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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
I definitely think I liked this one more than the first. But the twist kinda felt forced to me. Or maybe a little unearned. I loved seeing kurok’s memories and tbh I’d totally follow Kyoshi through more adventures! I’d like to see her be a Dao fe more often. Although I am very excited for Yang Chens adventures!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
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
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
tense
fast-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
I love the Avatar The last Airbender world, and the Shadow of Kyoshi is no exception. My main reason for not giving it five stars is because these books are pretty dark and there is zero humor like the television series. I wish they would balance out some of the action with more of the one liners, silly antics, and friendships that you see in the TV series it's based off of. Overall though, really fun and action-packed.
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Instead of multiple Adventures that help shape Kyoshi into her avatar hood, this book kinda has one main bad with the rest of the book covering fire nation politics with little specks of Yun's "backstory." Which isn't inherently a bad thing, although I did kind of wish we had moved on from fire nation stuff I did enjoy it nonetheless. Also Kyoshi coming to terms with Kuruk and pseudo-mastering spirit connections was a cool side-adventure.
If you are a fan of Avatar the Last Airbender then you MUST read this series.
adventurous
emotional
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
Kyoshi really pulled out her glock and said lemme keep the peace.
On Yun:
Intro to this book was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed it starting off with Yun entering the spirit world and I loved the interludes throughout the book that told the story of how he tricked & defeated Father Glowworm (can’t believe he ate him omg), got back to the human world using his new power from Father Glowworm, and eventually found Kyoshi/started causing havoc. I can’t blame him for his spite and anger but also bro you were simply just jealous of Kyoshi. Glad Kyoshi took care of him tho. I was nervous he was going to kill Ragni for good but thank god Kyoshi was able to heal her. Tbh I feel like at the very least Hei-Ran should have died? But truly her cutting her top knot out of humility and disgrace was worth than death for a fire nation citizen so I feel like that was sufficient.
Only complaint was that PengPeng wasn’t in this book but she had calves!!! So cute.
On the Fire Nation:
Leave it to the first nation to have such a thirst for power that it was on the verge of ANOTHER civil war. The whole using a fake Yun to confess that House Saowon was behind the attacks was *a little* predictable considering they dropped that lore about the fire nation having body doubles like less than 100 pages before that twist. But, still enjoyed it.
I wish we could have seen more of Chaejin and like him maybe being more of a villain but in not doing so it did reinforce the importance of politics so I guess it made sense?
Truly I was really a fascinated with Fire Nation customs and how respect is like the cornerstone of their entire society. Definitely a contrast compared to other states.
I did also like the intricacies of the politics and the rivaling Houses. The epilogue in particular was so great and really set up the foundation for the next generations of the Fire Nation that ultimately led to the events of ATLA. Definitely hit the mark for me in terms of laying that foundation—and it was interesting seeing the juxtaposition of a weakened/fracture fire nation before the strengthened/unified version we see in ATLA.
Zoryu and Kyoshi’s conversation in the war room where he reinforces that both her and Yun are blinded by the past was a good scene. Very solid turning point for her and I think it really started clicking for her.
I also liked that after the final Yun interlude and Kuruk backstory that we revisit Kyoshi a month after Fire Lord Zoryu defeated House Saowon. Definitely felt forced but still enjoyed that the daofei gang came back in the finale battle against Yun to help Kyoshi.
Loved that Kyoshi got to talk to YangChen. I couldn’t remember if we knew the lore about why there were so many evil spirits in Kuruk’s life time from ATLA or this was the first we learned of it? (That is, because YangChen nurtured so much human growth and so often sided with them over the spirits. So, Kuruk had to spend his life keeping humans safe from angry spirits.) Also very much was pleased with Kyoshi and Kuruk’s interaction and getting to learn more about his reign as avatar. I wish we could get a book on him but tbh with the lore from this in addition to his content in ATLA I feel like we know most of it. Especially considering we saw more about how turned to partying/women/alcohol because he was so damaged and broken by hunting spirits to keep them from coming into the human world that it was an attempt to make himself feel more human, feel anything at all.
Overall, Kyoshi is mother and I love her. Wish this book would have been a little longer and that maybe we could have had a little more interaction about her learning immortality from Lao Ge? Or like even a chapter about her deciding to give it up / final days of her life?
I fear I may need to read the YangChen books next..
On Yun:
Intro to this book was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed it starting off with Yun entering the spirit world and I loved the interludes throughout the book that told the story of how he tricked & defeated Father Glowworm (can’t believe he ate him omg), got back to the human world using his new power from Father Glowworm, and eventually found Kyoshi/started causing havoc. I can’t blame him for his spite and anger but also bro you were simply just jealous of Kyoshi. Glad Kyoshi took care of him tho. I was nervous he was going to kill Ragni for good but thank god Kyoshi was able to heal her. Tbh I feel like at the very least Hei-Ran should have died? But truly her cutting her top knot out of humility and disgrace was worth than death for a fire nation citizen so I feel like that was sufficient.
Only complaint was that PengPeng wasn’t in this book but she had calves!!! So cute.
On the Fire Nation:
Leave it to the first nation to have such a thirst for power that it was on the verge of ANOTHER civil war. The whole using a fake Yun to confess that House Saowon was behind the attacks was *a little* predictable considering they dropped that lore about the fire nation having body doubles like less than 100 pages before that twist. But, still enjoyed it.
I wish we could have seen more of Chaejin and like him maybe being more of a villain but in not doing so it did reinforce the importance of politics so I guess it made sense?
Truly I was really a fascinated with Fire Nation customs and how respect is like the cornerstone of their entire society. Definitely a contrast compared to other states.
I did also like the intricacies of the politics and the rivaling Houses. The epilogue in particular was so great and really set up the foundation for the next generations of the Fire Nation that ultimately led to the events of ATLA. Definitely hit the mark for me in terms of laying that foundation—and it was interesting seeing the juxtaposition of a weakened/fracture fire nation before the strengthened/unified version we see in ATLA.
Zoryu and Kyoshi’s conversation in the war room where he reinforces that both her and Yun are blinded by the past was a good scene. Very solid turning point for her and I think it really started clicking for her.
I also liked that after the final Yun interlude and Kuruk backstory that we revisit Kyoshi a month after Fire Lord Zoryu defeated House Saowon. Definitely felt forced but still enjoyed that the daofei gang came back in the finale battle against Yun to help Kyoshi.
Loved that Kyoshi got to talk to YangChen. I couldn’t remember if we knew the lore about why there were so many evil spirits in Kuruk’s life time from ATLA or this was the first we learned of it? (That is, because YangChen nurtured so much human growth and so often sided with them over the spirits. So, Kuruk had to spend his life keeping humans safe from angry spirits.) Also very much was pleased with Kyoshi and Kuruk’s interaction and getting to learn more about his reign as avatar. I wish we could get a book on him but tbh with the lore from this in addition to his content in ATLA I feel like we know most of it. Especially considering we saw more about how turned to partying/women/alcohol because he was so damaged and broken by hunting spirits to keep them from coming into the human world that it was an attempt to make himself feel more human, feel anything at all.
Overall, Kyoshi is mother and I love her. Wish this book would have been a little longer and that maybe we could have had a little more interaction about her learning immortality from Lao Ge? Or like even a chapter about her deciding to give it up / final days of her life?
I fear I may need to read the YangChen books next..