Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Legacy of Yangchen by F.C. Yee
4 reviews
pandacosm's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
It's a relief to finally get an Avatar novel by F. C. Yee that has a real happy ending and where friends actually stay loyal and play important parts in the final climactic battle . I have to admit, reading the prior books partly ruined the mood for me all the way through because I kept on expecting betrayals or a tainted, Pyrrhic victory, so the highs of the book couldn't be enjoyed . And this book still has points that I consider unnecessarily dark for the Avatarverse, like literally having a tortured child kill a sky bison and then die himself. Yeah, that happened . It was an interesting book. I'm relieved this is the end of the series.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Sorry if I missed any content warnings. There was a lot of dark stuff as usual.twistedflower2357's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I really really loved this book and couldn't put it down. I'll try not to rehash things I said in my previous review for The Dawn of Yangchen, because I think The Legacy of Yangchen shares or exceeds everything I had to praise about its predecessor. Both Yangchen and Kavik are increased in their complexity, their characterization now even more intrinsically tied to the plot. The way FC Yee poises Chaisee and Kalyaan as Yangchen and Kavik's dark foils, respectively, allows us to really dig into the heart of our protagonists and what drives them. More than ever, Yangchen has to grapple with her humanity and the eternal psychological horror of being the Avatar, condemned to regret mistake after mistake after mistake. Her and Kavik have beautiful arcs and their relationship with each other is even more compelling than it was in the first book.
The worldbuilding is rich, the prose filled with clever in-universe koans, and the limits of bending possibilities are explored with clever, horrifying detail without feeling too permissive (it's easy to get caught up in questions like "can earthbenders bend glass" and "can airbenders bend the air from someone's lungs" without regarding the actual implications these abilities would have on the world). This time, I felt much more favorably towards FC Yee's apparent habit of withholding information from the audience until a later point and layering flashbacks during the finale to reveal information non-chronologically. The pacing flowed better and I enjoyed the feeling of having the rug pulled from under me.
The greatest issue I had with the book is perhaps the most spoiler-ific one.It hurts my heart to say, but I didn't feel like we had enough time to sit with Nujian's death. The pace was so breakneck that it almost felt like a plotpoint left by the wayside, happening for no real reason other than to pile onto the cosmic horrors Yangchen must face as the Avatar. I just wish we could have explored Yangchen's grief across a longer timeframe; there are a few pages of the simply gut-wrenching immediate aftermath from her perspective, a single flashback later on, and little beyond that. Another small issue I had was with "Team Avatar"'s acceptance of Kavik in the end. The huddling scene itself was lovely, but I was disappointed that Jujinta, Tayagum, and Akuudan's forgiveness was given like a joke. I think this conflict was deserving of a serious resolution. But these are, however, relatively minor problems I have. I think the strengths of this book, and this series as a whole, far outshine these issues for me. This is definitely a book I recommend diving into.
The worldbuilding is rich, the prose filled with clever in-universe koans, and the limits of bending possibilities are explored with clever, horrifying detail without feeling too permissive (it's easy to get caught up in questions like "can earthbenders bend glass" and "can airbenders bend the air from someone's lungs" without regarding the actual implications these abilities would have on the world). This time, I felt much more favorably towards FC Yee's apparent habit of withholding information from the audience until a later point and layering flashbacks during the finale to reveal information non-chronologically. The pacing flowed better and I enjoyed the feeling of having the rug pulled from under me.
The greatest issue I had with the book is perhaps the most spoiler-ific one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse and Torture
wooblatoober's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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
4.75
WOW! i was already convinced halfway through the book that this would be one of my favorite books i’ve read. i enjoyed its themes, issues, and characters immensely. yangchen and kavik (and the other characters, as well) all grapple with understandings of family and family dynamics, loyalty, humanity, hope, grips on reality, politics, abuse, manipulation, power, identity, morals, balance, and more.
i loved kavik, and the intricacies and changes surrounding his relationship with yangchen and everybody else. i LOVED the angst. i wanted more, actually.as much as it furthered, the story & important relationships for kavik to choose to be stabbed to fool kalyaan, i was supremely disappointed when i found out he was in on it.
