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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.5⭐️
Non so se è perché mi sono adattata allo stile, ma questo secondo libro l'ho trovato molto più coinvolgente sotto tutti i punti di vista. L'aggiunta di alcuni pov è gestita alla perfezione, interessanti e particolari, di nuovo un ottimo lavoro di caratterizzazione. Il percorso dei personaggi, come cambiano e si evolvono è davvero spettacolare. La storia si è fatta più complessa e intrigante, intrighi e complotti fanno da padrone, staccandosi dalle battaglie e strategie militari del primo libro. L'unico difetto che ho trovato è nella trama: alcuni passaggi sono un po' troppo forzati, Zhu riesce in cose troppo assurde. Parzialmente giustifico la questione per come viene trattato il tema del destino e per il fatto che palesemente l'attenzione dell'autrice è su tutt'altro
Recensione completa✨
Non so se è perché mi sono adattata allo stile, ma questo secondo libro l'ho trovato molto più coinvolgente sotto tutti i punti di vista. L'aggiunta di alcuni pov è gestita alla perfezione, interessanti e particolari, di nuovo un ottimo lavoro di caratterizzazione. Il percorso dei personaggi, come cambiano e si evolvono è davvero spettacolare. La storia si è fatta più complessa e intrigante, intrighi e complotti fanno da padrone, staccandosi dalle battaglie e strategie militari del primo libro. L'unico difetto che ho trovato è nella trama: alcuni passaggi sono un po' troppo forzati, Zhu riesce in cose troppo assurde. Parzialmente giustifico la questione per come viene trattato il tema del destino e per il fatto che palesemente l'attenzione dell'autrice è su tutt'altro
Recensione completa✨
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This story took on the difficult task of taking all the brightness of book one and showing us the shadows that inevitably form beneath without making the story or characters feel stagnant or letting them lose their ambition. Vulnerability entwined with cruelty, ambition with betrayal, and the ever-present question resurging like a heartbeat: “will it be worth it?”
Zhu has the same drive as ever, and I think keeping her as this anchor while shifting the world around her kept the story balanced. She’s cunning, willing to take steps that others would balk at, and willing to take blame and shoulder responsibility for all of it. Though she is told once, early on, “you are young enough to believe that, since you haven’t experienced loss, you will never lose” - and of course that simply must come back with a vengeance later. And my how hard that hit when it did.
Then there is General Ouyang, coming apart at the seams, slavering in his mindless desperation for revenge, to “make it all worth it” in the wake of the ending of the previous book. He is rabid with it, and it gives him a jagged edge that drags at and catches on the other characters in brilliant and devastating ways. His story is quite likely the most tragic of the lot, though none are particularly happy.
And Baoxiang who could outsmart and out-strategize everyone else in the cast, who is so gutted by his own darkness that he’s drowning in it (the title is all about him, by the way), who consistently mistakes his vulnerability for the cruelty he tells himself it must be, even as he is laid bare all the same. His story felt so much more human.
I was a little sad to see less of Ma in the story, but when she does finally take center stage, it is well worth the wait. Her empathy, freely given, provides such a good foil for Zhu and the other men.
The darkness of the story, the consequences for lives carelessly spent like so much coin, and the very real emotional center at the heart of each of our main cast cemented this one as a new favorite for me.
{Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Tor for the DRC; all thoughts are my own}
Zhu has the same drive as ever, and I think keeping her as this anchor while shifting the world around her kept the story balanced. She’s cunning, willing to take steps that others would balk at, and willing to take blame and shoulder responsibility for all of it. Though she is told once, early on, “you are young enough to believe that, since you haven’t experienced loss, you will never lose” - and of course that simply must come back with a vengeance later. And my how hard that hit when it did.
Then there is General Ouyang, coming apart at the seams, slavering in his mindless desperation for revenge, to “make it all worth it” in the wake of the ending of the previous book. He is rabid with it, and it gives him a jagged edge that drags at and catches on the other characters in brilliant and devastating ways. His story is quite likely the most tragic of the lot, though none are particularly happy.
And Baoxiang who could outsmart and out-strategize everyone else in the cast, who is so gutted by his own darkness that he’s drowning in it (the title is all about him, by the way), who consistently mistakes his vulnerability for the cruelty he tells himself it must be, even as he is laid bare all the same. His story felt so much more human.
I was a little sad to see less of Ma in the story, but when she does finally take center stage, it is well worth the wait. Her empathy, freely given, provides such a good foil for Zhu and the other men.
The darkness of the story, the consequences for lives carelessly spent like so much coin, and the very real emotional center at the heart of each of our main cast cemented this one as a new favorite for me.
{Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Tor for the DRC; all thoughts are my own}
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a satisfying end to the duology. The world was just as bleak as in the first book, and the characters just as layered.
This series does a great job of exploring sexuality and gender in a period with rigid expectations. This book in particular delved into using sex for power and manipulation as well as pleasure. It was interesting to see each main character either fight against or come to terms with their varied identities.
Overall, this is definitely not a feel-good time, but a good read!
This series does a great job of exploring sexuality and gender in a period with rigid expectations. This book in particular delved into using sex for power and manipulation as well as pleasure. It was interesting to see each main character either fight against or come to terms with their varied identities.
Overall, this is definitely not a feel-good time, but a good read!