Reviews - The Shadow of Kyoshi

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To be honest, I was pretty disappointed with this book. But that was because The first book in the series was SO good it had such high expectations to live up to. The first 50 pages were fantastic. A. GREAT glimpse into the Avatar Kyoshi decided to be and an awesome demonstration of her ruthless power. Then the book switched into the plot of following what happened to Yun. I liked that plot but it dragged on for the whole book. I also didn’t love this “team avatar” as much. Give that this was the last book in the series I expected to see so much more of Kyoshi’s life! She lived to be 230 years old and this book ends with her at 17/18yrs old. I want to see her legacy!
That being said, we really got a great glimpse into the complications of being a “good avatar” and got a great look at Avatar Kurak’s life. I loved the world building this series continues to do. As always I LOVED my lesbian benders. god bless Rangi.
I did love the way this novel blatantly demonstrated the corrupt and violent nature of both the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. The imperial violence legacy of oppression that we see the results on in both ATLA and LOK have deep roots here. It shows the way the Avatar acts as a policing force for the state at many times and privileges the lives of humans over the earth and the spirit world. This gives context to the confrontation’s that happen in Korra’s legacy. Again, I wish I could see more of Kyoshi’s to see how she responds in her life to these things.

jwitherspoon720's review against another edition

5.0

Literally had me on the edge of my seat basically the entire time.

But not gonna lie there were points I was ready to take a turn and fight Kyoshi. Love her tho

urfavestemme's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

Somebody come give F.C. Yee his Pulitzer Prize, OH MY GOD???? 😐

Rangi to Kyoshi about her new scars from battle, “it’s like you’re ruining my favorite parts on purpose!”

“Knowing she had a weakness for a particular snack made Kyoshi want to squeeze her tight”

Rangshi prevails once again ☄️.

Content Warnings

lefflerjbuell's review against another edition

4.0

I loved this book! Kyoshi is the BEST and it's really cool to be in the Avatar universe. Bending is so much more violent than it is in the shows/comics, I love it. I really hope Yee continues writing Kyoshi's books. Over a 200+ year lifespan there is a ton more he could explore. ONLY thing I didn't like about this one is how suddenly it seemed to end. Based on the time she spent in the Fire Nation, I thought they would build toward the finale a bit slower. Yun was a huge overarching presence in the story and then it seemed like she was ready to face him out of the blue. I loved the final showdown, just wish they took a little bit longer to get there. I really liked that they made her "human" as well. In ATLA, she's a fully realized awesome Avatar, so I enjoyed seeing her make mistakes and grow.

shdowbox3r's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

crimsomkingler's review against another edition

5.0

“People shouldn't have everything they want. No one is entitled to their every desire. To live in balance, we must willingly decide not to take all that we can from the world, and from others.”

Here we are, book 2 and the final book (that we know of) in the Kyoshi series. What an adventure.

This book showcases Avatar Kyoshi and her inner battle to fight off all her enemies herself, regardless of risk. This is important to the story line as you see a transformation happen throughout the novel. Just like in ATLA & LoK, the Avatar protagonist has a strong, unique personality of her own and she must come to face herself to surpass the obstacles she is confronted with on a daily basis.

We meet a new avatar gang different from the first book (don’t worry, the flying opera crew will still be around) that is all around badass. We are introduced to Jinpa, who is an Air bender from the Southern Air temple and now secretary to Kyoshi. He is such a good addition by bringing humor, balance and a different view of the air bending culture into the group. Of course we will see a lot of Rangi and her mother Hei-Ran. This fire bending duo plays a major role in this book and they execute the roles perfectly. I really enjoyed seeing them in action and the emotions they portrayed instead of just being hard-asses all the time.

It is very interesting to see Kyoshi, who didn’t grow up learning any formalities, have to deal with all the customs and culture of the different nations. You can feel the frustration and laugh at the innocent mistakes she makes throughout. Even when I thought she was handling it well, she was on the wrong side of things!

The book goes more in depth into the spirit world as well as Avatars Kuruk and Yanchen’s legacies. The past actions of both Avatars greatly influence the world that Kyoshi has to protect and bring together. She learns a lot about them but learns to change her perspective of them as well as herself during the process. As the saying goes, you can never just read a book by its cover. This applies greatly to both the past Avatars.

Personally, I thought the book was fantastic, being back in the Avatar universe is such a delight and they portray the world they built very well in this novel. I also believe with Kyoshi living so long and doing so much throughout her life they could easily write a few more books about her generation of Avatarhood. Kyoshi really develops herself and progresses heaps forward in this novel and it would be amazing to read about her future endeavors.