unfortunately, i felt the ending left a little to be desired compared to the rest of the book, which was perfect in my opinion. i can’t put my finger on what’s missing, though.i don’t think it’s the fact that yangchen and kavik didn’t end up canon by the end. i think i actually really enjoyed that aspect.
i deeply enjoyed the politics, sleight of hand, and espionage in comparison to straight bending. yangchen is just too powerful for that to have worked. the mind games made for an incredibly engaging read. on top of that, yee included an interesting new bending technique that’s SUPER HYPE, so i was disappointed to see other reviews ignoring that when discussing how they didn’t like the politics game in comparison to cool new bending ideas.i’m referencing the airbending vacuum that yangchen made into a violent implosion in order to combat combustion bending. that scene against thapa had me FREAKING OUT it was SO COOL. additionally, yee’s introduction to the background of combustion bending is haunting and interesting.
i liked yangchen’s struggle with being haunted by her past lives, especially since i could relate to a struggle with sanity and it was well-done. i think it would have been cool if that had an even more prominent place in the story, especially in her struggles, though it was already pretty prominent anyway i think. i also enjoyed reading about yangchen’s struggle with faith in humanity (because of her relationship with her past lives), and her struggle with morals as an airbender. this book did a great job of showing how many shades of gray everything can be in, especially when you have a strong set of morals you want to be able to stick to and your hands are tied. this is in comparison to kyoshi’s duology, since kyoshi already came thru in ATLA as a character who’s willing to be ruthless, so it wouldn’t affect her moral identity like how it would yangchen. kyoshi’s problem is more if she’s going to win in a battle against others. yangchen’s seems like a problem of if she’s going to win in a battle against herself, and both of those have merit as stories.
lastly, and this is just as a fan, not as an objective reviewer, but i LOVED kavik’s personality, his guilt, how he balanced that with his loyalties, his intelligence, his bending abilities (underrated!!), his humor, and a million other things about him. even as much as i’ve enjoyed everything i’ve mentioned so far, i enjoyed reading kavik more. quite possibly one of my favorite characters of all time.
i loved kavik, and the intricacies and changes surrounding his relationship with yangchen and everybody else. i LOVED the angst. i wanted more, actually.
unfortunately, i felt the ending left a little to be desired compared to the rest of the book, which was perfect in my opinion. i can’t put my finger on what’s missing, though.
i deeply enjoyed the politics, sleight of hand, and espionage in comparison to straight bending. yangchen is just too powerful for that to have worked. the mind games made for an incredibly engaging read. on top of that, yee included an interesting new bending technique that’s SUPER HYPE, so i was disappointed to see other reviews ignoring that when discussing how they didn’t like the politics game in comparison to cool new bending ideas.
i liked yangchen’s struggle with being haunted by her past lives, especially since i could relate to a struggle with sanity and it was well-done. i think it would have been cool if that had an even more prominent place in the story, especially in her struggles, though it was already pretty prominent anyway i think. i also enjoyed reading about yangchen’s struggle with faith in humanity (because of her relationship with her past lives), and her struggle with morals as an airbender. this book did a great job of showing how many shades of gray everything can be in, especially when you have a strong set of morals you want to be able to stick to and your hands are tied. this is in comparison to kyoshi’s duology, since kyoshi already came thru in ATLA as a character who’s willing to be ruthless, so it wouldn’t affect her moral identity like how it would yangchen. kyoshi’s problem is more if she’s going to win in a battle against others. yangchen’s seems like a problem of if she’s going to win in a battle against herself, and both of those have merit as stories.
lastly, and this is just as a fan, not as an objective reviewer, but i LOVED kavik’s personality, his guilt, how he balanced that with his loyalties, his intelligence, his bending abilities (underrated!!), his humor, and a million other things about him. even as much as i’ve enjoyed everything i’ve mentioned so far, i enjoyed reading kavik more. quite possibly one of my favorite characters of all time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War
theuncannydani's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, and Vomit