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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, War
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Vomit
Great characters, awesome world concept, really cool YA sci fi. Bonus points for gay couple
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
not bad 👍
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
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
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is what I get for following up on an add for a book instead of going to the next book on my recommendations list. I think there’s two adults in this book? There are technically more, but the rest don’t get more than a single chapter they appear in. One “evil trainer” and a council of elders who get bullied by a 27 year old. Everyone else is a child, but it’s hard to tell anyone apart because they’re not deeply characterized. It doesn’t help that every scene with “the crew” is a group scene, so we don’t get to know them much.
There’s just such a lack of logic as well. I keep being distracted from the love story that is being put in front of this dystopian backdrop because the world doesn’t make sense. It’s so weird to to set up the idea that the evil government changed religions on the world, but only made it so there are two hells, and the gods are giant mechs, which people can clearly see are just mechs? There’s no deeper discussion about how people have been brainwashed or anything like that, just that they live in fear, so why are they accepting the new double hell idea? I think it was just because the author wants them all to say “What the Hells!” instead of “what the hell”? I get it, it’s the fantasy trope thing to do, and we’ve all laughed at Kaladin, saying “storm you!“ but it just seems so arbitrary.
Additionally, for how much murder the evil government does in the backstory of these characters, they are really unable to kill anyone during the narrative. The plot armor is THICK. I can’t rationalize a technologically superior military state with giant Mech suits constantly losing to a group of minors in open combat. There’s a lot of things that are glossed over, like how a giant robot falling down doesn’t convey massive car-crash-level damage to the people who are inside and dismantling said robot.
I was so excited for this book, it was gay, mechs, and even (I believe) supposed to be based in an asian influenced setting. But the romance felt boring, the mechs were plot points to cause tension but carried no real weight, and the only time it tried to tie itself into some asiatic roots was talking about festival food for two paragraphs? There was just no realness to the world for me.
I do think my bar has been set really high recently, but this feels like cashing in on the young adult romance genre (which is a fine genre) with a lot flashy tags that don’t deliver. It’s wild to me that they compared this with Red Rising which is such a gut wrenching series about human nature, epic cycles, and the dangers of classism, while this doesn’t even populate enough side characters to make the world feel real? Im being super harsh I know, but it’s just because I had high hopes and was really disappointed.
There’s just such a lack of logic as well. I keep being distracted from the love story that is being put in front of this dystopian backdrop because the world doesn’t make sense. It’s so weird to to set up the idea that the evil government changed religions on the world, but only made it so there are two hells, and the gods are giant mechs, which people can clearly see are just mechs? There’s no deeper discussion about how people have been brainwashed or anything like that, just that they live in fear, so why are they accepting the new double hell idea? I think it was just because the author wants them all to say “What the Hells!” instead of “what the hell”? I get it, it’s the fantasy trope thing to do, and we’ve all laughed at Kaladin, saying “storm you!“ but it just seems so arbitrary.
Additionally, for how much murder the evil government does in the backstory of these characters, they are really unable to kill anyone during the narrative. The plot armor is THICK. I can’t rationalize a technologically superior military state with giant Mech suits constantly losing to a group of minors in open combat. There’s a lot of things that are glossed over, like how a giant robot falling down doesn’t convey massive car-crash-level damage to the people who are inside and dismantling said robot.
I was so excited for this book, it was gay, mechs, and even (I believe) supposed to be based in an asian influenced setting. But the romance felt boring, the mechs were plot points to cause tension but carried no real weight, and the only time it tried to tie itself into some asiatic roots was talking about festival food for two paragraphs? There was just no realness to the world for me.
I do think my bar has been set really high recently, but this feels like cashing in on the young adult romance genre (which is a fine genre) with a lot flashy tags that don’t deliver. It’s wild to me that they compared this with Red Rising which is such a gut wrenching series about human nature, epic cycles, and the dangers of classism, while this doesn’t even populate enough side characters to make the world feel real? Im being super harsh I know, but it’s just because I had high hopes and was really disappointed.
Stopped 15% in, might give it another try but it wasn’t catching my interest and the plot felt contrived
I really wanted to like it, as I feel like there’s so few books that center Sapphic relationships, but I just couldn’t get into it. The plot had potential, but it was very predictable and used a lot of common tropes without adding anything new or interesting to them. It’s not a bad book by any means, I’ve certainly read worse. I just found it a bit boring and decided to move on to something else.
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, War
Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse
Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders