Scan barcode
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
This book was so interesting. I loved how it showed different characters and how they really did change throughout the story. My problem with the book is that when it would switch perspectives there was nothing on the new chapter page telling you that it did. With that it was sometimes hard to follow the characters and some I feel got pushed aside. I can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully see how this ends!
This book was so interesting. I loved how it showed different characters and how they really did change throughout the story. My problem with the book is that when it would switch perspectives there was nothing on the new chapter page telling you that it did. With that it was sometimes hard to follow the characters and some I feel got pushed aside. I can’t wait to read the next book and hopefully see how this ends!
ambeesbookishpages's review against another edition
3.0
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Rating: 2.5 Stars
I met Mimi at BookExpo in 2018 and she is so sweet and amazing (and has some pretty amazing tattoos) and it easily one of my highlights of the conference. But The Girl King has sat on my bookcase since June when in November I finally decided to give The Girl King a try and I made it about 20% before I put it to the side and said I would go back to it. It sucks when you are really excited for a book and then just don't love it. Sadly that was the case with The Girl King. It is beautifully written Asian inspired fantasy that will have you immersed from the first page. But my relationship with this book is: "It's not you, it's me."
The first few chapters I was really intrigued and eager to learn what was going on. Like I said, The Girl King is beautifully written and Mimi did not spare one second on building her characters. Each POV is distinctive and you could just tell by their voice whose POV you were reading from. The world is lush and the traditions are beautiful. Mimi created two sisters who are complete and total opposites and each with motives of their own for wanting the throne.
My biggest problem was that by 50% point of The Girl King nothing much had really happen. Where the book started off nicely with world building that made complete sense, but the halfway mark my head was spinning. This totally might be a me issue and maybe with The Girl King not being the book for me. But this book is almost 500 pages long, so by pretty much 250ish pages I really wasn't sure what was going on. The time frame also jumps a lot, so in Min's POV suddenly a month has passed by but it doesn't seem like that in Lu's POV at times.
Overall I really think The Girl King just wasn't for me and it was more of a me issue then the actual book. I do encourage you to pick this book up because it does contain beautiful writing and it has been loved by so many so far. I am excited to see what Mimi is going to write after The Girl King with all things considered.
Rating: 2.5 Stars
I met Mimi at BookExpo in 2018 and she is so sweet and amazing (and has some pretty amazing tattoos) and it easily one of my highlights of the conference. But The Girl King has sat on my bookcase since June when in November I finally decided to give The Girl King a try and I made it about 20% before I put it to the side and said I would go back to it. It sucks when you are really excited for a book and then just don't love it. Sadly that was the case with The Girl King. It is beautifully written Asian inspired fantasy that will have you immersed from the first page. But my relationship with this book is: "It's not you, it's me."
The first few chapters I was really intrigued and eager to learn what was going on. Like I said, The Girl King is beautifully written and Mimi did not spare one second on building her characters. Each POV is distinctive and you could just tell by their voice whose POV you were reading from. The world is lush and the traditions are beautiful. Mimi created two sisters who are complete and total opposites and each with motives of their own for wanting the throne.
My biggest problem was that by 50% point of The Girl King nothing much had really happen. Where the book started off nicely with world building that made complete sense, but the halfway mark my head was spinning. This totally might be a me issue and maybe with The Girl King not being the book for me. But this book is almost 500 pages long, so by pretty much 250ish pages I really wasn't sure what was going on. The time frame also jumps a lot, so in Min's POV suddenly a month has passed by but it doesn't seem like that in Lu's POV at times.
Overall I really think The Girl King just wasn't for me and it was more of a me issue then the actual book. I do encourage you to pick this book up because it does contain beautiful writing and it has been loved by so many so far. I am excited to see what Mimi is going to write after The Girl King with all things considered.
neresdayn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
thebookishunicorn's review against another edition
4.0
Hot fury lanced her gut. "I wasn't made to torment you," she snarled. "I wasn't made for you at all. I was made for me."
Review to come!
