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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book did not end up where I expected and that's not a bad thing! I loved the world and I hope that the author writes more books in it because there was so much to explore and so much that was just mentioned in passing or very matter of fact-ly without going into it. For incredibly powerful beings with some seriously dark problems, the main characters were so sweet and I was rooting for them the whole way through. I feel like this easily could have been fleshed out into a duology but it never felt rushed, just a little focused.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Beyond unique, hilarious, and subtly moving. Probably my favorite romance ever, and certainly my most favorite contemporary work. The layers of characterization, the world building... I want ten more. I didn't even mind that it had spice (and I *hate* spice). I will hear no criticisms.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
I really loved this book! It was cozy, fast and still deep!
The world building is amazing, and I wish to visit this universe again. I am happy and satisfied with the ending, while still sad, and I love that!
Truly a must read.
The world building is amazing, and I wish to visit this universe again. I am happy and satisfied with the ending, while still sad, and I love that!
Truly a must read.
Unlike my last few 2 star reviews, I'm not morally opposed to anything in this book. I also don't think it's badly written or offensive or just...bad. It's just not for me.
- I found myself rooting for the villain. This isn't uncommon for me, but when the issues stem from the heroes being (imo) irresponsible and selfish, it's hard not to root for the bad guy who is trying to do the "right thing". We also know next to nothing about their brother, who is built up as a Big Bad, but who shows up for one scene and then is never seen or heard of again.
- I also found it weirdly paced. The climax of the story happens about 2/3 of the way through, and then it just sort of muddles along until the end. There was no Big Reveal. No final push from the baddie. No real challenge except some lacklustre solutions to dangling plot threads. I understand this book is like a love letter to xianxia, which is something I am entirely unfamiliar with so it would not surprise me in the least if I missed some obvious connections to storytelling conventions there.
- I found a lot of the dialogue cheesy, and not in the way I usually enjoy. No one seemed to speak like a real person.
- On a positive note, I really appreciated the diversity present in this one. Oberon being transphobic was a bit over-the-top villain-y but it felt natural otherwise.
Spoiler
- I found myself rooting for the villain. This isn't uncommon for me, but when the issues stem from the heroes being (imo) irresponsible and selfish, it's hard not to root for the bad guy who is trying to do the "right thing". We also know next to nothing about their brother, who is built up as a Big Bad, but who shows up for one scene and then is never seen or heard of again.
- I also found it weirdly paced. The climax of the story happens about 2/3 of the way through, and then it just sort of muddles along until the end. There was no Big Reveal. No final push from the baddie. No real challenge except some lacklustre solutions to dangling plot threads. I understand this book is like a love letter to xianxia, which is something I am entirely unfamiliar with so it would not surprise me in the least if I missed some obvious connections to storytelling conventions there.
- I found a lot of the dialogue cheesy, and not in the way I usually enjoy. No one seemed to speak like a real person.
- On a positive note, I really appreciated the diversity present in this one. Oberon being transphobic was a bit over-the-top villain-y but it felt natural otherwise.
oh my god is this half-baked…
how disappointing. I was so excited for this reading the premise but the author really flopped. Most of the plot was done by page 200 (a little more than halfway through the book). The following 100ish pages was just unnecessary fluff and romance that could have been eliminated. It’s literally yapping for yapping sakes.
The whole aspect about Shennong and Chinese medicine was so badly written. Asian authors gotta stop using their culture and heritage in detrimental ways like this. Capitalising on Traditional Chinese Medicine without giving it the details and respect it deserves is simply doing Asian culture a giant disservice, lazy writing, and clickbaity marketing. It was so intangible to the plot that it made no sense for such an allusion.
This premise and so much potential and so much more could have been done but the author decided that her 2 MCs making out for entire chapters was more important. The world building was lazy and non-existent to be real. The characters had one-dimensional personalities and you cannot connect with them.
don’t waste your time on this. GOD I wasted mine and I’m pissed.
how disappointing. I was so excited for this reading the premise but the author really flopped. Most of the plot was done by page 200 (a little more than halfway through the book). The following 100ish pages was just unnecessary fluff and romance that could have been eliminated. It’s literally yapping for yapping sakes.
The whole aspect about Shennong and Chinese medicine was so badly written. Asian authors gotta stop using their culture and heritage in detrimental ways like this. Capitalising on Traditional Chinese Medicine without giving it the details and respect it deserves is simply doing Asian culture a giant disservice, lazy writing, and clickbaity marketing. It was so intangible to the plot that it made no sense for such an allusion.
This premise and so much potential and so much more could have been done but the author decided that her 2 MCs making out for entire chapters was more important. The world building was lazy and non-existent to be real. The characters had one-dimensional personalities and you cannot connect with them.
don’t waste your time on this. GOD I wasted mine and I’m pissed.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes