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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
4.0
Xiang feels ignored by her mother, treated as a thing to be kept safe rather than a person who can want things and pursue them competently. She's been surrounded by people paid to teach her and keep her safe, part of a village where she's free to roam to hills and read, but is kept away from anything more adventurous. Her prized possession is a pendant from her presumed-dead father. When her mother agrees to let her try to learn one aspect of the business, it appears as though her mother might finally take her seriously. Instead her mother keeps trying to arrange a marriage for Xiang, a prospect which feels stifling. She meets Anh, a sailor, and feels close to her almost immediately, but takes longer to realize just how different their perspectives are, due to their vastly different life experiences. When she runs away and joins Anh's crew she finds a place where she is valued for what she does and for how she fits into a larger whole.
The worldbuilding leans into a heady mix of clothing, food, and legends of the Dragon Queen's exploits from decades ago. Once she's on the ship, Xiang works to learn as much as she can and revels in the feeling of getting stronger from daily work. There's an emphasis on found family, and in untangling the difference between where you come from and where you feel at home.
I enjoyed this both on its own and as a retelling of Treasure Island. You don't need to be familiar with the original, as this takes the bones of that other story and clads them in something wonderful and new. The ending is tense and dramatic, I like how it wraps things up.
The worldbuilding leans into a heady mix of clothing, food, and legends of the Dragon Queen's exploits from decades ago. Once she's on the ship, Xiang works to learn as much as she can and revels in the feeling of getting stronger from daily work. There's an emphasis on found family, and in untangling the difference between where you come from and where you feel at home.
I enjoyed this both on its own and as a retelling of Treasure Island. You don't need to be familiar with the original, as this takes the bones of that other story and clads them in something wonderful and new. The ending is tense and dramatic, I like how it wraps things up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Drug use, and Child abuse
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