Like I honestly had no idea he died and maybe it’s just me, but I’m going to need a few more hints or details to fully follow this book is seems.
Another thing that kept confusing me was Vrea and Tsai. The characters we would come to know as Jin, Shen, and Vrea in the prologue didn’t really pop up much until I had confused that weird spirit inside Min as the woman from the prologue, which obviously she was not. That whole thing confused me too, and I seriously hope it gets resolved/explained in the next book. We know who Tsai was fundamentally, but I’m still not 100% understanding like...why she cursed Min? Sure, Min is the daughter of her lover and his wife and also a competition to Lu’s claim to the throne, but I feel like she would’ve known that her magic or curse would become warped and be Min’s best tools to hurt the daughter she was trying to protect? Not only that but Tsai was described as having a lot of power, or at least that’s the impression I got after hearing her described as like a star in a soap bubble, or whatever it was that they said. Why didn’t Lu receive any of that power? Is it because Tsai gave it up - or at least whatever portion Lu was to inherit - when she cursed Min? It’s all very confusing to me and I can’t make sense of it. I hope it’s clarified in the next book.
Overall, this was a really good book and I’m looking forward to the next installment! Of course I’ve mentioned that like three times already and have no concrete knowledge if there’s actually going to be a second book, but I’m assuming so just based off of how this one ended. That battle was wild though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nok’s “death” was a little weak though, and at this point if I don’t see a dead body, I don’t trust it. So it wasn’t very surprising when he showed up very much alive. Although I AM looking forward to the moment Nok shows up very much alive after or right as Lu is about to marry Jin. I’m just trash for that kind of stuff 🤷♀️ anyway, I thought this book was pretty good (and I’m sure the corrected, final version is much better) and recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of exploring new worlds filled with defiant princesses and action!
You’d think Goodreads would’ve implemented half star ratings by now so you wouldn’t have to click on this spoilery review to find out I ideally want to rate this book 3.5 stars. Oh well I guess 🤷♀️
I hadn’t heard about this book until my friend sent me an arc of it as a Christmas present. It intrigued me right away and decided it was going to be the first book I read after the one I had been reading at the time. The prologue was kind of confusing, but I was hooked once we started getting into the meat of the story. Lu is beyond arrogant and entitled and reminded me of people I know in real life that I’m not very fond of. They have everything they want and aren’t afraid to flaunt it.
I suppose that’s not entirely true, considering she had to fight for her right to the throne and that’s what set (heh) all this into motion. I ended up really liking Lu, and watching her grow and change throughout the novel was honestly pretty enjoyable. I feel like a lot of that change is due to Nokhai. His character was satisfying throughout, and only continued to grow even more so by the end. Nok and Lu’s relationship felt almost natural and progressed much in the same way throughout the novel. The only thing I didn’t really like about their relationship was how sudden their kisses happened? There was long term build up, but no short term. One minute they’re just sitting there, the next they’re making out. A lot of the time it feels a little more intense than what it actually is?? I’m not sure, this could just be me.
As much as I loved the book and story, there were some elements that made it kind of hard for me to really lose myself. I feel like there were often little details missing that would’ve helped me better understand what was happening. One example would be the kisses, another would be how much time passes. I forget exactly what it was, but there was something Lu mentioned after they reached Yunis, how her cut had already scarred? And it just really caught me off guard because I legit thought they had only been traveling together for like a week tops at that point. I feel like the passage of time was better displayed in Min’s chapters, but that could possibly be due to the fact that there were probably twice as many Nok and/or Lu chapters than Min ones. I also had no idea Shen died until Lu realized his people were probably going to blame her for his and Vrea’s deaths. Like?? Did I accidentally skim over it? Did I read too fast? Like I honestly had no idea he died and maybe it’s just me, but I’m going to need a few more hints or details to fully follow this book is seems.
