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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
damn. DAMN. DAMN!!!!! my expectations were so high. ok maybe too high because everyone i know with similar book tastes likes me loved this. and instead i got an average reading experience :(( plus trans historical rep???? HELLO???? how can i not stan. but alas i just enjoyed myself, and that’s kinda it. actually at times i did get bored. but for the most part i had a good time.
for me the biggest thing boring me was ouyang. i actually couldn’t stand his POV. the fact his motives were very muddy to me, he really had no personality except for revenge, he was two-dimensional, and lowkey pathetic didn’t endear me to him. i found his plot almost like a waste of time, especially since historically i know how zhu’s plot turns out (roughly), so therefore i have a vague idea how basically everything ouyang was doing was pointless. and i mean the stuff he was doing to further his own agenda… i respect it but because i don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish im sitting here just waiting for zhu’s POV. i didn’t care for a single character or plot line in ouyang’s POV. it felt like filler almost for me (ik it wasn’t) because it was filling my time until i got back to zhu. ouyang felt more like a plot device or symbolism than an actual character, therefore i couldn’t give a flying fuck about him.
my feelings on zhu’s POV are… complicated. the first part with her family? absolutely adored. her time in the monastery? super engaging to me and interesting. from there i found the plot to be a bit meh but i’d bonded enough to zhu to not mind being slightly bored by the plot. but by part 3…. i hated that dumb motherfucker. ok zhu isn’t dumb but like. i hated them (her? him? i’m gonna stick with they/them pronouns from now on because lowkey i don’t know which one is “correct”…) and all their decisions made in this part. i hated them doing ma dirty, i hated them gaining power, i hated how their character changed, i hated IT. hate is a strong word but really i did not love it at all. the book would’ve easily been a 4-star but i couldn’t stand part 3 so much it shoved an entire star off. anyways i need to stop being a hater and go back to ma. she is the one good thing all throughout this book. ma i love you. you deserved better, and will always deserve better even if you were given the world. my girl never did anything wrong in my eyes. she felt like the most developed character minus zhu. i mean honestly other than zhu and ma… everyone else was flat as hell. but then when i started disliking zhu i only had baby girl to look forward to. even then though i don’t adore her as i do other book characters. i just adore her compared to every other snooze character in this book.
the plot itself was… meh. idk this entire book was just war, which i mean is fine but the politics were beyond my grasp, leaving me either bored or confused. i will say there were a few moments that i really liked and that stand out to me even now plot-wise, for example what happened to little guo and changhan as well as zhu v ouyang, but other than that…. another snoozefest for me. this wasn’t helped because every other character minus zhu and ma was written with the depth of a kiddie pool.
i really wanted to like this. i liked the concept, but the execution was… not my cup of tea. too tedious, too boring, and too shallow for me 😔
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury
adventurous
reflective
slow-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:
Complicated
Strong character development:
Yes
multiple pov, some I liked less than other so it seemed longer at times
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, War
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The last chapter kind of killed me and broke my heart but this is such a brilliant and fantastical book. 9.75/10
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to love this so badly, and for some parts I did. The characters were all compelling, and I adored Zhu’s journey to greatness. The darkness of it was fascinating and kept me intrigued even when the book dragged. I wasn’t a fan of the intense amount of military ongoings, which was a major part of the plot. That being said, I think if you’re someone who enjoys grand sweeping battles and political intrigue, then this would be the perfect book for you.
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy bananas. If you want complicated characters, characters you find yourself rooting for despite the fact that they’re unquestionably terrible people, and laser-sharp focus on gender and queering fantasy — this is the book for you. Chinese history reimagined as an incredibly fantasy determined by fate, desire, and willingness to transgress boundaries in order to seize greatness.
The only problem? It came out last week, and I think I might die waiting for the sequel to be published.
The only problem? It came out last week, and I think I might die waiting for the sequel to be published.