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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
Overall a solid story but I couldn’t rlly immerse myself in the writing. I think maybe there wasn’t enough description of the characters and places. The characters were also kinda shallow and predictable.
This is a gender-flipped retelling of the Chinese classic The Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh depending on your translation (which was also the loose inspiration for the Suikoden videogame series). Lin Chong is a martial arts instructor for the military who is framed by a jealous superior, and sent to die. With the help of a couple of her pupils, she escapes from her would-be murderers, and is taken in by the bandits of Liangshan marsh, a group of (mostly) women who remain loyal to the empire, but who stand up against the corrupt within it.
I'm a fan of the original (despite some very dated elements), and this takes that monster of a text and makes it much more accessible and fun, with a style inspired more by Wuxia cinema and fantasy elements that are maybe a little overcooked, but never too overbearing.
Overall Grade: Solid A. It's fun, it's insightful, and it has some great characters.
Finished reading this next book club book. Not my usual thing don’t usually read fantasy but I enjoyed dipping into it! The end was a bit sudden however.
This took me FOREVER to read. I was really into it at the beginning and around 40% it became very boring and it felt like I was needing to force myself to pick it up and read. Ultimately I decided to give it another try and it did pick up after a bit but I am a little disappointed.
Violence and mentions of sexual violence
adventurous
fast-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely has some heavy themes, but what a thoroughly enjoyable read!
The action sequences were incredibly well-written, and character motivations were well-defined and understandable. Basically all of the characters were morally complex, some more than others, and everyone did some pretty messed up things lol.
My only real complaint is that some of the switches in character perspectives felt a little unnecessary, but all in all, a really cool book.
The action sequences were incredibly well-written, and character motivations were well-defined and understandable. Basically all of the characters were morally complex, some more than others, and everyone did some pretty messed up things lol.
My only real complaint is that some of the switches in character perspectives felt a little unnecessary, but all in all, a really cool book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, War
Thankyou NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
An action packed feminist adventure that I couldn’t put down! This book was paced extremely well, keeping me hooked the entire time and the fighting scenes were amazing (definitely brutal!). Each character had such depth, I loved the found family in this book and it was hard to not feel as if you, as a reader, were also part of the group of bandits and had these connections with each character personally - It was definitely bittersweet parting with them at the end of the book!
The way that Huang smoothly transitions between characters POV’s made it so easy to picture the whole story so vividly and even with a lot of characters to keep track of it, none of it felt confusing or overwhelming.
I cannot recommend this enough, especially if you’re looking for an action packed read full of deep character connections and strong inspiring female/gender fluid lead characters!
An action packed feminist adventure that I couldn’t put down! This book was paced extremely well, keeping me hooked the entire time and the fighting scenes were amazing (definitely brutal!). Each character had such depth, I loved the found family in this book and it was hard to not feel as if you, as a reader, were also part of the group of bandits and had these connections with each character personally - It was definitely bittersweet parting with them at the end of the book!
The way that Huang smoothly transitions between characters POV’s made it so easy to picture the whole story so vividly and even with a lot of characters to keep track of it, none of it felt confusing or overwhelming.
I cannot recommend this enough, especially if you’re looking for an action packed read full of deep character connections and strong inspiring female/gender fluid lead characters!
This is a fascinating remix on Huang's part, as she gets to take a classic of Chinese literature (The Water Margin, one of the first novels!), work with it to keep the core themes but work in the existence of women other than as misogynistic parodies, and a little bit of a fantasy element, and work with a novel that is very differently structured/characterized than modern literature. This manages to succeed as a modern standalone fantasy novel, and as a remix of the original novel, while also telling a great story and making it clear that hey, maybe the government isn't always right. Hell yeah sister bandits standing up for their right to exist, and fuck old creeps like the Magistrate. As far as I can tell, this is going to be a standalone, but I would love to see Huang tackle more of the original text in this manner. Definitely worth taking a peek.
DNF @ 50pgs. This book sounded interesting but the writing made me want to keep putting it down.
[technically my rating is 3.5, but goodreads hates me personally and doesn't do half stars]
point blank, i am woefully unfamiliar with the book this novel was a retelling of, but ultimately, this was a fun read! s. l. huang's cinematic style was perfect for this story, and listening to this as an audio book rather than sneaking pages of this book on my work breaks added to the dramatic stake of the narrative.
when it comes to retellings (or reboots, or sequels, or what have you), i've always been of the opinion that if you're going to adapt something, the changes that one makes should enhance the narrative of the retelling itself. that is to say, (and this again may be due to my unfamiliarity with the source material itself) while the characters' marginalization as women can be keenly felt within their characterization, motivations, and character arcs, i found that the attempts to integrate queer themes did not do the same. while there were multiple queer characters featured within the narrative, i found that some characters' marginalization as queer people were woefully integrated into the narrative as compared to the care and depth that was taken to integrate multiple characters' experiences as women within the narrative.
overall, this book was a great deal of fun to read (well, listen to), and i'll think of it fondly while reading my admittedly somewhat less fantastical legal history readings for grad school.
point blank, i am woefully unfamiliar with the book this novel was a retelling of, but ultimately, this was a fun read! s. l. huang's cinematic style was perfect for this story, and listening to this as an audio book rather than sneaking pages of this book on my work breaks added to the dramatic stake of the narrative.
when it comes to retellings (or reboots, or sequels, or what have you), i've always been of the opinion that if you're going to adapt something, the changes that one makes should enhance the narrative of the retelling itself. that is to say, (and this again may be due to my unfamiliarity with the source material itself) while the characters' marginalization as women can be keenly felt within their characterization, motivations, and character arcs, i found that the attempts to integrate queer themes did not do the same. while there were multiple queer characters featured within the narrative, i found that some characters' marginalization as queer people were woefully integrated into the narrative as compared to the care and depth that was taken to integrate multiple characters' experiences as women within the narrative.
overall, this book was a great deal of fun to read (well, listen to), and i'll think of it fondly while reading my admittedly somewhat less fantastical legal history readings for grad school.