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bluejayreads's review
3.25
I didn't realize when I picked this up that I'd already read one book by this author before - or at least attempted to read, as I DNF'ed Descendant of the Crane in 2021. But the back cover on this one sounded much more interesting, and I didn't DNF the other book for being bad, just because I wasn't able to get into it - which could very easily have been more about my mood than the book itself. So I gave this one a shot.
And at first, I was really glad I did. I didn't love the world-building - I've read too many fantasies set in actual ancient China, so this Chinese-inspired world felt like a discordant mishmash of ideas instead of a cohesive world, but I could live with that. What I did like was Zephyr, who was clever, calculating, always three steps ahead of everyone else (a trait I love in a character), and some intriguing combination of dedicated to her warlordess and desperate to prove herself useful. And even though the plot involved a lot of politics, it wasn't slow and managed to involve a fair bit of action and intrigue along the way.
The back cover really doesn't tell you much about what's in the book. The infiltration happens almost immediately, and while Crow is definitely an antagonist, he's not really a major player in the story. Just about every bit of the story you think you're going to read wraps up in part one. Then in part two things go way off the rails, and that's where I started to really struggle.
My big criticism of the story itself is that it sacrifices background for speed, and that blunts any potential emotional impact. I don't disagree with the choice - a long setup would have done the story a disservice. But often the reader finds out about crucial pieces of information the moment they're supposed to be connected to an emotional moment, so the emotions have to share my attention with the process of mentally putting this new information into the overarching picture of the book. This also makes the big revelation at the start of part two feel unexpected, but in a jarring, random way. I may have had a different experience if I'd read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Chinese classic that this series is based on, but I haven't. So maybe this is true to the original, but it was still difficult for me.
The problem I had with part two, and the reason I won't be continuing the series, is definitely a case of it's not the book, it's me. A major event at the end of part one and a character's response to it at the beginning of part two resulted in one major character ending up in the body of another major character. I do not like body-swapping. I can't even really explain why, it just makes me extremely uncomfortable. It's worse if the body-swapped characters try to pretend that they are the person whose body they're in, which also happens here. So I spent most of part two wanting to leave the situation but also hoping that the characters would get back to the right bodies, because I was sure I would start to like it again once the body-swapping thing was fixed. But based on the ending and reading the back cover for the sequel, I think the characters are likely to stay in the wrong bodies until near the end of book two. And I do not want to deal with that.
On the whole, this is not a bad book by any means. It had a lot of aspects that didn't do it for me, personally, but that's not a judgement on the book itself. I'm having a hard time expressing any sort of overall opinion about it because the biggest thing I didn't like about it (and quite possibly the smaller thing I didn't like as well) were all matters of personal opinion. I like the ideas, it's well-written, and it kept my interest despite being fairly politics-heavy. It just has some elements that aren't for me, personally - but might be for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Blood and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Death of parent, Child death, and Animal death
mattiedancer's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Writing: 3.75⭐️/5
The writing was strong throughout the story, but it lacked pacing. This is something I’ll mention again in the plot because it’s kind of a fault on both accounts. I really wish that each plot point had been discussed and pulled out longer because, though the story is great, I wanted more time with each moment. It also became a little hard to stay with the emotions of the character because of its pacing.
Characters: 4.5⭐️/5
The characters felt full and realized. Where the story failed to keep my engagement due to some pacing issues, the characters wholly took up the slack. Zephyr was an enthralling main character to follow, even more so as she attempted to take on characterizations that went against her own. I thought the only part of characterization that lacked depth was some deeper understanding of exactly why Zephyr maintained such a strong bond with Ren. I would have loved a bit more time with that.
Plot: 3.75⭐️/5
The overall plot is genius, and yet the pacing of it being told fell short of expectations. Some of the parts of the plot felt far too rushed
Who Should Read This Book?
- Fans of fantasy novels
- Fans of Joan He
Content Warnings?
- War, death, violence, blood, child death, injury, grief, animal death, death of parent, alcohol,
Post-Reading Rating: 4.25⭐️/5
Final Rating: 4⭐️/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Alcohol, Violence, Murder, War, Blood, and Animal death
scrubsandbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
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
3.5
Joan He's writing is absolutely beautiful, and this had such an interesting concept, especially the latter half of the book. But, that's just it... the pacing felt off. I felt like there were times when it dragged and got interesting and then dragged again in the first half. The second half had me completely hooked but it took me a long while to get there. Still, the world-building is glorious and imaginative, and I loved the wide variety of female characterizations that Joan He brought to life among the pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Blood
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
olive_lol's review
adventurous
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
4.25
Whether you like Zephyr will make or break this book for you. I loved Zephyr, so I had a great time reading. Her ego gives the narration so much personality, and every description reinforces her character and how she sees the world. I spent most of the book ignoring her romance, though. I thought it was unnecessary, and I was more invested in other parts of the story.
Because of the nature of the plot twist in the middle, I felt like the second half was somewhat disconected from the first. However, putting Zephyr into a warrior's body is a clever way to spark character development, considering she originally didn't respect warriors. I also wish we had gotten to know side characters like Lotus and Cloud better in the first half.
Overall, a fun book with a lot of personality and a divisive protagonist.
