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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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:
Yes
I see how it is....playing with my feelings
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The problem with all Elizabeth lim books are that she doesn't let moments linger. It takes you out of the experience. If someone is dead then boom, 1.5 pages of mourning. If there's an action scene then it lasts half a page. It's action after action after action without any moment of them reaping the consequence of the last action. And it's just... Yeah that's not my kinda book. I enjoy her books for a quick read though.
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flew through this one! I loved the characters and the humor written within this one. Described as Beauty and the Beast meets Six of Crows and I can definitely see it. But make no mistake, this one hold entirely on its own!
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warning: mentions of death, blood, gambling, starvation, kidnapping, racism
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC! This was such a cozy read. This is my first Elizabeth Lim book so I can't really compare it to anything else that she's written, but I didn't feel lost while reading it. I did really enjoy that the author combined multiple folktale stories with the fairytale retelling. It made the story more interesting as well as I had many little details to look for.
The writing was really beautiful. I loved the world building and how it felt so mystical. The food descriptions were also mouthwatering. I definitely agree the setting was very Ghibli-esque. The romance is very slow burn, and I do wish Tru and Elang had more interactions, but overall, the relationship building was decent. I loved that Tru had her own strengths in wit and smarts. I don't mind a stabby kick butt heroine, but I prefer the quiet and cunning type. Brains over brawn as they say lol. Elang was ok, he had that stoic type which if you're into anime then you know the type I'm talking about (The first character that comes to mind is Byakuya from Bleach.) Tru's family was also lovely; her mom was a pain but that was expected. The plot was very interesting but also very slow which in some areas I liked and in others it felt dragged out. There are some action moments, but it doesn't take away from the cozy and comfort the story gives. The ending was not one that I expected either. Without giving spoilers, the ending is a bit tragic and, through some reasons that aren't exactly explained, there's still a happy ending.
I think my only gripe with the book is that the author has some nice in world curses that make sense, but the one that always threw me out of the story was the use of "turd." I just felt like it didn't fit the prose that the rest of the story is written.
I definitely think I'll check out some of Elizabeth Lim's other books that are set in the same world. I'm hoping for maybe some explanations for the ending that I might've missed, but overall, I just really enjoy her writing and I'm curious about the other characters that were introduced.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC! This was such a cozy read. This is my first Elizabeth Lim book so I can't really compare it to anything else that she's written, but I didn't feel lost while reading it. I did really enjoy that the author combined multiple folktale stories with the fairytale retelling. It made the story more interesting as well as I had many little details to look for.
The writing was really beautiful. I loved the world building and how it felt so mystical. The food descriptions were also mouthwatering. I definitely agree the setting was very Ghibli-esque. The romance is very slow burn, and I do wish Tru and Elang had more interactions, but overall, the relationship building was decent. I loved that Tru had her own strengths in wit and smarts. I don't mind a stabby kick butt heroine, but I prefer the quiet and cunning type. Brains over brawn as they say lol. Elang was ok, he had that stoic type which if you're into anime then you know the type I'm talking about (The first character that comes to mind is Byakuya from Bleach.) Tru's family was also lovely; her mom was a pain but that was expected. The plot was very interesting but also very slow which in some areas I liked and in others it felt dragged out. There are some action moments, but it doesn't take away from the cozy and comfort the story gives. The ending was not one that I expected either. Without giving spoilers, the ending is a bit tragic and, through some reasons that aren't exactly explained, there's still a happy ending.
I think my only gripe with the book is that the author has some nice in world curses that make sense, but the one that always threw me out of the story was the use of "turd." I just felt like it didn't fit the prose that the rest of the story is written.
I definitely think I'll check out some of Elizabeth Lim's other books that are set in the same world. I'm hoping for maybe some explanations for the ending that I might've missed, but overall, I just really enjoy her writing and I'm curious about the other characters that were introduced.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
fast-paced