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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you love fantasy, a diverse cast of characters and being reborn plots then give this book a read. I enjoyed it for its twists and turns and unconventional resolutions.
emotional
reflective
I am so disappointed. Ostensibly, this book has everything I want: queer author, queer characters, Chinese fantasy, 9-tailed foxes, magic, history, reincarnation, multiple timelines, and smut. It should be a shoo-in for fave book contender! And yet, though the story/plot has twists I didn’t expect, the execution was lacking.
The dialog was terrible and wooden and clunky. It had me questioning whether the author had ever participated in a conversation let alone heard one. The smut is cringe and clunky and not sexy (although there are instances where it’s not meant to be sexy). I never believed the love between the main characters — and none of the relationships between anyone — familial, platonic, romantic, sexual — none of it was believable.
I really really wanted to like the book but I just didn’t.
The dialog was terrible and wooden and clunky. It had me questioning whether the author had ever participated in a conversation let alone heard one. The smut is cringe and clunky and not sexy (although there are instances where it’s not meant to be sexy). I never believed the love between the main characters — and none of the relationships between anyone — familial, platonic, romantic, sexual — none of it was believable.
I really really wanted to like the book but I just didn’t.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
wow that is one of the worst books i’ve ever read. i found that the big twist near the end just made the characters confusing and incongruent. i couldn’t feel the connection at all between the characters. im annoyed that each chapter predictably ended on a cliff hanger when sometimes chapters can just end without any type of surprise-gotcha! moment. and the ending was extremely unsatisfying. finding out the big reveal was disappointing. like really? cheating? that was the grand reveal? and then joey not being willing to give up was just so toxic. and river not accepting his place in heaven is fucking insane. for such a weak connection he really threw away eternal bliss. like that shit pissed me off. for gods sake don’t you have any self-loving bone in your body? the writing style was flowery in a way that just didn’t hit for me. i don’t need to hear a penis referred to as a pink plum or a blossoming lotus branch.
i mean im glad to read a type of book ive never read before. it means i wont ever feel inclined to do this again.
i mean im glad to read a type of book ive never read before. it means i wont ever feel inclined to do this again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault
Horribly disorganized and confusing.
This book is told in three different time periods in three different first person povs with the exact same voice. The result is that I never knew what was going on and who was who. It's also full of poorly written borderline repulsive erotica. Nope nope nope. Two thumbs down.
This book is told in three different time periods in three different first person povs with the exact same voice. The result is that I never knew what was going on and who was who. It's also full of poorly written borderline repulsive erotica. Nope nope nope. Two thumbs down.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The author can't handle the style used in the modern segments and it makes it grating to read. I also am not convinced the author knows much about how people think... Either way, none of the characters are appealing to me. The most compelling set were from 1740 (about 100 years into Qing dynasty) but their entire story ended for me about 75% of the way through and then I could barely tolerate finishing.
idk what did i just read lmao, its not that it was weird, that's not the point. the setup is actually extremely up my alley, i like these kinda weird, folkloric, magical stories and istg this soulmate through reincarnation is probably my FAVORITE trope ever
the writing was not my cup of tea....like i can excuse the old timey talk (tho yes i agree the sex scenes were trying a bit too hard to be lyrical, a little unnecessary and i was def making faces at the book) but the modern conversations were so....unnatural. river & his sister garden dont talk like normal people, calvin i actually really like somehow also does not talk like a normal person. also wtf is the role of calvin, he doesnt exist in the previous 2 reincarnations??? he's just??? in love with river because....???
the ending was...not an ending??? i guess it was trying to say something about how river is done with this reincarnation stuff, joey cannot escape from winston and river is done with all of it but it wasn't super clear. even though its not a super long book, towards the end it got a little repetetive river was just so so confused all the time, dong xuan was stupid through and through and i still dont really know whats going on in his situation like the political intrigue was pretty bad, he sichuan was also just confusd confused confused (but there was magic in that storyline so it was more intriguing).
anyway, great premise, not fleshed out but interesting and compelling characters, execution was just....not it....and im very sad about it. but i still had fun reading it, it was quick and nice to just pick up randomly on vacation.
the writing was not my cup of tea....like i can excuse the old timey talk (tho yes i agree the sex scenes were trying a bit too hard to be lyrical, a little unnecessary and i was def making faces at the book) but the modern conversations were so....unnatural. river & his sister garden dont talk like normal people, calvin i actually really like somehow also does not talk like a normal person. also wtf is the role of calvin, he doesnt exist in the previous 2 reincarnations??? he's just??? in love with river because....???
the ending was...not an ending??? i guess it was trying to say something about how river is done with this reincarnation stuff, joey cannot escape from winston and river is done with all of it but it wasn't super clear. even though its not a super long book, towards the end it got a little repetetive river was just so so confused all the time, dong xuan was stupid through and through and i still dont really know whats going on in his situation like the political intrigue was pretty bad, he sichuan was also just confusd confused confused (but there was magic in that storyline so it was more intriguing).
anyway, great premise, not fleshed out but interesting and compelling characters, execution was just....not it....and im very sad about it. but i still had fun reading it, it was quick and nice to just pick up randomly on vacation.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes