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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
informative
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
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Things I loved about this book: learning about Chinese history, the video game references, the anime-like powers, the tongue-in-cheek humour, the immigrant story. This is Xiran Jay Zhao all the way. As fun as the plot was, I did find myself wishing for more character depth, and the sheer number of characters and powers started to confuse me after a while. If you like heavy worldbuilding and a lot of fun myths and information thrown at you, you'll enjoy this!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Zachary Yang actively avoided his Chinese heritage. He threw the lunches his mom made for him in the trash and heavily avoided anything that would remind his fellow students that he was different. However, the knowledge of Chinese history and mythology suddenly became a lot more important when the spirit of his ancestor, the tyrannical first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang attempted to possess him. Stubbornly, Zachary managed to resist him and the emperor ended up inside of his AR gaming headset. A new student tells him that he needs to go to China to fix the seal preventing the spirits of the underworld from escaping, but Zachary refuses to go to the place that killed his father. When his mother's soul is taken by demons, he reluctantly agrees to go to China, where he and two others possessed by emperors must heist famous artefacts and battle figures from Chinese history and mythology, while figuring out the emperor's water dragon powers, all in order to save his mother and the world.
This is truly a middle grade novel- the main character is 12 and the book is definitely aimed towards younger teens. However, I still really enjoyed this book. Xiran Jay Zhao manages what Rick Riordan only touched at with Ethan Nakamura. Over the course of the book, Zachary must grapple with the concept of good and evil and that no one is truly one or the other. The "good guys" aren't necessarily moral and the "bad guys" may have some good points. This book really focuses on the character of Zachary and does not give the side characters a lot of development beyond their main personality traits and end goals, which does allow the book to really focus on Zachary's conflicts and growth, but does make for some slightly less interesting other characters.
I would fully recommend this book to anyone who loves Percy Jackson, Chinese mythology and history, and diverse stories. Zachary is not just a first generation Chinese immigrant, but also Muslim and gay. What's not to love?
Thank you to Netgalley for this title in exchange for an honest review.
This is truly a middle grade novel- the main character is 12 and the book is definitely aimed towards younger teens. However, I still really enjoyed this book. Xiran Jay Zhao manages what Rick Riordan only touched at with Ethan Nakamura. Over the course of the book, Zachary must grapple with the concept of good and evil and that no one is truly one or the other. The "good guys" aren't necessarily moral and the "bad guys" may have some good points. This book really focuses on the character of Zachary and does not give the side characters a lot of development beyond their main personality traits and end goals, which does allow the book to really focus on Zachary's conflicts and growth, but does make for some slightly less interesting other characters.
I would fully recommend this book to anyone who loves Percy Jackson, Chinese mythology and history, and diverse stories. Zachary is not just a first generation Chinese immigrant, but also Muslim and gay. What's not to love?
Thank you to Netgalley for this title in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
This book was amazing! It was such a fast read. The combination of Chinese history, sci-fi elements and puns made me turn one page after another. It was truly hard to put this book down. Eventhough it's a middle grade book it got me to reflect upon so many things, such as heroes also being villains. I can't wait to read more about Zachary's story!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Blood
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Genocide, Kidnapping
adventurous
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Complicated
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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
I should preface this review by saying that I'm not the intended audience for this book, so bear that in mind.
I love a good middle grade book. It's so wonderful to be able to return to the stories that I loved as a kid, full of epic adventures and friendships forged through life-or-death battles. And I loved Xiran Jay Zhao's other book, Iron Widow, so I was hoping this one would also be really enjoyable. However - this book just didn't really hit for me. For some reason I felt that even though the plot was interesting and the worldbuilding and magic system was super cool, I just could not bring myself to enjoy this book all that much. I had to force myself to pick it up and finish it.
I think that the incredibly interesting historical figures make the main trio seem a little dull in comparison, and the ending seemed a bit too fast-paced for me. We were given very little time to sit with and digest the events of the climax before launching straight into the cliffhanger ending, and the last ~50 or so pages seemed very rapid in comparison to the rest of the book's pacing. I also think that the writing stagnated a bit in places, and strayed a bit into "telling" territory instead of "showing". But the parts that dragged were uncommon enough for me to overlook it as a whole. I loved both the magic system and the use of Chinese culture and myths in such a dynamic and interesting way, and the final battle was pretty epic. But something about this book was just not that enjoyable for me.
So while I loved both the use of Chinese history and the magic system in this book, I don't think I enjoyed it enough to pick up a sequel, should one ever be written (which I assume it will, given the cliffhanger ending).
I love a good middle grade book. It's so wonderful to be able to return to the stories that I loved as a kid, full of epic adventures and friendships forged through life-or-death battles. And I loved Xiran Jay Zhao's other book, Iron Widow, so I was hoping this one would also be really enjoyable. However - this book just didn't really hit for me. For some reason I felt that even though the plot was interesting and the worldbuilding and magic system was super cool, I just could not bring myself to enjoy this book all that much. I had to force myself to pick it up and finish it.
I think that the incredibly interesting historical figures make the main trio seem a little dull in comparison, and the ending seemed a bit too fast-paced for me. We were given very little time to sit with and digest the events of the climax before launching straight into the cliffhanger ending, and the last ~50 or so pages seemed very rapid in comparison to the rest of the book's pacing. I also think that the writing stagnated a bit in places, and strayed a bit into "telling" territory instead of "showing". But the parts that dragged were uncommon enough for me to overlook it as a whole. I loved both the magic system and the use of Chinese culture and myths in such a dynamic and interesting way, and the final battle was pretty epic. But something about this book was just not that enjoyable for me.
So while I loved both the use of Chinese history and the magic system in this book, I don't think I enjoyed it enough to pick up a sequel, should one ever be written (which I assume it will, given the cliffhanger ending).