4.06 AVERAGE

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

For some reason, I had a hard time figuring out if this was a YA book before I picked it up. YA rarely works for me so I'm a bit happy that I didn't know beforehand, but this is definitely YA. However, it would have been unfortunate if I had missed out on such a delightful tale based solely on its age classification. I greatly enjoyed the Chinese fantasy woven throughout the story; it feels a bit like a fable which is right up my alley. The broad strokes really worked for me but the details just didn't come together how I would have liked. There's an almost dreamlike tone to the story that keeps the characters and their actions from feeling real. I didn't connect emotionally with the main character and found myself wanting to know more about the world and the lore while really not caring if the stories characters were even there at all. I didn't dislike any of them, they just didn't have the depth that I would hope for. The same problem plagued the plot and at the end I was left feeling like maybe nothing had actually happened and it had all been a very fast dream without enough detail. If this were an epic fantasy novel where the author had the time to really delve into the lore, flesh out the world building, and bring these characters to life how they deserve to be, then I would absolutely eat this up and leave no crumbs. 
adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I loved this book so much! It had echoes of fables and fairy tales I loved as a kid and echoes of some fantasy TV dramas. The writing is so rich. Beautiful and a joy to read. So fun to live in the realm she’s created. And so real and heartfelt too.
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

2.00/5.00

Beautiful book. I listened to it on audio and loved it. The narration was perfect and the world building and character development was so good. Definitely YA, but enjoyable for most anyone
adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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: No

I love the writing!
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated

C3 A2 W2 P2 I3 L1 E2
adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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: No
adventurous emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No