Another thing that kept confusing me was Vrea and Tsai. The characters we would come to know as Jin, Shen, and Vrea in the prologue didn’t really pop up much until I had confused that weird spirit inside Min as the woman from the prologue, which obviously she was not. That whole thing confused me too, and I seriously hope it gets resolved/explained in the next book. We know who Tsai was fundamentally, but I’m still not 100% understanding like...why she cursed Min? Sure, Min is the daughter of her lover and his wife and also a competition to Lu’s claim to the throne, but I feel like she would’ve known that her magic or curse would become warped and be Min’s best tools to hurt the daughter she was trying to protect? Not only that but Tsai was described as having a lot of power, or at least that’s the impression I got after hearing her described as like a star in a soap bubble, or whatever it was that they said. Why didn’t Lu receive any of that power? Is it because Tsai gave it up - or at least whatever portion Lu was to inherit - when she cursed Min? It’s all very confusing to me and I can’t make sense of it. I hope it’s clarified in the next book.
Overall, this was a really good book and I’m looking forward to the next installment! Of course I’ve mentioned that like three times already and have no concrete knowledge if there’s actually going to be a second book, but I’m assuming so just based off of how this one ended. That battle was wild though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nok’s “death” was a little weak though, and at this point if I don’t see a dead body, I don’t trust it. So it wasn’t very surprising when he showed up very much alive. Although I AM looking forward to the moment Nok shows up very much alive after or right as Lu is about to marry Jin. I’m just trash for that kind of stuff 🤷♀️ anyway, I thought this book was pretty good (and I’m sure the corrected, final version is much better) and recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of exploring new worlds filled with defiant princesses and action!
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
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
When I liked it, I really liked it. That push/pull of sisterhood and roles we all play according to how the parents pull the strings. The fighting scenes and action. The magic.
But there were times when I wasn't totally won over. Some I could put my finger on (like that jarring attempted rape scene), and other times I couldn't quite (like when my eyes were skipping sentences to get on with things, because stuff happens either very quickly or verrry slowly).
Overall, I'm happy that there is a strong sister book to join the ranks. I can't decide whether this is a 3.5 or a 4 for me. I mean, it's a THICK book I wanted to finish, and I did--and these days I'm unable to finish a book I'm not really into. So I guess that makes it a 4? Maybe because I really did love the visuals and the magic.
But there were times when I wasn't totally won over. Some I could put my finger on (like that jarring attempted rape scene), and other times I couldn't quite (like when my eyes were skipping sentences to get on with things, because stuff happens either very quickly or verrry slowly).
Overall, I'm happy that there is a strong sister book to join the ranks. I can't decide whether this is a 3.5 or a 4 for me. I mean, it's a THICK book I wanted to finish, and I did--and these days I'm unable to finish a book I'm not really into. So I guess that makes it a 4? Maybe because I really did love the visuals and the magic.
"Let's get down to business, to rewrite this book"
How can something than sounds so interesting turn out so boring? Like I was lost throughout parts of it because the mythos wasn't expanded fully and given time to breathe so we can understand who, what when, where, and why. The book has that habit to jump between POV which is fine, however I found some of the chapters woefully boring. I find it ironic that between the character who is a kick ass and is super smart and pretty, and a guy that fricking can turn into a wolf/summon wolves (never fully explained so IDEK) yet the younger sister who was basically a combination of Sansa and Danerys was much more interesting in court. And honestly that's what I can make of this book. It felt like Game of Thrones in China. It was kind of dull and sometimes I was just interested enough that I just wanted to finish it to say I finish it but honestly a low key disappointment. I don't know if I will continue the series or not. I need something captivating after this.
How can something than sounds so interesting turn out so boring? Like I was lost throughout parts of it because the mythos wasn't expanded fully and given time to breathe so we can understand who, what when, where, and why. The book has that habit to jump between POV which is fine, however I found some of the chapters woefully boring. I find it ironic that between the character who is a kick ass and is super smart and pretty, and a guy that fricking can turn into a wolf/summon wolves (never fully explained so IDEK) yet the younger sister who was basically a combination of Sansa and Danerys was much more interesting in court. And honestly that's what I can make of this book. It felt like Game of Thrones in China. It was kind of dull and sometimes I was just interested enough that I just wanted to finish it to say I finish it but honestly a low key disappointment. I don't know if I will continue the series or not. I need something captivating after this.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes