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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a really pleasant and beautiful read. That said, even considering that this was a middle grade read from an adult’s perspective, I think the book could have been better.
The illustrations were phenomenal. They (along with the brisk chapters) kept me reading. I also appreciated the lovely and succinct stories interspersed throughout.
Unfortunately, the majority of the book is slow and honestly a little too meandering to really bring this book up to something I would heartily recommend. When I got to the end of the book, which is quite powerful and exciting, I realized how much of a snooze the rest of the book was in comparison.
The illustrations were phenomenal. They (along with the brisk chapters) kept me reading. I also appreciated the lovely and succinct stories interspersed throughout.
Unfortunately, the majority of the book is slow and honestly a little too meandering to really bring this book up to something I would heartily recommend. When I got to the end of the book, which is quite powerful and exciting, I realized how much of a snooze the rest of the book was in comparison.
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Another wonderful adventure in Ms Kin’s triple crown of Chinese mythology for middle schoolers & grown ups. I want to share these books with everyone I know
Another beautiful tapestry of stories and pictures from Grace Lin! This intricate book weaves together Chinese folk-tales. Loved it!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Grace Lin has done it again!
This is a fantasy tale for young readers that uses Chinese folklore/mythology to tell the story. As a person who does not know much about this topic, I found this read absolutely fascinating and so much fun.
This is a fantasy tale for young readers that uses Chinese folklore/mythology to tell the story. As a person who does not know much about this topic, I found this read absolutely fascinating and so much fun.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Loved it!
Not much to say really
I may or may not have suffered severely from reading several bad books in a row, and that may or may not have caused me to zone out and completely lose the plot, but that's ok! Lin still managed to enrapture me in the scraps of plot I managed to figure out. XD
Edit:
I will say that upon rereading, some things did stand out to me, especially the writing style. See, this book's plot is based on urgency. The main character's grandmother is captured, and presumably in danger, warranting immediate action. The writing style does not convey a sense of urgency at all. It is very poetic, and filled with similes. I am not well acquainted with writing devices, but one I know of is that successive short sentences convey a sense of urgency. Poetic writing kind of does the opposite of that. It was simply not the place to be poetic. In addition to that, I thought that the use of similes was excessive, and could be varied with some metaphors. Put it this way, if you highlight an entire page, then nothing stands out because everything is highlighted. Also, the subjects of the simile comparisons felt out of place. Again, I am no expert on writing a book at all, but it felt that some similes existed for a wow factor, rather than serving some purpose.
I absolutely loved the use of stories throughout, but its excess also conflicted with the plot's sense of urgency. This definitely weakened the plot as a whole, ignoring the initial purpose for the journey, and focusing on more of the details in between.
The writing style itself is incredibly comforting to me, being a fan of poetic writing, but really clashed with the plot.
Not much to say really
I may or may not have suffered severely from reading several bad books in a row, and that may or may not have caused me to zone out and completely lose the plot, but that's ok! Lin still managed to enrapture me in the scraps of plot I managed to figure out. XD
Edit:
I will say that upon rereading, some things did stand out to me, especially the writing style. See, this book's plot is based on urgency. The main character's grandmother is captured, and presumably in danger, warranting immediate action. The writing style does not convey a sense of urgency at all. It is very poetic, and filled with similes. I am not well acquainted with writing devices, but one I know of is that successive short sentences convey a sense of urgency. Poetic writing kind of does the opposite of that. It was simply not the place to be poetic. In addition to that, I thought that the use of similes was excessive, and could be varied with some metaphors. Put it this way, if you highlight an entire page, then nothing stands out because everything is highlighted. Also, the subjects of the simile comparisons felt out of place. Again, I am no expert on writing a book at all, but it felt that some similes existed for a wow factor, rather than serving some purpose.
I absolutely loved the use of stories throughout, but its excess also conflicted with the plot's sense of urgency. This definitely weakened the plot as a whole, ignoring the initial purpose for the journey, and focusing on more of the details in between.
The writing style itself is incredibly comforting to me, being a fan of poetic writing, but really clashed with the plot.
Absolutely worth the read. Beautiful and fast paced.
AMAZING! I absolutely adored this book I love all of Grace Lin's books because all of them include some sort of Chinese story or message in them. Being Chinese, and knowing most of these stories it is great actually see a full blown book with all of them tied together. Not only do I love the folktales they are like little hints about the actual character's past and where the others came from. It is an absolutely great read that left me turning page after page!