Review to come!
readmoreyall's review against another edition
3.0
Sisters, magic, emperors, betrayal, gods, wolves and more. Fast paced from page one, Girl King is a good read.
classiestcass's review against another edition
3.0
***This review is based off of an advanced uncorrected proof, so elements written about in this review might not be present in the final version***
You’d think Goodreads would’ve implemented half star ratings by now so you wouldn’t have to click on this spoilery review to find out I ideally want to rate this book 3.5 stars. Oh well I guess 🤷♀️
I hadn’t heard about this book until my friend sent me an arc of it as a Christmas present. It intrigued me right away and decided it was going to be the first book I read after the one I had been reading at the time. The prologue was kind of confusing, but I was hooked once we started getting into the meat of the story. Lu is beyond arrogant and entitled and reminded me of people I know in real life that I’m not very fond of. They have everything they want and aren’t afraid to flaunt it.
I suppose that’s not entirely true, considering she had to fight for her right to the throne and that’s what set (heh) all this into motion. I ended up really liking Lu, and watching her grow and change throughout the novel was honestly pretty enjoyable. I feel like a lot of that change is due to Nokhai. His character was satisfying throughout, and only continued to grow even more so by the end. Nok and Lu’s relationship felt almost natural and progressed much in the same way throughout the novel. The only thing I didn’t really like about their relationship was how sudden their kisses happened? There was long term build up, but no short term. One minute they’re just sitting there, the next they’re making out. A lot of the time it feels a little more intense than what it actually is?? I’m not sure, this could just be me.
As much as I loved the book and story, there were some elements that made it kind of hard for me to really lose myself. I feel like there were often little details missing that would’ve helped me better understand what was happening. One example would be the kisses, another would be how much time passes. I forget exactly what it was, but there was something Lu mentioned after they reached Yunis, how her cut had already scarred? And it just really caught me off guard because I legit thought they had only been traveling together for like a week tops at that point. I feel like the passage of time was better displayed in Min’s chapters, but that could possibly be due to the fact that there were probably twice as many Nok and/or Lu chapters than Min ones. I also had no idea Shen died until Lu realized his people were probably going to blame her for his and Vrea’s deaths. Like?? Did I accidentally skim over it? Did I read too fast? Like I honestly had no idea he died and maybe it’s just me, but I’m going to need a few more hints or details to fully follow this book is seems.
Another thing that kept confusing me was Vrea and Tsai. The characters we would come to know as Jin, Shen, and Vrea in the prologue didn’t really pop up much until I had confused that weird spirit inside Min as the woman from the prologue, which obviously she was not. That whole thing confused me too, and I seriously hope it gets resolved/explained in the next book. We know who Tsai was fundamentally, but I’m still not 100% understanding like...why she cursed Min? Sure, Min is the daughter of her lover and his wife and also a competition to Lu’s claim to the throne, but I feel like she would’ve known that her magic or curse would become warped and be Min’s best tools to hurt the daughter she was trying to protect? Not only that but Tsai was described as having a lot of power, or at least that’s the impression I got after hearing her described as like a star in a soap bubble, or whatever it was that they said. Why didn’t Lu receive any of that power? Is it because Tsai gave it up - or at least whatever portion Lu was to inherit - when she cursed Min? It’s all very confusing to me and I can’t make sense of it. I hope it’s clarified in the next book.
Overall, this was a really good book and I’m looking forward to the next installment! Of course I’ve mentioned that like three times already and have no concrete knowledge if there’s actually going to be a second book, but I’m assuming so just based off of how this one ended. That battle was wild though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nok’s “death” was a little weak though, and at this point if I don’t see a dead body, I don’t trust it. So it wasn’t very surprising when he showed up very much alive. Although I AM looking forward to the moment Nok shows up very much alive after or right as Lu is about to marry Jin. I’m just trash for that kind of stuff 🤷♀️ anyway, I thought this book was pretty good (and I’m sure the corrected, final version is much better) and recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of exploring new worlds filled with defiant princesses and action!
You’d think Goodreads would’ve implemented half star ratings by now so you wouldn’t have to click on this spoilery review to find out I ideally want to rate this book 3.5 stars. Oh well I guess 🤷♀️
I hadn’t heard about this book until my friend sent me an arc of it as a Christmas present. It intrigued me right away and decided it was going to be the first book I read after the one I had been reading at the time. The prologue was kind of confusing, but I was hooked once we started getting into the meat of the story. Lu is beyond arrogant and entitled and reminded me of people I know in real life that I’m not very fond of. They have everything they want and aren’t afraid to flaunt it.
