Reviews with content warning for Death - Phoenix Extravagant

One of the things I like about Fantasy Book Club is how many different types of fantasy book we read. I don’t think I’ve ever run across one where the main character was an artist before, and I probably wouldn’t have picked up Phoenix Extravagant just from the blurb if I didn’t have the extra incentive of a discussion to look forward to.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel Yoon Ha Lee completely delivered on the promise of Jebi as an artist. Painting was certainly an activity that they did on multiple occasions, and once or twice it was mentioned that they doodled even when they weren’t ‘on the clock’, but I never really felt that Jebi had any great passion for art, even though they went to some lengths to make it their profession. This was a symptom of a larger problem with Phoenix Extravagantin that there was too much telling and not enough showing. As a reader, I was told that Jebi loved art, or that they were sad or afraid or passionate, but I was never really made to feel it.

What Phoenix Extravagant did do well, however, was world building. Ironically, this isn’t something I’m usually as interested in as other book club members, but I really liked the detail Yoon Ha Lee worked into this novel. His take on dragons was particularly cool, fusing elements that I’ve previously encountered in The Bone Shard Daughter and Witchsign into something new and different. That said, the more celestial side of things didn’t gel with me to the same degree.

Although it was only okay, I’m still glad that I read Phoenix Extravagant, especially because Arazi might be my favourite individual fantasy dragon in recent years!

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective 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

5.0

PHOENIX EXTRAVAGANT is thoughtful and deliberate, featuring a character who gradually finds themselves as part of a revolution. Not through some showy event, but through a conviction that a particular thing cannot be allowed to stand, that it pains them at their core, and hurts their community now and into the future. It's emotionally complex, leaving room for different people to have different hurts and allegiances in a world where not everyone oppressed is on the side of the oppressed. Also there's a mechanical dragon, which is great.

The worldbuilding is very focused on what Jebi thinks about and specifically what affects them. This means there are a lot of discussions of their interpersonal ties, and what they think about art in the context of occupation and conquest. I like the tight focus, it means that whatever's brought up is detailed, well-constructed, and either emotionally or factually important to the narrative. What Jebi thinks is important enough to explain tells as much about their world as what they slowly realize they'd never thought of before.

The romantic relationship is well-conveyed, fitting naturally into the narrative and then slowly forming a new emotional goal, as Jebi moves from simply trying to have enough money to survive, to having a person they want to live with and for. Arazi fills some of this emotional space, but its ties to Jebi are of a very different (but very important) nature.

I wish there were a sequel in this world (the ending certainly leaves just enough room for it), but it does feel complete enough to be a stopping point.

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martinatan's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Here’s my jumble of thoughts upon finishing Phoenix Extravagant: I was really excited about the concept of this book but I hit a point about two thirds of the way through where I started to dread the direction of the story. The ending turned out unsatisfying and for some reason I did not really enjoy where the message and conclusion landed. I felt the magic system was quite shallow even though I really liked the setting and the focus on art. The pacing was also quite shaky and the plot moved a lot faster than I anticipated. At the same time, I often felt some included scenes were unnecessary while other pivotal moments were glossed over in favor of somewhat distracted passages that diverted my attention from a throughline. I was also confused by the main character’s internal monologue and could not get a handle on their convictions and values, or their approach and ideology in their life. There were times they seemed to use humor but this didn’t feel consistent throughout the narration. I feel as if the author could have thought more about the pacing and overall tone of the novel as it came off as scattered and uneven.

Overall I found the non-Western-centric culture and history of Hwaguk and Razan as well as the main characters’ profiles to be interesting and a breath of fresh air in contemporary fantasy. I also appreciated how integrated queer characters and relationships were in the story although, since so much else of the world in the book reflected our current society—namely some conventions that characters held about love, ancestry, and family—I wondered whether it was appropriate to have such a lack of in-universe discrimination towards LGBT characters. I still like the book for the representation it offered but there were too many things that did not sit right with me for me to rave about the reading experience.

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lucystolethesky's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense 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? No

4.0

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daisyandherbooks's review

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adventurous medium-paced

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

4.0

🐉 Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🐉

Jebi a painter, finds themselves jobless and has to turn to their people’s enemy - the Razanei - who occupied their country, for work. Jebi works for the government by painting mystical sigils on the automaton soldiers masks which animate them. Jebi also has to help fix the dragon automaton Arazi for the leaders. But Jebi uncovers the horror of what the Razeni government has done, and plans to help the dragon - a pacifist - to escape.

What I liked:
✨Jebi is non binary
✨ There is a queer romance
✨World was super interesting
✨Arazi the talking dragon was my FAVE!!
✨The integration of art, war, rebellion and politics merged into one made the plot really interesting and you wanted to know what happened next.
✨Set up nicely for the next book in the series
✨Poetic writing style

What I disliked:
✨At the beginning there was lots of world building, and so it confused me at first - but is the same with any epic fantasy book (especially the first in the series)
✨Lots of characters were introduced at once, and was difficult to keep track of them.

Overall I’m really excited to see what happens in the next book! This story was really interesting and I’d reccomend to anyone who likes Leigh bardugo or books about technology, with a hint of rebellion on the side!

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foreverinastory's review

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adventurous 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

4.0

Finally read this 6 months later than I intended to!

Rep: Nonbinary queer BIPOC MC (asian coded), biracial queer love interest, bisexual female side character, BIPOC cast of characters, queer-normative world.

CWs: Blood, confinement (to rooms/cell), death, murder, sexual content, torture, violence, grief, xenophobia.

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amandaquotidianbooks's review

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adventurous reflective relaxing fast-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

4.0

I loved the first third so much! Seeing the slow unveiling of the world, enjoying Jebi’s perspective, hearing about art... the second two thirds were paced much more quickly and involved more action and tension. I would have preferred a slower paced novel. However, I loved the historical, Asian (Vietnamese) second world fantasy, the nonbinary and bisexual representation, and unique mythology and magic system. If there is a sequel, I will be reading it!

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nikolas_fox's review

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adventurous emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

4.5

This book was so great for so many reasons. All the characters felt SO real and I can't say I ever expected to fall in love with a mechanical dragon, but here we are. This book explored the realities of war in a very real way while looking through a viewpoint not of a soldier, but an artist. The representation in here was also amazing and not a plot point, but just was. And that was amazing.

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