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booksinderry's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
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
4.0
laatexlord's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mrsjanelismv's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-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
4.0
joanna1905's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book due to the mixed reviews but I have to say I really enjoyed it!
I found it slightly slow at the beginning but once the story got going I found myself quickly invested. I've never read a book with this kind of human/animal connection but I really enjoyed it - I think the relationship that develops between Yukiko and Burru was really well done and it was definitely one of my favourite parts of this book.
I'm definitely excited to see how this story develops and what's next now the Shogun is dead.
One thing I didn't love in this book is the scene where some boys are spying on Yukiko in the bathhouse, it was super gross to read and they got away with it scot-free. Boys spying on young girls to see them naked isn't a cute part of boyhood - it's gross and I wish she had caught them and gone off on them.
I also would have loved the glossary to be at the beginning, I know they are typically placed at the back of books but It would have been useful to read before starting the book and because it's not common for novels to have glossaries I didn't even realise it has one until I was almost finished.
All in all, this isn't my favourite book by Jay but I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to continuing the series.
I found it slightly slow at the beginning but once the story got going I found myself quickly invested. I've never read a book with this kind of human/animal connection but I really enjoyed it - I think the relationship that develops between Yukiko and Burru was really well done and it was definitely one of my favourite parts of this book.
I'm definitely excited to see how this story develops and what's next now the Shogun is dead.
One thing I didn't love in this book is the scene where some boys are spying on Yukiko in the bathhouse, it was super gross to read and they got away with it scot-free. Boys spying on young girls to see them naked isn't a cute part of boyhood - it's gross and I wish she had caught them and gone off on them.
I also would have loved the glossary to be at the beginning, I know they are typically placed at the back of books but It would have been useful to read before starting the book and because it's not common for novels to have glossaries I didn't even realise it has one until I was almost finished.
All in all, this isn't my favourite book by Jay but I definitely enjoyed it and am looking forward to continuing the series.
theladylotus's review
adventurous
dark
tense
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? No
4.0
danielled75's review against another edition
5.0
I just have to say THANK YOU Jay KRistoff for writing this amazing book, I know the first book is not officialy out yet, but I'm already eagerly awaiting the second bok in this series.
magikspells's review
1.0
What the hell did I just read? I mean, seriously? I wanted to love this book and if you look at most people's reviews, you'll find that most people wanted to love this book before they started. But I couldn't. I just couldn't love it and after a while I didn't want to.
I have some of the same issues as other people do. The setting is WAY too overdone, I wanted to stop WAY back in the beginning of the book because the story made me want to slam my head on a desk. It went nowhere until a couple hours in when the wreck happened.
The characters are bad. Like I don't believe the relationship between or among any of them, nothing felt sincere. Yukiko is a bitch, her dad is lame, I can't even remember most of the other characters because I just didn't care. They were all boring.
And this whole overarching sl with the lotus killing their land. I get it, I get your overdone social commentary about us destroying our world. But really. I can't believe that any world would have gotten THAT bad and that many people would have survived. The rivers and the sky were polluted? We need these to live, why would there still be so many people alive? Go read a [a:Jared Diamond|256|Jared Diamond|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1355359393p2/256.jpg] book, this is a society that is clearly choosing to destroy itself. I don't believe it for a second, there's no way it's still functional.
I can't make any comments about the language or culture that's referenced, but I recommend you look up some of the lower reviews that have more expertise.
All and all, waste of time. Fancy names and descriptions do not a good book make.
I have some of the same issues as other people do. The setting is WAY too overdone, I wanted to stop WAY back in the beginning of the book because the story made me want to slam my head on a desk. It went nowhere until a couple hours in when the wreck happened.
The characters are bad. Like I don't believe the relationship between or among any of them, nothing felt sincere. Yukiko is a bitch, her dad is lame, I can't even remember most of the other characters because I just didn't care. They were all boring.
And this whole overarching sl with the lotus killing their land. I get it, I get your overdone social commentary about us destroying our world. But really. I can't believe that any world would have gotten THAT bad and that many people would have survived. The rivers and the sky were polluted? We need these to live, why would there still be so many people alive? Go read a [a:Jared Diamond|256|Jared Diamond|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1355359393p2/256.jpg] book, this is a society that is clearly choosing to destroy itself. I don't believe it for a second, there's no way it's still functional.
I can't make any comments about the language or culture that's referenced, but I recommend you look up some of the lower reviews that have more expertise.
All and all, waste of time. Fancy names and descriptions do not a good book make.
solieri's review
5.0
The weidest thing about this book... I almost set it down. It had a -very- dry start, too much telling and not enough showing, and even for someone who speaks Japanese, the amount of vocabulary being tossed at me was excessive. That being said, I am SO GLAD I did not put it down. So if that's you... if you tried to get into it and couldn't... I would think about giving it another shot.
Other than the dry beginning, the only other thing that bothers me is that there is a lot of vocabulary throughout, and I don't feel that it is always used in the most authentic way. Some of it is just unnecessary and contributes nothing. The random use of "hai" and "sama"... and then "arashitora" being randomly replaced with the literal translation... thunder tiger... just bugged me. It could have been more consistent. I mean, thunder tiger sounds really silly. Just objectively silly.
BUT... it gets really amazing if you can look past small issues like that. So much so that I have to give it 5 stars even though it did have the above issues. I found myself wanting to read it more slowly so that it wouldn't be over. That pretty much never happens for me. Hopefully this will continue in the second book.
Other than the dry beginning, the only other thing that bothers me is that there is a lot of vocabulary throughout, and I don't feel that it is always used in the most authentic way. Some of it is just unnecessary and contributes nothing. The random use of "hai" and "sama"... and then "arashitora" being randomly replaced with the literal translation... thunder tiger... just bugged me. It could have been more consistent. I mean, thunder tiger sounds really silly. Just objectively silly.
BUT... it gets really amazing if you can look past small issues like that. So much so that I have to give it 5 stars even though it did have the above issues. I found myself wanting to read it more slowly so that it wouldn't be over. That pretty much never happens for me. Hopefully this will continue in the second book.
crimsoncor's review
4.0
Liked it, but didn't absolutely love it. The Japanese setting felt pretty paint-by-numbers (compared to something like Poppy War's in-depth chinese immersion): there are plenty of reviewers who are much more upset than I am about that if you want to go deeper on the inauthenticity of the setting. I still appreciated some non-western europe fantasy, especially one that is so environmentally focused.
Be curious to see where the series goes now in the later two books. Enjoyed the relationship between the main character and the thundertiger. Also really enjoyed Michi: can't get enough bad ass female characters.
Be curious to see where the series goes now in the later two books. Enjoyed the relationship between the main character and the thundertiger. Also really enjoyed Michi: can't get enough bad ass female characters.