Reviews

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

elisebrancheau's review against another edition

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2.0

I’m giving this two stars because I liked the premise (as printed on the back of the book, and in the first quarter or so of the book), but that’s about all I liked. I wanted it to be so much more. I thought the idea of Christian missionaries trying to convert the fae was a really interesting and original idea…but it somehow became an incestuous love story. WHY. I was excited to finally read a book - a fantasy book at that - with a nonromantic relationship at its core…thought I was safe with the central characters being brother and sister, but nope. What did this bring to the story? You couldn’t pick a different taboo topic or sin to explore? Why try to force the reader to get on board with incest? What could have been a fantastical story examining the effects of colonization, of evangelizing, of loss of faith, of loss of identity…ended up being a rambling story about incest with writing that tried way too hard and a plot that didn’t know where it was going. So disappointed, confused, and grossed out.

entropyre's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

beeandbiscuits's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cilantro's review against another edition

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Lots of conflicting thoughts.... I'll post a proper review once I've digested it

frunge's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

This book was an interesting story and a wonderful example of imaginative world building. My challenge with this book though was the flow of the story; it really did feel as though the author had written separate interesting scenes and then just mashed them together and hoped that it worked. The plot got quite confusing and slightly dull...that is until the last 10-15 pages, where the twist made it all make sense. It's just a shame it took that long. 

aliendaydreamer's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

2.5

Cool concept but why the
Incest

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_ash0_'s review against another edition

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DNF@ 35 pages
Way too boring. I didn't like the writing style at all. I heard people say this book is a Gothic fantasy and people who love Wuthering Heights will love it. But this book had no plot except for a sister looking for her brother in faeland. Nothing about the story made me want to read further. I read the big "twist" at the end and I am glad I didn't continue reading as it wasn't worth slogging for 400 pages. Also too much of Christian theology which I have no interest in learning about.

TW: I wish I knew this book had incest. I cannot read a book about incest without feeling yuck so nope, not my cup of tea.

phettberg's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

katiecakes034's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.75

I really really enjoyed this book. It was dark, gothic, and filled with moral ambiguity. This book had the complexity I was craving in a fae-themed fantasy and was excellently written. I loved all of the research and lore that went into crafting this novel. The fae are the ultimate tricksters and when I say dark, I mean it. I wish it had been a little faster paced, but otherwise, I think it’s brilliant. An excellent debut I will be thinking about for a long time.

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almadenell's review

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It started to get weirdly incest-y.

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