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Reviews tagging 'Death'

Sötét, ​édes bájital by Judy I. Lin

58 reviews

adventurous dark sad 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: Complicated

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adventurous dark sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes

It was alright. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book and the conclusion of the story felt a little rushed and anticlimactic to me. It wasn't a very satisfying end to the story. Although,
I thought the part where Lady An pulled the centipede from Ning's arm was an amazing reveal. I enjoyed the Bamboo Forest, too.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Writing: 3.5⭐️/5 
I’m torn on this one. Some of the passages were beautifully crafted, little snippets of perfectly crafted prose. Then, at other times, the writing (and grammar) was jilted and murky, their disjointedness making it hard to follow the simplest of moments. Lin also has a tendency to use sentence fragments and, while that can add to certain scenes, it often read more like a mistake, and less like an intentional choice. This jarringness really marred the otherwise lovely writing. So, if you’re picking up this novel, expect both fine and poor prose to appear. 

Characters: 4.5⭐️/5
The characters were the highlight of the novel, along with several poetic passages that I thoroughly enjoyed. Like the first novel in this series, the characters were loveable and believable, helping to keep me engaged when the plot and writing were pulling me out of the story.

Plot: 3.75⭐️/5 
The second half of the plot was infinitely stronger than the first portion of the book. While the first book ended with a great amount of tension and intrigue, the second book felt like it was actively working to slow down the momentum of the plot. It became a bit of a chore to read through the first 150 or so pages, but once the story got going it was an easy read. 

Who Should Read This Book? 
  • Those who read the first

Content Warnings? 
War, blood, poison, death

Post-Reading Rating:  5⭐️/5

Final Rating: 3.75⭐️/5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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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: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark 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

I received this eARC from NetGalley but all thoughts are my own. 

This picks up straight after the events of A Magic Steeped in Poison. I don't want to spoil that for anyone that hasn't read it so I'll keep it vague. We follow Ning as she journeys across the kingdom, not knowing who to trust or where she belongs, but determined to save it. 

The second book had a different feel to the first one for me. It was darker and while it still focuses heavily on magic, it wasn't quite in the same way as the first. I guess the strong focus on Ning developing her magic in the first book was to introduce the magic system but I just the ceremonies and problem solving of the first one. This one focuses more on the threats to the kingdom and the journey taken to save it and I would have liked a blend of the two a little more. 

I still really enjoyed this though. The magic and mythology are so wonderfully weaved into this story and the author does an amazing job of making you care about every character, even if they have a relatively small part. And as always, I love a good description of food in books and this book gives me that and more. 

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 A very solid sequel to the first book and a good conclusion to the duology.  It's so rare to have a 2 book series be complete, just about everything's a trilogy these days.  But despite being two slim-ish volumes, there was plenty of action and worldbuilding.

The tea aspect was pushed a little bit further than the metaphysic really seemed to support (like when she put her magic in the soup- I mean sure, I can see the reasoning but it seemed a bit like a "I need this to happen so it does").  And the details seemed a bit more rushed and less complex than in the first book.  But I suppose the pacing was different since she was on the run, so that fits.  

I did enjoy the bridge of birds reference and it made me wish there were a few more of those stories brought into the books like that.
 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings