Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

11 reviews

dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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atlantiareads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-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

3.0

This book had a pretty slow start, and I feel like some of the story could have been been edited out. But overall I quite enjoyed the book. Min was a great female lead character and was quite a lovable character.

All in all this book was a fun read that left me wanting to know how Min planned to shape the universe after the events of the book.
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asahome's review against another edition

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2.0

Girl lies to everyone around her without serious consequences and still gets what she wants most in life regardless of how she hurts others.
 
I love learning about new cultures and pantheons. The discussion around the spirits was interesting and I loved the idea of terraforming similar to Earth 2. It makes my little heart pitter patter. A lot of the characteristics were based on Korean beliefs and I have not studied that before.

I liked the stark contrast between the places she's describing. I liked the way the tech operated with flow as it worked well within the story. I struggled a little bit with the term "luck" being applied all over the place. It felt a little arbitrary that everything bad happened because of luck. It made it feel like the characters had no agency.

I liked the representation where, universally, pronouns were displayed to help communication. Min knew to look at the symbol to ensure she spoke to or about someone correctly.

I hated she got what she wanted most while not dealing with fallout from her lies. It didn't matter if she hurt her friends, abandoned her family to clean up her mess, or put the lives of an entire ship in danger. This is not only wrong, but also perpetuates stereotypes about the fox spirits. And her magic has no limits? That doesn't make any sense. She's allowed to engage her magic when she's unconscious and incredibly ill. The only mention she makes of problems with the magic is after holding it for MONTHS without end (a skill she's barely used before now) is a slight tiredness in her bones she hadn't noticed before. Come on! Jun's note was never mentioned nor how it was supposed to communicate something to his family. Then why have the note?
 

Content Warnings by Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee - Book Trigger Warnings 
Representation: 
  • Korean* characters (author openly identifies)
  • Non-binary side character
  • Brief mention of a poly relationship (m/m/m)
 
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wheelygoodreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted reflective medium-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

5.0

Really liked this one. I wasn't expecting the space opera and I liked that twist on a story about kitsune.  It was a little slow at the beginning, but immersive enough that it didn't bother me. I liked Mein's character development, especially considering how rash she was in the beginning. Consequences followed through on actions, which I really appreciated. Generally an interesting story with interesting characters and I'd like to read more about them!
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royalraspberry's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.0

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translove's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

3.75

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sourryebread's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

if you like fantasy, sci-fi, or mythology and folklore elements, this one is for you! I loved this book! The world was so magical and full of adventure. The main character is well written, the book has some unexpected plot twists, and overall I think this is a nice, heart-warming read. Really recommend! <3
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kait_sixcrowsbooks's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Representation:
  • Asian-inspired MC and SCs
  • non-binary SC
  • queer polyamorous SC (as in, a one-liner character. but still)

For it being a short book, a lot happens? But also doesn't? I'm not really sure how to explain it, but the pace throughout seemed a little off to me. And the ending just seemed a bit rushed, too. That aside, however, I really enjoyed Dragon Pearl and wished it was part of a series, so we could get more adventures with Min and her friends! It's a cute book, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes MG SFF and/or Korean mythology.
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tqlikesbooks's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

 
“Seems to me, Min, you make your own luck.”


Dragon Pearl follows thirteen year old min, a gumiho (fox spirit) who wants to join the Space Forces like her older brother Jun. When her family is visited by a man who claims Jun has deserted the forces to track down a powerful item called the dragon pearl, Min is convinced that her brother is innocent and sets out to rescue Jun and clear his name.

This was a great middle-grade adventure that combines coming of age, sci-fi and Korean folklore. I adored learning about all sorts of magical beings and how they operated in this sci-fi world, including: goblin space cadets; terraforming dragon magic; and a wily fox spirt that owns a gambling parlour on a space port. Min is an excellent protagonist who uses her charm and shapeshifting ability in many clever ways in order to find her brother (but inadvertently leaves a trail of destruction in her wake). There is some great representation of non-binary people throughout the worlds in which the story takes place, which I found pretty neat for a children's book!

Overall it's a fun and fast paced story, but something about it fell a little flat for me— the writing was just a little overly simplistic for my tastes. I do love that this kind of children's story exists and I would have adored this as a youngster.

I highly recommend this book for fans of middle-grade fiction. I'm definitely interested enough to check out more of Yoon Ha Lee's adult fiction now.
 
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