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melliedm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“Do not ask how many people you will save. Ask, To what world will you save them? What world[…]is worth surviving in?”
An excellent anti-imperialist YA fantasy. Easily the best YA I’ve read in a long time. I had started to think maybe I no longer enjoyed YA, but it turns out I was just waiting for a book like this.
Tarisai was born for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the emperor’s son, and end the imperial line. To do so, she will first have to love him and enter his trusted circle. But are our children just malleable tools for our machinations, or people capable of seeing different futures?
This book manages to avoid some of the most overdone tropes in the genre whilst using others with absolute grace. The characters are varied and well-written, each with their own ideals and desires. The plot feels intentional and the results hard-won, and not a given simply because “it’s gotta have a beginning middle and end”
My only problem with this book, and the reason for the docking of .25 stars, is the weird as heck relationship between two side characters. I won’t spoil much, but one of the characters is established to be around 20 at the beginning of the book, when the main character is around 12. The other side character is described to be about the same age as the main character. So when the main character is 16, we have a 24 year old side character developing a romance with a 16 year old side character? What? Did I misread something? Did I misunderstand the timeline? It made me extremely uncomfortable. But it’s such a small part of the book and something I could ignore with relative ease, so I don’t think this one strange aspect detracts from the rest of the book’s beauty.
An excellent anti-imperialist YA fantasy. Easily the best YA I’ve read in a long time. I had started to think maybe I no longer enjoyed YA, but it turns out I was just waiting for a book like this.
Tarisai was born for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the emperor’s son, and end the imperial line. To do so, she will first have to love him and enter his trusted circle. But are our children just malleable tools for our machinations, or people capable of seeing different futures?
This book manages to avoid some of the most overdone tropes in the genre whilst using others with absolute grace. The characters are varied and well-written, each with their own ideals and desires. The plot feels intentional and the results hard-won, and not a given simply because “it’s gotta have a beginning middle and end”
My only problem with this book, and the reason for the docking of .25 stars, is the weird as heck relationship between two side characters. I won’t spoil much, but one of the characters is established to be around 20 at the beginning of the book, when the main character is around 12. The other side character is described to be about the same age as the main character. So when the main character is 16, we have a 24 year old side character developing a romance with a 16 year old side character? What? Did I misread something? Did I misunderstand the timeline? It made me extremely uncomfortable. But it’s such a small part of the book and something I could ignore with relative ease, so I don’t think this one strange aspect detracts from the rest of the book’s beauty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicidal thoughts
whiteraven191's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape
seilahuh's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.5
im not saying anything that hasn't already been said in that adequate characterization was so nonexistent nothing made sense, especially that everyone somehow knew she was a raybearer even though there was no way for anybody to know especially not us readers because there was little focus on foreshadowing this reveal. the pacing is way off, and the inconsistencies with age and the underage gap relationship is just disgusting. the main romantic plot was so underdeveloped that we really could've gone without it because there was already so much, too much to focus on that detracted from the story.
the lady's past, what exactly tarisai was, the mission to kill dayo, songland and the redemptors, sanjeet and his past, and the big theme of self-determination positioned against themes of systemic change. and all in just like 350 pages, it's not enough for the content. so much of it, if not all of it, was not fleshed out right, all forced in like an overpacked suitcase. even dayo's asexual admission was clunky and nonessential because the love-triangle (?) romance with sanjeet subplot fell through as the dynamics of the council were rarely explored on screen. we never get to see their relationships grow nor hear ourselves the whispers of dayo and tarisai being perfectly matched for the admission to make a dent, and the later reveal that they were cousins was just. . . something had to give!
i wanted to love it like everyone else did, but there's nothing i can find to care for because from the technical elements to the political implications of devising a story around a corrupt empire that should fall into obsolescence, and creating a character to rehabilitate the image of it as if she can simply erase its capital, continuous crimes, mind you, by being a girlboss in charge cause that was the issue apparently and not the thousands of children it sacrificed. . .it's nothing about that story i can love when it's so incredibly hollow (especially the supposed lgbtq+ rep).
so it gets 1.5 stars 🙂
the lady's past, what exactly tarisai was, the mission to kill dayo, songland and the redemptors, sanjeet and his past, and the big theme of self-determination positioned against themes of systemic change. and all in just like 350 pages, it's not enough for the content. so much of it, if not all of it, was not fleshed out right, all forced in like an overpacked suitcase. even dayo's asexual admission was clunky and nonessential because the love-triangle (?) romance with sanjeet subplot fell through as the dynamics of the council were rarely explored on screen. we never get to see their relationships grow nor hear ourselves the whispers of dayo and tarisai being perfectly matched for the admission to make a dent, and the later reveal that they were cousins was just. . . something had to give!
i wanted to love it like everyone else did, but there's nothing i can find to care for because from the technical elements to the political implications of devising a story around a corrupt empire that should fall into obsolescence, and creating a character to rehabilitate the image of it as if she can simply erase its capital, continuous crimes, mind you, by being a girlboss in charge cause that was the issue apparently and not the thousands of children it sacrificed. . .it's nothing about that story i can love when it's so incredibly hollow (especially the supposed lgbtq+ rep).
so it gets 1.5 stars 🙂
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury
micaela_ru's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Incest and Sexual content
genny's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.25
It's a little hard for me to review this as it's been about 2 months since I finished it and I barely took down any notes...but I do know that I enjoyed it! The prose was engaging and the audiobook narrator (Joniece Abbott-Pratt) did a great job of bringing multiple characters to life. I loved the vivid settings. I went into this expecting a very popular trope to drive the story (enemies to lovers) but what I got was completely different - in a good way! I liked the found family aspect, though we didn't see enough of Dayo's council to make their love for each other completely believable. As Tarisai spent most of her time only with select members of the council, I often forgot just how many of them supposedly lived together and cared for each other. There also came a point when I felt that Tar had gotten too slow on picking up obvious clues...it dragged the story as you're waiting for her to figure out what you already did ages go. And the blossoming Kirah and Woo In romance made me uncomfortable because of the age gap, considering one of 'em is a minor. 😬
All that said, it's a worthwhile read and it proved to me that there's still space for fresh, unique stories in YA fantasy. I dove into the sequel immediately after finishing this :)
All that said, it's a worthwhile read and it proved to me that there's still space for fresh, unique stories in YA fantasy. I dove into the sequel immediately after finishing this :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape
bookishbette's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
Genuinely one of the most interesting and imaginitive worlds I've ever come across. Truly a top tier story, and a guidepost for anyone who wants to write or read intersectional, original stories. The only issue I have with any of it is a relationship between a girl around 16/17 and a man about ten years older tha her, but I absolutely could have misinterpreted their ages and it's barely covered in this anyway. Other than that, I absolutely adored it. I checked it out from my library to read, and you can bet it'll be on my shelf as soon as I get a chance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy