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nisha13's review against another edition
3.0
It was okay, but doesn't flow nearly as well as some of the author's other works
makennas_'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
5.0
thejadylady's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
It was good but the ending felt very rushed and random
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
pewterwolf's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure how I got on to reading this book, but after Atom Books got excited about this book deal on Twitter and after getting some info on it, I got excited. It was such a different read for me that it held my attention. So, when I got a copy from the lovely peeps of Atom Books, I decided I had to read it.
The Kingdom is in crisis. The sun hasn't shone in years, the crops are failing and strange and terrible creatures have begun to appear. Do the mysertious fairy people, the Xi, know something?
To solve to crisis, the King sends a small group to the City of the Fairy Queen. Within this small band is Kaede and Taisin. Taisin is a Sage-in-Training and Kaede is of the Earth, with no magic within her.
As they go on their jounrey, emotions run high and things happen that might not last happen...
Now, for those of you that have read Malindo Lo's debut novel, Ash, this is a loose prequel, set several centries before Ash. So, you can read Huntress if you have or haven't read Ash.
The story was a pure fantasy, which makes a nice change for me as I always read books that are set in the real world. What was more interesting that there were times that I read this that it felt like I was reading a Chinese myth.
Another thing that makes this story different from the others I've read it that there is a same sex relationship. And it was written in such a sweet way, that it felt normal. And, in the world that Huntress, having a same sex relationship is normal and not frowned upon. Within the first three chapters, we realise that same sex marriages happen and are recongized as accepted.
I really like Huntress and I quite happy that I've read it. I seem to have had a good run of books that I've liked recently, haven't I? Here's hoping I find more and I enjoy Malinda Lo's next novel.
The Kingdom is in crisis. The sun hasn't shone in years, the crops are failing and strange and terrible creatures have begun to appear. Do the mysertious fairy people, the Xi, know something?
To solve to crisis, the King sends a small group to the City of the Fairy Queen. Within this small band is Kaede and Taisin. Taisin is a Sage-in-Training and Kaede is of the Earth, with no magic within her.
As they go on their jounrey, emotions run high and things happen that might not last happen...
Now, for those of you that have read Malindo Lo's debut novel, Ash, this is a loose prequel, set several centries before Ash. So, you can read Huntress if you have or haven't read Ash.
The story was a pure fantasy, which makes a nice change for me as I always read books that are set in the real world. What was more interesting that there were times that I read this that it felt like I was reading a Chinese myth.
Another thing that makes this story different from the others I've read it that there is a same sex relationship. And it was written in such a sweet way, that it felt normal. And, in the world that Huntress, having a same sex relationship is normal and not frowned upon. Within the first three chapters, we realise that same sex marriages happen and are recongized as accepted.
I really like Huntress and I quite happy that I've read it. I seem to have had a good run of books that I've liked recently, haven't I? Here's hoping I find more and I enjoy Malinda Lo's next novel.
vizira's review against another edition
I want to love Malinda Lo so bad since she sort of THE ya wlw writer but ... this is the third book of hers I've tried. So far, this book, like the previous two have just been sort of ok. I think I just have to accept she's not for me!
lady_valhella's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
jmoses's review against another edition
3.0
This was pretty good. I found it a little flat, but that's normal for me and YA. Even with that in mind, I'd have liked to have gone into more detail about the girls relationship, and about the world in general.
lezreadalot's review against another edition
2.0
Word-wise, lyrically, Malinda Lo is a really good writer. And alas, that's pretty much the only good thing I have to say about this book.
Bullet points:
- Omniscient POV. Thanks, I hate it. Stop telling me what every single character, every NPC, every rando who shows up for two pages, is thinking. Leave SOMETHING to the imagination. My first source of real frustration with this is when Kaede is saying goodbye to her father, and wondering if he actually cares about that. Why not leave the reader with that, let us share in her worries and doubts, instead of IMMEDIATELY switching to the father's POV to let us know he's worried. And even outside of this... I really wish she would just stick to one POV per scene. All this bouncing back and forth is exhausting.
- For me, character interaction will always trump plot, but I got so little out of the characters here. I mean, I guess I like Kaede and Taisin? But after that entire book I feel like we just got surface views of them. Who are they, as people? Did they even like each other? You say that they fell in love but... did they actually. And the side characters were paper thin. Chances are, if someone says something interesting and you wonder, 'hmm, that's neat, when will we come back to that'... don't bother wondering. You won't come back to it. RIP, metaphorically, Mona .
- The plot is all over the place. "You don't care about plots." True. But this was pretty bad. There was no clear villain except a vague sense of dread for almost 3/4 of the book, new plot elements were introduced with a finger-snap, too much time was spent on trivialities and not enough time on important things, and the resolution was just... it was bad!
I really wanted this to be good. Lesbians of colour! Fantasy! Adventure! THAT'S MY BRAND! But other than Malinda Lo's extremely pretty prose, there's just... nothing to recommend here.
Bullet points:
- Omniscient POV. Thanks, I hate it. Stop telling me what every single character, every NPC, every rando who shows up for two pages, is thinking. Leave SOMETHING to the imagination. My first source of real frustration with this is when Kaede is saying goodbye to her father, and wondering if he actually cares about that. Why not leave the reader with that, let us share in her worries and doubts, instead of IMMEDIATELY switching to the father's POV to let us know he's worried. And even outside of this... I really wish she would just stick to one POV per scene. All this bouncing back and forth is exhausting.
- For me, character interaction will always trump plot, but I got so little out of the characters here. I mean, I guess I like Kaede and Taisin? But after that entire book I feel like we just got surface views of them. Who are they, as people? Did they even like each other? You say that they fell in love but... did they actually. And the side characters were paper thin. Chances are, if someone says something interesting and you wonder, 'hmm, that's neat, when will we come back to that'... don't bother wondering. You won't come back to it. RIP, metaphorically, Mona .
- The plot is all over the place. "You don't care about plots." True. But this was pretty bad. There was no clear villain except a vague sense of dread for almost 3/4 of the book, new plot elements were introduced with a finger-snap, too much time was spent on trivialities and not enough time on important things, and the resolution was just... it was bad!
I really wanted this to be good. Lesbians of colour! Fantasy! Adventure! THAT'S MY BRAND! But other than Malinda Lo's extremely pretty prose, there's just... nothing to recommend here.
indecisivesailorscout's review against another edition
2.0
If this drags on any longer, I'll be dead before I finish this book. Siiiiigh.