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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
good book excited already for the second one pls don't let me wait too long
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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:
Complicated
I really wanted to fall in love with this book.
It has feminism! Sci/fi AND fantasy elements! Giant robots! Techno/mystic mind links! Tasteful love triangle! Smashing the patriarchy!
I loved the colder female lead. We really don’t get to see many leading women be calculating and cold-hearted. I loved seeing that!
But i don’t feel like i was the target audience for this one. The writing feels like it’s written for a younger audience which is fair! The tone fluctuated between pretty formal writing (the standard for fantasy books) to stuff that would be at home in tumblr fanfics.
Neither of these tones are bad in of themselves, but the combination made for confused and stilted prose.
The premise is exciting and definitely worth a read! But both plot and writing style needed to be perfected with a few more edits.
It’s a first novel, but i’m excited to see more!
It has feminism! Sci/fi AND fantasy elements! Giant robots! Techno/mystic mind links! Tasteful love triangle! Smashing the patriarchy!
I loved the colder female lead. We really don’t get to see many leading women be calculating and cold-hearted. I loved seeing that!
But i don’t feel like i was the target audience for this one. The writing feels like it’s written for a younger audience which is fair! The tone fluctuated between pretty formal writing (the standard for fantasy books) to stuff that would be at home in tumblr fanfics.
Neither of these tones are bad in of themselves, but the combination made for confused and stilted prose.
The premise is exciting and definitely worth a read! But both plot and writing style needed to be perfected with a few more edits.
It’s a first novel, but i’m excited to see more!
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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:
No
Merciless and bloodthirsty from start to finish, the descriptor of “A primal scream of a book” from E.K. Johnston is wholly accurate. I can only imagine what the R-18 early drafts of this book looked like since it’s already quite a dark story for a YA novel. And I loved that. The amount of bloodthirsty vengeance in this book was incredibly cathartic!
If you like extra brutal mecha animes featuring queer characters, you’ll really enjoy this book.
The book already comes with a trigger warning, which I really appreciated, but just to reiterate it: violence, abuse, suicidal ideation, discussion/references to sexual assault (no on-page depictions, but some violent acts with a strong undertone), alcohol addiction, and torture.
Now, SPOLERS AHEAD.
This is a book for everyone who has been wronged by the patriarchal system. The number of times I smiled as viciously as Zetian was telling. Zetian wreaks chaos and claims vengeance with a bloody fervor as a queer woman who was physically disabled by her family. I think out of the entire book, Zetian recounting the way her grandmother broke and bound her feet was one of the most stomach-churning moments for me. Zetian gets vengeance for herself, for her needlessly killed older sister, and for every girl harmed and killed by society. Truly, a book full of wish fulfilment. ❤
Admittedly, the first quarter of the book does take some getting through, especially with the “It’s over 9,000!” type moments as the book establishes the qi power rankings and how the Chrysalises work (necessary for understanding the world, but still). And there are plenty of moments where the book does more telling than showing (sometimes it’s helpful so the narration can speed past having to repeat what the reader already knows, but at other times it can make the scene feel oddly distant).
And then there is one particular paragraph where the story gets 3x gayer and hints at the, eventually fully realized, triad which made me so, so happy! I never understood why so many YA novels make the main character choose between love interests, like, why not both? So, it was absolutely wonderful to see that here!
If you like extra brutal mecha animes featuring queer characters, you’ll really enjoy this book.
The book already comes with a trigger warning, which I really appreciated, but just to reiterate it: violence, abuse, suicidal ideation, discussion/references to sexual assault (no on-page depictions, but some violent acts with a strong undertone), alcohol addiction, and torture.
Now, SPOLERS AHEAD.
This is a book for everyone who has been wronged by the patriarchal system. The number of times I smiled as viciously as Zetian was telling. Zetian wreaks chaos and claims vengeance with a bloody fervor as a queer woman who was physically disabled by her family. I think out of the entire book, Zetian recounting the way her grandmother broke and bound her feet was one of the most stomach-churning moments for me. Zetian gets vengeance for herself, for her needlessly killed older sister, and for every girl harmed and killed by society. Truly, a book full of wish fulfilment. ❤
Admittedly, the first quarter of the book does take some getting through, especially with the “It’s over 9,000!” type moments as the book establishes the qi power rankings and how the Chrysalises work (necessary for understanding the world, but still). And there are plenty of moments where the book does more telling than showing (sometimes it’s helpful so the narration can speed past having to repeat what the reader already knows, but at other times it can make the scene feel oddly distant).
And then there is one particular paragraph where the story gets 3x gayer and hints at the, eventually fully realized, triad which made me so, so happy! I never understood why so many YA novels make the main character choose between love interests, like, why not both? So, it was absolutely wonderful to see that here!
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes