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kindra_demi's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Review content warning: suicide (mentioned in the spoiler section)
I was so excited going into this book because of the premise of it. Chosen one but something got messed up and he isn't the chosen one? It sounded so interesting to me! And I will give that the plot ideas are great, but the execution failed.
My biggest complaint is the fact the one thought that gets the entire ball rolling for Jian and Taishi is based on (the following is a vague spoiler of what starts Jian and Taishi journey)a false sense of security from sloppy politicians. If the dukes really did their work, they would know that the Eternal Khan will reincarnate and if Jian still has any form of power or influence as the prophecy originally said, then killing him doesn't make sense. And if he doesn't have power or influence, even staging his death to look like an accident/suicide, the people of the Tiandi religion wouldn't want to listen to the dukes and would rather go find their next prophecy child when the Eternal Khan returned.
If you ever want to read a story written with heavy influence of toxic masculinity, this is the book for you. In the beginning it did make sense, our main character Jian was trained by several different masters and had the world catered to him because he was the Hero of Prophecy. He wasn't even allowed to be scratched, so yeah it makes sense that there is going to be extreme levels of arrogance when you think the entire world is below you. But there comes a certain point where you should see a change and some growth from the characters and you don't. The characters fell flat. The women could only be strong or damsels in distress, no in between. Everyone was the best and the strongest, until they weren't. And even when they weren't, they still somehow were?
Many times it felt as if the author was just trying to hit a word count because there would be descriptions or comments that were repeated throughout the chapters for no reason or he would use certain words in an attempt to sound smart, but really it just took me out of the story so I could see what the word meant.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was so excited going into this book because of the premise of it. Chosen one but something got messed up and he isn't the chosen one? It sounded so interesting to me! And I will give that the plot ideas are great, but the execution failed.
My biggest complaint is the fact the one thought that gets the entire ball rolling for Jian and Taishi is based on (the following is a vague spoiler of what starts Jian and Taishi journey)
If you ever want to read a story written with heavy influence of toxic masculinity, this is the book for you. In the beginning it did make sense, our main character Jian was trained by several different masters and had the world catered to him because he was the Hero of Prophecy. He wasn't even allowed to be scratched, so yeah it makes sense that there is going to be extreme levels of arrogance when you think the entire world is below you. But there comes a certain point where you should see a change and some growth from the characters and you don't. The characters fell flat. The women could only be strong or damsels in distress, no in between. Everyone was the best and the strongest, until they weren't. And even when they weren't, they still somehow were?
Many times it felt as if the author was just trying to hit a word count because there would be descriptions or comments that were repeated throughout the chapters for no reason or he would use certain words in an attempt to sound smart, but really it just took me out of the story so I could see what the word meant.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Death, and War
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Bullying
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