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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was absolutely insane (in a good and bad way). There are some parts that are very hard to read, and are extremely upsetting to read. The book is all about anger and rage, and it feels so focused on the main character Rin's conflicts and life. It's so we'll written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was the breath of fresh air i needed (dont read the rest of the series if you wanna stay happy)
Elsker! Små irritationer mod Rin, jo længere ind i bogen man kommer. Forfærdelige beskrivelser og ødelagte hovedpersoner, men har til tider en humor og sødme der redder den. Forkert ting at tage med sig, men Altan er sindsygt lækker.
The plot timeline and pacing seemed to be lagging through the second half of the book—I honestly liked the beginning more than the end. I did enjoy the dynamic mix of characters though, even though so many died it seemed liked so many survived lol
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Don't feel like writing something properly rn bc it's late and I'm tired so, in no particular order, here is an incomplete list of things that bothered me about this book:
- it reads like 2010s YA (and I personally am in my 'I'm an adult so now I hate YA' phase) but it was too dark so they marked it as adult. like yes the poor girl is secretly super special (and somehow no one noticed?) and now she's got magic powers and she's gonna take on the world!
- all the students are so damn stupid just so the author can info dump. like they are the top 50 scorers on this exam they spend their whole lives studying for but get to the academy and constantly don't know what seems to be basic history?
- the "world building" is just the author putting Chinese history in a blender. like either a) this is meant to be inspired by China, in which case this is plagiarism not inspiration and is just lazy or b) this is meant to bring awareness of Chinese history to a western audience (from what I've seen in other reviews this appears to be the actual intent) in which case I can say as a western reader that I learned fuck all about Chinese history (except for maybe Nanjing, but I only found out that was real from other reviews so... and the book kinda brushes over it pretty fast so like?). with the way everything was renamed and shuffled around, I had a hard time placing anything and I have no idea what was real or wasn't so task failed completely
- and, potentially most importantly, what the fuck was up with Speer??? apparently this is meant to be (possibly indigenous) Taiwan and just, the way it is portrayed throughout the book is so horrible? like they're presented as these tribal, violent people who all worship an angry god. and I of course don't know about the regional politics and racism and what not, but as an American that sounds a lot like how racists like to describe Native Americans so like, it feels very racist to me. it could have worked if Rin had shifted perspective once she learned more about Speer but instead she doubles down on the whole 'Speerlies are violent' thing. this is what shifted me from a reluctant 3 stars down to 2.
- in the end I just do not know what the point of this book was besides just, lots of violence for the sake of violence? and maybe the rest of the trilogy redeems it but nothing about this first book gives me any faith that that could happen
My end takeaway is that I'm glad this was not my first Kuang book, but I can sure tell it's hers. I know that's harsh but like, with how highly praised this book is and how much better her later works are, it feels fair.
- it reads like 2010s YA (and I personally am in my 'I'm an adult so now I hate YA' phase) but it was too dark so they marked it as adult. like yes the poor girl is secretly super special (and somehow no one noticed?) and now she's got magic powers and she's gonna take on the world!
- all the students are so damn stupid just so the author can info dump. like they are the top 50 scorers on this exam they spend their whole lives studying for but get to the academy and constantly don't know what seems to be basic history?
- the "world building" is just the author putting Chinese history in a blender. like either a) this is meant to be inspired by China, in which case this is plagiarism not inspiration and is just lazy or b) this is meant to bring awareness of Chinese history to a western audience (from what I've seen in other reviews this appears to be the actual intent) in which case I can say as a western reader that I learned fuck all about Chinese history (except for maybe Nanjing, but I only found out that was real from other reviews so... and the book kinda brushes over it pretty fast so like?). with the way everything was renamed and shuffled around, I had a hard time placing anything and I have no idea what was real or wasn't so task failed completely
- and, potentially most importantly, what the fuck was up with Speer??? apparently this is meant to be (possibly indigenous) Taiwan and just, the way it is portrayed throughout the book is so horrible? like they're presented as these tribal, violent people who all worship an angry god. and I of course don't know about the regional politics and racism and what not, but as an American that sounds a lot like how racists like to describe Native Americans so like, it feels very racist to me. it could have worked if Rin had shifted perspective once she learned more about Speer but instead she doubles down on the whole 'Speerlies are violent' thing. this is what shifted me from a reluctant 3 stars down to 2.
- in the end I just do not know what the point of this book was besides just, lots of violence for the sake of violence? and maybe the rest of the trilogy redeems it but nothing about this first book gives me any faith that that could happen
My end takeaway is that I'm glad this was not my first Kuang book, but I can sure tell it's hers. I know that's harsh but like, with how highly praised this book is and how much better her later works are, it feels fair.
dark
sad
tense
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
Wow. Couldn’t look away from the page even when I wanted to put it down