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madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Medical content, Misogyny, War, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Blood, and Torture
Moderate: Alcohol
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
… I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed at the turn this romance took.
The plot was otherwise exquisite, if a little trite bc of the dad thing. The stakes were high, the battles and magic were fun: small details from the first book pulled into large plot points in this one; all good stuff. Xingyin’s narrative voice was a bit more grating in this one, but to be fair she’s dealing with a lot. Tan knows how to truly fill 500 pages with riveting content and a lot of authors should be taking notes!
That being said, the romantic subplot was 100% death as redemption bullshit. Wenzhi’s entire char this book was “im so sorry I violated your human rights, caused you immense pain, and tried to lock you into a relationship. I’m going to harass you every day until you forgive me” ?????? it’s been a minute since I read the last book but ultimately I thought Xingyin had learned her lesson about how little he seemed to respect her opinions when it came to something he wanted??? like what the fuck kind of “oh but he LOVES me” handwaving??? Sure, he risked his life for her a ton in this book…as he should have, as payment for literally trying to imprison her!!… how is that a declaration of love? He dies and Xingyin just… magically realizes she does forgive him, despite being torn apart about it the whole 500 pages? The turmoil was pretty realistic up until that point, then it felt like a switch was flipped bc of a grand gesture. it was so forced I can’t even wrap my head around it. If this was going to be the outcome, it could’ve been much more organic than “maybe i don’t hate him… let’s kiss… okay let’s spend the rest of our lives together”
And don’t get me wrong I wasn’t rooting for Liwei by any means, he is extremely oblivious to Xingyins feelings in this book and did not at all need to be the endgame. Also, his being the secondary love interest was telegraphed a while back. Personally, neither of these men redeemed themselves enough to deserve Xingyin, but I guess the author had to choose one to avoid pissing off the romance-obsessed camp?
I can’t put my finger on why this felt like such a letdown. Maybe because Xingyin was such a strong, independent character in the last book, fighting for her family and her home; here it feels like her story ends with her waiting for scraps of a guy who very easily manipulated her for months (years?) and then fucked her over, with very little atonement or time alone …. it could’ve at least been a slower burn so it didn’t feel so foolish for her to jump into waiting for him as a mortal… eh. this is the second sequel to a beloved book that disappointed me this year, maybe it’s a me problem
The plot was otherwise exquisite, if a little trite bc of the dad thing. The stakes were high, the battles and magic were fun: small details from the first book pulled into large plot points in this one; all good stuff. Xingyin’s narrative voice was a bit more grating in this one, but to be fair she’s dealing with a lot. Tan knows how to truly fill 500 pages with riveting content and a lot of authors should be taking notes!
That being said, the romantic subplot was 100% death as redemption bullshit. Wenzhi’s entire char this book was “im so sorry I violated your human rights, caused you immense pain, and tried to lock you into a relationship. I’m going to harass you every day until you forgive me” ?????? it’s been a minute since I read the last book but ultimately I thought Xingyin had learned her lesson about how little he seemed to respect her opinions when it came to something he wanted??? like what the fuck kind of “oh but he LOVES me” handwaving??? Sure, he risked his life for her a ton in this book…as he should have, as payment for literally trying to imprison her!!… how is that a declaration of love? He dies and Xingyin just… magically realizes she does forgive him, despite being torn apart about it the whole 500 pages? The turmoil was pretty realistic up until that point, then it felt like a switch was flipped bc of a grand gesture. it was so forced I can’t even wrap my head around it. If this was going to be the outcome, it could’ve been much more organic than “maybe i don’t hate him… let’s kiss… okay let’s spend the rest of our lives together”
And don’t get me wrong I wasn’t rooting for Liwei by any means, he is extremely oblivious to Xingyins feelings in this book and did not at all need to be the endgame. Also, his being the secondary love interest was telegraphed a while back. Personally, neither of these men redeemed themselves enough to deserve Xingyin, but I guess the author had to choose one to avoid pissing off the romance-obsessed camp?
I can’t put my finger on why this felt like such a letdown. Maybe because Xingyin was such a strong, independent character in the last book, fighting for her family and her home; here it feels like her story ends with her waiting for scraps of a guy who very easily manipulated her for months (years?) and then fucked her over, with very little atonement or time alone …. it could’ve at least been a slower burn so it didn’t feel so foolish for her to jump into waiting for him as a mortal… eh. this is the second sequel to a beloved book that disappointed me this year, maybe it’s a me problem
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and War
Moderate: Misogyny
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