Reviews

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang

kristinconnolly's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.5

I really wanted to like this book but I felt like it just dragged on. I also had a hard time keeping track and staying invested in all the characters. I thought the magic system was really interesting and loved the feminine rage throughout this book.  Lu Da was my favorite character and offered  lot of comedic relief. I also had to read this in two sections spaced a month or two in time which made it hard to follow the ending and get back into the story. 

nina_rae_131's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

This is a feminist story featuring friendships, sisterhood, and queerness. As someone who grew up around women with internalized misogyny, I found Lin Chong's internal growth really satisfying. I loved Liangshan and the friendships that blossomed between its members, although I wish we could have spent more time with some of the side characters. 
I found Tai Jing to be a compelling villain. His ruthlessness wasn't toned down for the sake of the audience. But he was also intelligent, and I enjoyed being in his head. 
The magic system was really unique and interesting. 
I felt like the ending was abrupt though.

I thought a bit more than one flyer would be needed to sway the people to their side.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book though!

I read the audiobook, so I apologize if I spelt any of the names wrong. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Cannibalism, Death, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: War and Homophobia

redhoods's review against another edition

i will finish this but i had to return it to the library for now :(

nyx_transfem_of_the_night's review against another edition

adventurous dark

• 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

4.25

nfiertz's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring medium-paced

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

moiscool's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

timinbc's review against another edition

4.0

I'll start by damning with faint praise: in a world with 1000s of wuxia stories, this is quite a lot less samey than most of them. That said, if you do wuxia you pick up constraints.

For example, the whole book has to contain escalating magic. Another hundred pages and someone would have had to call down an asteroid. You know you will meet a series of immensely powerful and capable fighters who will show off their power, then immediately meet someone stronger.

There has to be - and is - a lot of "it's so unFAIR!" in the setup, and unfortunately we get that in about 80% of stories these days.

There has to be violence, and mostly it's well used. One scene goes over the top, I think, but at least it was done for dramatic reasons. I had to go down an internet rabbithole to find out that one CAN decapitate with one stroke, but here most of the characters seem to be able to do it effortlessly, forehand or backhand, regardless of the position or orientation of the opponent.

Then there's Fan Rui, who suddenly

Spoiler

turns into Fan Tastic with amazing power, until we see its limits and she becomes like the exploding barrel in a remove-the-icons phone game

The fact that the characters are nearly all women is handled so deftly, so "yeah, so what?" that you barely notice.

But several of the characters have conflicts that make this book stand out.

Lu Da is fun, but not far from Barry Hughart's Number Ten Ox.

Gao Qiu is ridiculously evil, and we've seen his character in a zillion stories. It's to fantasy what Widow Twanky is to pantomime. Cai Jing, on the other hand, is a better kind of evil - obsessed with some things at the expense of humanity.

So here we go toward the end. Quite well handled, except that the lesser bandits suddenly advance to wizard level and several of them can take out a boat full of sailors alone. Our archer, of course, has an infinite supply of arrows, which always kill instantly; our swimmer can stay underwater indefinitely; and our heroine - battered, beaten, exhausted -

Spoiler

discovers she can walk on water if necessary.

. Suspension of disbelief is challenged.

Darnit, it ain't magic if you can just pull out a new trick whenever the plot requires it. Even if it is traditional in the genre.

But whatever you think, DO read the author's notes at the end for an understanding of what you just read and how it was produced. It might alter your perspective.

Will I read the next Huang? Sure.

sarahbberrigan's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny slow-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

3.75

Great characters and a fun magic system. Good action scenes but lots of the development in the middle dragged in pace for me. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual assault and Cannibalism

mo_timperley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

ariel_reads's review against another edition

slow-paced