I suppose that’s not entirely true, considering she had to fight for her right to the throne and that’s what set (heh) all this into motion. I ended up really liking Lu, and watching her grow and change throughout the novel was honestly pretty enjoyable. I feel like a lot of that change is due to Nokhai. His character was satisfying throughout, and only continued to grow even more so by the end. Nok and Lu’s relationship felt almost natural and progressed much in the same way throughout the novel. The only thing I didn’t really like about their relationship was how sudden their kisses happened? There was long term build up, but no short term. One minute they’re just sitting there, the next they’re making out. A lot of the time it feels a little more intense than what it actually is?? I’m not sure, this could just be me.
As much as I loved the book and story, there were some elements that made it kind of hard for me to really lose myself. I feel like there were often little details missing that would’ve helped me better understand what was happening. One example would be the kisses, another would be how much time passes. I forget exactly what it was, but there was something Lu mentioned after they reached Yunis, how her cut had already scarred? And it just really caught me off guard because I legit thought they had only been traveling together for like a week tops at that point. I feel like the passage of time was better displayed in Min’s chapters, but that could possibly be due to the fact that there were probably twice as many Nok and/or Lu chapters than Min ones. I also had no idea Shen died until Lu realized his people were probably going to blame her for his and Vrea’s deaths. Like?? Did I accidentally skim over it? Did I read too fast? Like I honestly had no idea he died and maybe it’s just me, but I’m going to need a few more hints or details to fully follow this book is seems.
Another thing that kept confusing me was Vrea and Tsai. The characters we would come to know as Jin, Shen, and Vrea in the prologue didn’t really pop up much until I had confused that weird spirit inside Min as the woman from the prologue, which obviously she was not. That whole thing confused me too, and I seriously hope it gets resolved/explained in the next book. We know who Tsai was fundamentally, but I’m still not 100% understanding like...why she cursed Min? Sure, Min is the daughter of her lover and his wife and also a competition to Lu’s claim to the throne, but I feel like she would’ve known that her magic or curse would become warped and be Min’s best tools to hurt the daughter she was trying to protect? Not only that but Tsai was described as having a lot of power, or at least that’s the impression I got after hearing her described as like a star in a soap bubble, or whatever it was that they said. Why didn’t Lu receive any of that power? Is it because Tsai gave it up - or at least whatever portion Lu was to inherit - when she cursed Min? It’s all very confusing to me and I can’t make sense of it. I hope it’s clarified in the next book.
Overall, this was a really good book and I’m looking forward to the next installment! Of course I’ve mentioned that like three times already and have no concrete knowledge if there’s actually going to be a second book, but I’m assuming so just based off of how this one ended. That battle was wild though, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nok’s “death” was a little weak though, and at this point if I don’t see a dead body, I don’t trust it. So it wasn’t very surprising when he showed up very much alive. Although I AM looking forward to the moment Nok shows up very much alive after or right as Lu is about to marry Jin. I’m just trash for that kind of stuff 🤷♀️ anyway, I thought this book was pretty good (and I’m sure the corrected, final version is much better) and recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of exploring new worlds filled with defiant princesses and action!
bluelilyleest's review against another edition
2.0
*Gabriela voice* I've got to move on~
Sigh.
I wanted to like this book so badly, but I can't help feeling like I'm reading a first draft. It's clear that Lu hates her mother, but what has the woman ever done to her? Mimi hates her sister, but we rarely see them interact? Is Omair like a father to Nok or are they merely acquaintances, who can tell? Perhaps the book really lifts of in the second half, but reading shouldn't feel like a chore.
Then again, if someone would've given me this book a couple years ago, I would probably have rated it 5 stars. Dear The Girl King, it's not you, it's me.
Sigh.
I wanted to like this book so badly, but I can't help feeling like I'm reading a first draft. It's clear that Lu hates her mother, but what has the woman ever done to her? Mimi hates her sister, but we rarely see them interact? Is Omair like a father to Nok or are they merely acquaintances, who can tell? Perhaps the book really lifts of in the second half, but reading shouldn't feel like a chore.
Then again, if someone would've given me this book a couple years ago, I would probably have rated it 5 stars. Dear The Girl King, it's not you, it's me.
tani's review against another edition
3.0
I had really hoped that I could be an outlier and absolutely love this book, but alas, it was not to be. I felt like author had good ideas, but there was just something missing from execution. I found most of the characters annoying, and I didn't think that the plot was always consistent with the emotions that should have driven the story. Things that should have been hard ended up easy, completely negating the set-up of the story, and the actions of the characters didn't really match up to what the story was saying, which made the whole thing quite weak. In the end, I was left with a feeling of 'so close, and yet so far.'