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spacerkip's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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.)
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Blood and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Drug use, Misogyny, and Sexism
yourbookishbff's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death, Murder, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Rep: sapphic Chinese MC, sapphic Vietnamese LI, Chinese SCs, Vietnamese SCs, Muslim (?) Nepalese SC, Thai SC, Korean SC
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Drug use, Excrement, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Animal death
Moderate: drowning Minor: loss of a loved one, theft, gambling, colourismtalonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Gun violence, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Kidnapping
Minor: Lesbophobia, Drug use, War, Misogyny, Sexism, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Animal death, and Alcohol
imaginingly's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Blood
plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Representation:
- sapphic Chinese protagonist
- sapphic Vietnamese love interest
- full Asian cast (includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Nepalese, Korean, Thai & Arabic rep)
- sapphic main couple
- achillean side couple
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia
Contains three instances of parent death—one prior to the story but mentioned throughout, two on-page. Also contains discussions of homophobia in a historical context.beholderess's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Homophobia
hannahs_library_'s review
- 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
Moderate: Death of parent
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Blood and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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