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vytran's review
adventurous
funny
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
4.0
rorikae's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
4.5
'The Art of Destiny' by Wesley Chu is a great second book in the War Arts series. After the events of the first book, we get to return to the same set of characters in this book and follow along with their further adventures. As with book one, they deal with their own issues as well as being part of the larger machinations of the world. This installment deals again with Taishi preparing Jian in the war arts, even bringing in some new characters to help out. There is further development of the political situation in this world and some of the characters get pulled into this more directly. It's especially interesting to see how Jian deals with the change of the prophesy since book one. We get some new characters that are a great addition to the story as well as further deepening our understanding of the characters from book one. The ending leaves off in a fascinating place that sets up lots of questions for the next book. I'm excited to see how these characters continue to grow and develop in the third book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Blood, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy and Terminal illness
tschmidt's review against another edition
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
4.5
milili's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-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
5.0
ejclever's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.5
ahollett's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Was hoping for a bit more with story and character developments.
euripus's review against another edition
4.0
I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I don’t know why I procrastinated reading this book for so long. I read this book in 5 days. With my thesis deadline approaching?? I think I was just intimidated by its size.
I don’t know why I procrastinated reading this book for so long. I read this book in 5 days. With my thesis deadline approaching?? I think I was just intimidated by its size.
I flew through this book though. The first 40% took me a bit longer and I needed some warming up, but the last 60%?? Phenomenal.
Although it had been over a year since I read the first book, Chu manages to subtly put in references to The Art of Prophecy that it was easy to remember what happened at the end of the first installment, without it feeling like you were being read out a summary. I feel like part of the reason I was scared to start this chonker was because I felt like so much happened at the end of Prophecy, I just wasn’t sure what… Safe to say that was no issue.
I love Chu’s writing style and story. His writing is so easy to get through, and even though there’s so many story lines going on at once, it’s very easy to distinguish whose story you’re following every chapter, and that without having to put that in the chapter heading.
The last 60% were so good, but that last 15-20% specifically?? I just flew through that. I wanted to continue every moment that I could read, I just needed to know what happened next.
The characters are also all so fleshed out, and even the ones you don’t agree with you live along with and feel pity for in moments needed.
I am very excited for the next installment in this series and hope future me won’t procrastinate the third book as much as I did this one.