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Such a shame. A Chinese-inspired military fantasy had so much potential. Where was the editor on this? It very clearly needed another major rewrite.
Sexism exists only when it's convenient for the plot. It's a fantasy world but the character calls it "Earth" at one point with a capital "E". The characters sound too Western and modern saying things like "dicking around", "self-destruct", "[he] could go fuck himself", "let's skip ahead to the part where you surrender", etc. In the middle 200 pages, the protagonist becomes a passive observer. Very unclear about how much of the world is copy-and-paste China and how much is fantasy -- I.e. all of the science confused me because I feel like a lot of the terminology and concepts would not have been known at that time in China but there was nothing to indicate that the advancements were due to the fantasy/magic side of things. Little to no transition between changes in character relationships. Instalove. Instahate. Insta-genocide????
In my opinion, the author bit off more than could chew for their debut. If it had focused on military strategy, or historical Chinese fiction, or shamanism, I think it would have had a better chance but attempting them all in one book, their FIRST book, everything got diluted and convoluted.
Bummer because I wanted to like this book.
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma
Minor: Confinement, Sexism
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Blood
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Sexism
Well fuck me. I...I'm not entirely sure how to review this one. I reread it so I could continue the series and that after a year of badgering I pushed book club to read it with me. We'll be talking about it tomorrow and hopefully be able to wrap our minds around it. I remember it being brutal. I remember a lil about being hurt by it, but FUCK. Kaung does such a great feat on this book not only to bring you along, but to really understand her characters and their choices, even if they're often not the best choices. But, how can you make a choice when all the choices are bad? How can you try and be good in a world that will continue to torment you and destroy you constantly and even if you try to make better choices, they still get thrown in your face.
Frig, man. I will be reading book 2 soon. 5/5 stars. Forever. Fuck this bullshit of 4.5/5 stars I said in 2019, 2019 Michelle you're an idiot.
2019:
I don't know much about Chinese history, but hearing from other people the book is based on Chinese history, this was absolutely brutal.
"They trained her for a war. She intends to end it." That line, I didn't expect her to brutally horrifying to end the world, JFC Rin...
The language and the story itself was complex, well made, and kept my interest the entire time. I believe my favourite character was Jiang. I am definitely going to purchase the sequel!
4.5/5 stars.
Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, War
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Rape
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault