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thebookconcierge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
goldie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
kaeli_18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
oh_hellsbells's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written!!! The dual narration is amazing. And the way Chupeco weaves the world of Tea and the asha is beautiful. The pacing is perfect!! Definitely 4.5+
nygaard3's review against another edition
3.5
The idea of the book are great, but it get a bit boring
catpingu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was less punky skeleton than I was expecting, but it still delivers on creating a magical community and outsiders from that community. And also utter young adult vibes. It's not scary, it's not politically-inclined, it has a simple to-the-point world-changing agenda.
<I>Asha</I> are witches revered and feared for their power. There are different types of <I>asha</I>, and most are respected and treated warily, except for one: the bone witches, the ones who can draw upon the power of the Dark, and the ones villified in mythology for turning the world into one that has death and destruction. Tea Pahlavi turns out to be one such witch. And before her neighbors can turn against her and her family, she's whisked away to study with the other <I>ashas</I> in the Willows, where she can learn to control her power.
It's annoying the hoops the <I>ashas</I> and the Deathseekers have to jump through to protect the people who hate them and are scared of them. A silver heartglass is all it takes for the magical ones to be condemned to a lifetime of servitude to placate the regular people. Tea watches as her fellow <I>asha</I> are objectified and manipulated by those in power. Someone keeps trying to kill her, probably to cause more destablization within the <I>asha</I> community and the kingdoms, and even if she's a bone witch, Tea has the right to defend herself.
To be completely honest my synopsis is a lot of flimmy-flammying because all this book did is worldbuilding. The 4 stars is due to the suspense of how the story is going to develop in the later books, so maybe this entire review is actually inaccurate. The narration switches between present and past, where each chapter starts as a flashback told in first person and then the present is like a mini epilogue or bridge to the next chapter and the future. We can have absolutely no idea what's going on in the beginning because we have no context until we have to piece together retrospectives from the present and the lore of the past.
One thing that continues to mess me up is figuring out the geography of all of this. Kion and Odalia are kingdoms mentioned a bunch in the book that I can only infer is because of a bunch of travelling Tea does between the two? And then everyone else is kind of seen as foreign. Like, my understanding of Kion and Odalia is that both are two separate kingdoms like two sides of a coin; similar enough history, but differences in culture and royal lineage. Geography is probably supposed to mean something but it really doesn't. I've tried to understand it with the help of the map and the brief history at the end of the book, even re-reading a bunch of the chapters to understand what's going on and I don't. So I'm going to ignore geography entirely.
The romance is underwhelming because a seventeen-year-old magic geisha can't rely on a guy she likes until she's completed her overwhelming schedule of education and work to pay off her sponsor's generosity. There are a lot of special terms being used in the book that you just have to gloss over and figure out from context clues like <I>asha</I> being a synonym or something for "witch", and <I>hua</I> being a robe or this world's equivalent of a kimono; unique symbols only worn by a particular <I>asha</I>, handmade and gorgeously elegant.
It's fairly unlike a lot of young adult novels out there, but I wouldn't say this is as soul-consuming. The narration style, like [book:Red Sister|25895524] switching between the past and present keeps the intrigue and events moving so I just want to get to the culmination of an inevitable final battle; but unlike Red Sister, I'm not invested at all in the events of the past.
<I>Asha</I> are witches revered and feared for their power. There are different types of <I>asha</I>, and most are respected and treated warily, except for one: the bone witches, the ones who can draw upon the power of the Dark, and the ones villified in mythology for turning the world into one that has death and destruction. Tea Pahlavi turns out to be one such witch. And before her neighbors can turn against her and her family, she's whisked away to study with the other <I>ashas</I> in the Willows, where she can learn to control her power.
It's annoying the hoops the <I>ashas</I> and the Deathseekers have to jump through to protect the people who hate them and are scared of them. A silver heartglass is all it takes for the magical ones to be condemned to a lifetime of servitude to placate the regular people. Tea watches as her fellow <I>asha</I> are objectified and manipulated by those in power. Someone keeps trying to kill her, probably to cause more destablization within the <I>asha</I> community and the kingdoms, and even if she's a bone witch, Tea has the right to defend herself.
To be completely honest my synopsis is a lot of flimmy-flammying because all this book did is worldbuilding. The 4 stars is due to the suspense of how the story is going to develop in the later books, so maybe this entire review is actually inaccurate. The narration switches between present and past, where each chapter starts as a flashback told in first person and then the present is like a mini epilogue or bridge to the next chapter and the future. We can have absolutely no idea what's going on in the beginning because we have no context until we have to piece together retrospectives from the present and the lore of the past.
One thing that continues to mess me up is figuring out the geography of all of this. Kion and Odalia are kingdoms mentioned a bunch in the book that I can only infer is because of a bunch of travelling Tea does between the two? And then everyone else is kind of seen as foreign. Like, my understanding of Kion and Odalia is that both are two separate kingdoms like two sides of a coin; similar enough history, but differences in culture and royal lineage. Geography is probably supposed to mean something but it really doesn't. I've tried to understand it with the help of the map and the brief history at the end of the book, even re-reading a bunch of the chapters to understand what's going on and I don't. So I'm going to ignore geography entirely.
The romance is underwhelming because a seventeen-year-old magic geisha can't rely on a guy she likes until she's completed her overwhelming schedule of education and work to pay off her sponsor's generosity. There are a lot of special terms being used in the book that you just have to gloss over and figure out from context clues like <I>asha</I> being a synonym or something for "witch", and <I>hua</I> being a robe or this world's equivalent of a kimono; unique symbols only worn by a particular <I>asha</I>, handmade and gorgeously elegant.
It's fairly unlike a lot of young adult novels out there, but I wouldn't say this is as soul-consuming. The narration style, like [book:Red Sister|25895524] switching between the past and present keeps the intrigue and events moving so I just want to get to the culmination of an inevitable final battle; but unlike Red Sister, I'm not invested at all in the events of the past.
beckytrev's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
x0megannnlynnn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
nika_7490's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5