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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
A book with wonderful theme about gender and sexuality and the way social norms shape our sens of self and fate, and the inherent freeing power of queerness when embraced!! sadly I truly didn't care for Baoxiang and the book is mostly about him soooo ...
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
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
Unfortunately I read this during the worst slump of my life but objectively this was so good and so well written.
A FLAWLESS retelling of the Ming Dynasty. No notes. Perfection. Loved every minute of it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Going into this book, I knew it would be a slow burn—one that required time and patience to fully appreciate. It ended up taking me three weeks to finish, which is much longer than my usual reading pace of a week or less. That said, did this book completely wow me? Not really. But I did enjoy returning to Zhu’s world.
The beginning and end were fantastic, but the middle dragged significantly, which is evident by my lack of tabs in that section. While I’m glad I read it to complete the full story and reach the ending, it didn’t have the same impact on me as the first book. That being said, the writing is absolutely stunning, and the characters remain a highlight. Just be prepared—this isn’t a page-turner, but rather a story that unfolds at its own pace.
The beginning and end were fantastic, but the middle dragged significantly, which is evident by my lack of tabs in that section. While I’m glad I read it to complete the full story and reach the ending, it didn’t have the same impact on me as the first book. That being said, the writing is absolutely stunning, and the characters remain a highlight. Just be prepared—this isn’t a page-turner, but rather a story that unfolds at its own pace.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2 because I hated most of this and an extra .5 because it's not a bad book, it just didn't work for me. could not relate to any of the characters whatsoever, it went on wayy too long and I hated everyone in it.