Overall, a fun book with a lot of personality and a divisive protagonist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Grief, Chronic illness, and Child death
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Vomit
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
I'm just not invested in the story or characters anymore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Blood
Moderate: Animal death and Animal cruelty
mandkips's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Alcohol
lqvekanej's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Sexism, Alcohol, and Animal death
azrah786's review against another edition
3.25
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, injury, war, death, animal death, death of parents (off page), vomiting, physical abuse, terminal illness, grief
It breaks my heart to say this but I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to :(
I absolutely loved both of Joan He’s previous books, I just felt like there was something missing for me in this one that I can’t entirely put my finger on.
Strike the Zither is a reimagining of the Chinese epic Three Kingdoms with the twist that the leading characters are predominantly female – it has such an noteworthy and unique premise but I just couldn’t click with the story.
Don’t get me wrong He’s writing and twisty storytelling is as brilliant as ever here and the characters were interesting and well established enough. However, the fast pacing with not much action was reminiscent of She Who Became the Sun and Daughter of the Moon Goddess, two other reads that I didn’t vibe with this year for similar reasons.
Everything was happening too fast for me, relationships and alliances included, and then the big plot twist didn’t shock me at all, I just skimmed over it and continued reading without much other thought.
Maybe being more familiar with the original story that this was inspired by would have given me a better understanding and appreciation for the nuances and links but unfortunately this wasn’t my cup of tea so I doubt I will be picking up the sequel.
If you’re a fan of historical c-dramas and Wuxia then I’d definitely recommend checking it out though!
Final Rating – 3.25/5 Stars
CW: violence, blood, injury, war, death, animal death, death of parents (off page), vomiting, physical abuse, terminal illness, grief
It breaks my heart to say this but I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to :(
I absolutely loved both of Joan He’s previous books, I just felt like there was something missing for me in this one that I can’t entirely put my finger on.
Strike the Zither is a reimagining of the Chinese epic Three Kingdoms with the twist that the leading characters are predominantly female – it has such an noteworthy and unique premise but I just couldn’t click with the story.
Don’t get me wrong He’s writing and twisty storytelling is as brilliant as ever here and the characters were interesting and well established enough. However, the fast pacing with not much action was reminiscent of She Who Became the Sun and Daughter of the Moon Goddess, two other reads that I didn’t vibe with this year for similar reasons.
Everything was happening too fast for me, relationships and alliances included, and then the big plot twist didn’t shock me at all, I just skimmed over it and continued reading without much other thought.
Maybe being more familiar with the original story that this was inspired by would have given me a better understanding and appreciation for the nuances and links but unfortunately this wasn’t my cup of tea so I doubt I will be picking up the sequel.
If you’re a fan of historical c-dramas and Wuxia then I’d definitely recommend checking it out though!
Final Rating – 3.25/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death
Moderate: Grief, Terminal illness, and Physical abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Animal death, and Vomit
displacedcactus's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book starts out a bit rough and I probably would have DNFed it if any of my other library requests were available, but I persevered and ultimately I'm glad I did. There was an unexpected twist at around the half-way mark that took the book in a different direction than I expected, and then how that twist played out was also different than I expected, so the author managed to keep me on my toes.
Still don't understand why she insisted on using words like "wardlordess", "prime minstress", and "milordess" and why her editor let her get away with it, but that's beside the point.
One thing I liked about this book is that Zephyr is pretty arrogant. It makes her unlikeable at times, but we could use more unlikeable female leads. But more to the point, so many YA heroines spend way too much of the book bemoaning how plain, unremarkable, and untalented they are. It was refreshing to see a young woman who was confident in her skills and her worth in the world, even if this unfortunately resulted in her being a bit of a jerk to people who didn't really deserve it.
If you'd like a fantasy-tinged YA retelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms where most of the main players are women, and you don't mind the inclusion of the typical 19 year old mysterious love interest, go ahead and give this a try.
Also, quick note: MC appears to be straight but there is a side character with a same-sex crush and this is treated as normal. The MC is a jerk about a lot of things but she's not a homophobe!
Still don't understand why she insisted on using words like "wardlordess", "prime minstress", and "milordess" and why her editor let her get away with it, but that's beside the point.
One thing I liked about this book is that Zephyr is pretty arrogant. It makes her unlikeable at times, but we could use more unlikeable female leads. But more to the point, so many YA heroines spend way too much of the book bemoaning how plain, unremarkable, and untalented they are. It was refreshing to see a young woman who was confident in her skills and her worth in the world, even if this unfortunately resulted in her being a bit of a jerk to people who didn't really deserve it.
If you'd like a fantasy-tinged YA retelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms where most of the main players are women, and you don't mind the inclusion of the typical 19 year old mysterious love interest, go ahead and give this a try.
Also, quick note: MC appears to be straight but there is a side character with a same-sex crush and this is treated as normal. The MC is a jerk about a lot of things but she's not a homophobe!
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Violence, and Chronic illness
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
TW animal death:betweentheshelves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
Loving all of these epic fantasyies based on different Asian mythologies! Admittedly, I don't know the Chinese classic that this one is based on, but the characters were great, the world building was great, and I was sucked in from the beginning. There's war, scheming, and a little bit of found family. Something for all kinds of historical fantasy lovers!
And the plot twists! Between the scheming and the plotting, there are twists that you don't see coming all throughout the book. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire book!
And the plot twists! Between the scheming and the plotting, there are twists that you don't see coming all throughout the book. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, and Death of parent