511 reviews for:

Journey to the West: The Monkey King's Amazing Adventures

Timothy Richard

3.91 AVERAGE

fruitkate's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

x_librarian's review against another edition

3.5

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

francescass's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ngork032's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

augoosetus's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted 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

yourfriendwd's review against another edition

5.0

---

Taste Old Monkey's cudgel!

mr_wolf's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

andreads7's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

thegodmachine393's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

christianholub's review against another edition

4.0

---

I absolutely loved "Dragon Ball Z" growing up, so I first heard of Sun Wukong the Monkey King years ago as the main inspiration for that anime saga's protagonist, Son Goku. Meanwhile, Gene Luen Yang makes a convincing case (in the foreword to this edition, as well as in many of his own graphic novels) that the Monkey King is a forerunner of modern superheroes. For all these reasons, I grabbed this new translation of the Monkey King's original story "Journey to the West" when it dropped in 2021. Though it took me a few years (and the Disney adaptation of Yang's "American Born Chinese" show, in which the character features prominently) to finally finish it, this book is an awesome collection of fun adventures, god-battles, and seemingly endless cosmic lore. Translator Julia Lovell does a great job of transposing some modern language onto this ancient epic to convey its timeless relatability. Really fun stuff.