Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee

9 reviews

spacerkip's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

By far my favorite of the remixed classics that I've read. The rich descriptions of cities, places, and food brought both the setting and the time period to life. I found myself deeply engaged in the first half of the book, despite the bulk of the action happening much later. As a long-time lover of sea stories, I loved the chance to step into a maritime context (1820's South China Sea) that I'm still unfamiliar with. I also appreciated the author's notes about language and cultural background at the end.

I could really feel the love the author had for this story and its themes. Xiang and her personal struggles with living up to her mother's expectations (and wanting something different out of life entirely) explored a different facet of the coming-of-age narrative the original novel puts forth - just like Jim from Treasure Planet, another retelling I adore. Treasure Island simply stays winning.

(And as a fun little bit of meta, the audiobook narrator, Emily Woo Zeller, is the same person who read the audiobook for Red As the Sky, Deep As the Sea. Zheng Yi Sao cinematic universe lmao.) 
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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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astridsbookishlife's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

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bookishfaye's review

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adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I love this so much!!!!! A sapphic Chinese retelling of Treasure Island & it absolutely hits!!! I usually struggle with historical books, but this was everything & I adored it!!! 
-The slow burn romance ❤️🤌
- Xiang realizing & accepting her sexuality & the acceptance of the found family of pirates around her 🥲
- the mommy issues were wildly relatable 
- the historical context was so interesting & I loved the authors note, language notes, historical notes, & recommended reading all listed in the back!! The author put so much effort into this book & it shows! 
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mandkips's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

3.75

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ladythana's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring slow-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

4.0

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sma_tsol06's review

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adventurous informative mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.25

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angelsbooks's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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alouette's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.75

a lovingly crafted historical fiction filled with adventure, as advertised. and queer pirates! saw this one as a recommendation at a local book shop, and i'm glad i did. the author did a great job of transporting me back to the right time period with descriptions of the various settings. and though the ship's crew kind of melded together, the central characters were really well fleshed out and i liked them a lot! Xiang's development as a person, a sheltered girl entering adulthood and realizing the truths of a chosen family and a chosen lifestyle, becoming her own individual, was lovely to see. and the development of Anh, someone cynical being able to believe and hope again, was great as well. though i didn't think their was much development between the two to being a romantic pair, i was still happy for it nonetheless. i liked Master Feng a lot, too. 

another big bonus is that this book actually does travel scenes well! a lot of books, especially historical fiction, can turn the periods during which characters are travelling for an extended time into a slog. but in this case, the pacing felt very smooth. 

the twist was very obvious and some of the character motivations very questionable, thus some points off on my star rating, but this is still a novel that i adored. :)
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