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yourbookishbff's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
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? No
4.5
This is the prequel to Thomas's historical romance, My Beautiful Enemy, and functions as a coming-of-age story for our eventual main characters, Ying Ying and Leighton. This was published prior to My Beautiful Enemy, but can be read either before or after, as I do feel like they each stand alone. I loved spending more time with these characters after falling in love with them in MBE, and appreciated how well-built this story was (with a tight page count and a story spanning multiple continents, no less). This has fascinating wuxia elements that build out our lightly fantastical world, and is high stakes, tense and action packed from start to finish. I highly recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction - we don't have a primary romance in this installment, but it delivers in MBE!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Suicide, Homophobia, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Confinement
Moderate: Infidelity, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Pregnancy
Graphic on-page suicide of parent in the first 30%.nutmegknits's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Confinement, Child abuse, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual assault and Forced institutionalization
heydebigale's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
CW: homophobia, death by suicide, violence
Definitely check content warnings on this one before reading.
A story of two children connected through a mutual friend. One is in China, the other in England. This is the prequel to My Beautiful Enemy, but is a compelling story in its own.
It’s a coming of age historical fiction.
Notes: takes place in Peking, China (now Beijing) and Sussex, England. Ying-Ying is Chinese and Leighton is English. There are gay side characters (leighton’s father & Herb).
Definitely check content warnings on this one before reading.
A story of two children connected through a mutual friend. One is in China, the other in England. This is the prequel to My Beautiful Enemy, but is a compelling story in its own.
It’s a coming of age historical fiction.
Notes: takes place in Peking, China (now Beijing) and Sussex, England. Ying-Ying is Chinese and Leighton is English. There are gay side characters (leighton’s father & Herb).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Homophobia, Violence, and Blood
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