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livres_de_bloss's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced such a rollercoaster of opinions than I did reading this book!
Part One was 5/5. I really enjoyed the beginning of this story when Zhu escapes her village and her years in the monastery. For a while there, I thought this was going to become a new favourite!
Part Two was where it started to lose me. We got introduced to the Mongol characters and those chapters were so dull! I don’t have much interest in war jargon and strategy which deeply impacted my engagement with this. I was skimming those sections toward the end. Zhu was also becoming more and more of a power-hungry twat which cooled my investment in her character.
Part Three was a train wreck. I lost all remaining support and interest in Zhu. The book reached its gory peak in this section too and, call me a prude or whatever, but I really could have lived without the graphic (and dare I say violent)fisting scene . It didn’t add anything to the story, and I really don’t see why we had to spend so many pages on it… It really grossed me out and shock value in a book isn’t my jam.
I didn’t understand Zhu’s obsession with greatness and power either. Basically, it consumes her and makes her a nightmare.
So, while this started off great, it spiraled for me from there. I’m unlikely to pick up the second one.
Part One was 5/5. I really enjoyed the beginning of this story when Zhu escapes her village and her years in the monastery. For a while there, I thought this was going to become a new favourite!
Part Two was where it started to lose me. We got introduced to the Mongol characters and those chapters were so dull! I don’t have much interest in war jargon and strategy which deeply impacted my engagement with this. I was skimming those sections toward the end. Zhu was also becoming more and more of a power-hungry twat which cooled my investment in her character.
Part Three was a train wreck. I lost all remaining support and interest in Zhu. The book reached its gory peak in this section too and, call me a prude or whatever, but I really could have lived without the graphic (and dare I say violent)
I didn’t understand Zhu’s obsession with greatness and power either. Basically, it consumes her and makes her a nightmare.
So, while this started off great, it spiraled for me from there. I’m unlikely to pick up the second one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Violence, and Murder
jmitchell20's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I so wanted to love this book but honestly, I really had to push myself through the last 50%. Zhu's character just felt so two-dimentional in her single-mindedness to get her "fate". And I felt like I couldn't follow who most of the side characters were on both sides, it was all just a bit messy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
Minor: War
14silja's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, War, Blood, and Death
themdash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, and Sexism
sirpasta's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death
laguerrelewis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book, like its characters, contains multitudes. It reflects on gender, survival, ambition, society, discrimination, loyalty, identity, and even more than I name here. It also manages to tell an epic story on top of all that. For that I praise Shelley Parker-Chan. My only gripes with this book are that it takes a very long time to get into the meat of the book, that the prose is beautiful at the expense of sometimes distancing us from the characters (who were truly my favorite aspect of this story) and there is a very interesting connection made with fate and biological sex throughout the story, but ultimately I, as a nonbinary reader, felt wasn’t explored as well as it could have been. All in all I recommend this book and enjoyed it, though I will say I am not in a rush to pick up the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Abandonment, Child death, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Medical content, Classism, Excrement, Homophobia, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and War
moreadsnrambles's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I really enjoyed the complexity of this book. I was worried that it would be overwhelming as someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy but I thought the premise was really interesting and the book was really good! Somehow I both liked and disliked a lot of the characters’ choices, often at the same time, but I really enjoyed getting to know their lives and stories!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Ableism, Islamophobia, Misogyny, and Slavery
chelseanaylor's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A good read, if a little slow at times. I really enjoyed the overarching theme of one's ability to shape their own fate.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, War, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal death
jess_always_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
I absolutely loved this story. The writing is beautifully done, evoking emotion in even the meanest description. Parker-Chan was able to conveying so much with each character's portrayal and the plots, machinations, and political movements were intriguing. I truly had no idea where this would end up when I started.
The queer themes added a wonderful complexity to the storylines. Parker-Chan treats the queerness of their characters as an added dimension rather than a heavy-handed all-encompassing character trait. Though there's a place for that too, I really appreciated the way they crafted those parts of the story. It fit well and felt realistic.
The story does depect violence, death, and dark themes but not in a gratuitous way.
10/10 would recommend!
The queer themes added a wonderful complexity to the storylines. Parker-Chan treats the queerness of their characters as an added dimension rather than a heavy-handed all-encompassing character trait. Though there's a place for that too, I really appreciated the way they crafted those parts of the story. It fit well and felt realistic.
The story does depect violence, death, and dark themes but not in a gratuitous way.
10/10 would recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief, Sexual violence, Slavery, Animal death, and Vomit
jennswan's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual content, Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, and Violence