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A review by bookish_spoonie
The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
2 Stars
I was so incredibly excited for this book as I love dragons and phoenix in fantasy. I also love asian related fantasy as I usually find them really interesting. Unfortunately this book just didn't work for me as there are much better similar books out there.
The Night Ends With Fire is about a young lady called Meilin who lives with an opium addicted Father who abuses her and her step mum. She is sold to another abusive man to be his wife to cover her Father's debts. Meilin has secretly trained with their servant in Kung Fu and other fighting techniques and so decides to pretend to be her Father's bastard son and join the war effort. She does this easily and is in Prince Sky's legion. Her and Sky train together at night and become close but he doesn't know she is a woman. Meilin also has a piece of Jade from her Mother which gives her spirit powers from a sea dragon who she can communicate with.
The worldbuilding for me was pretty weak. It was very surface level and I didn't feel immersed in the world due to lack of detail. The storyline was also incredibly simple and I guessed the few "twists". I even found the magic to be lacking in substance even though this was one of the better parts. The fighting scenes were sime of the worst I've read in a while and over super quickly. I also found that the story was repetitive with Meilin getting into trouble in some way and then finding a way out or an answer pretty easily and quickly. It became rather tiresome.
The characters were also lacking in any real personality and depth. Meilin was rightly the best character but even she was pretty surface level. The two Princes and her friends just seemed to be props to make the story continue and didn't have much about them. Because of this the romance was also boring.
The writing was easy and quick to read. Nothing special but not off putting at all. I did wish for more within it. For instance there was never any humour or any real deep conversations. For me, this is a young YA book because of the writing and basic storyline.
Overall, I am really sad that this didn't work for me. I was so excited for it and I constantly hoped it would improve but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend it and I won't be continuing this series.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
I was so incredibly excited for this book as I love dragons and phoenix in fantasy. I also love asian related fantasy as I usually find them really interesting. Unfortunately this book just didn't work for me as there are much better similar books out there.
The Night Ends With Fire is about a young lady called Meilin who lives with an opium addicted Father who abuses her and her step mum. She is sold to another abusive man to be his wife to cover her Father's debts. Meilin has secretly trained with their servant in Kung Fu and other fighting techniques and so decides to pretend to be her Father's bastard son and join the war effort. She does this easily and is in Prince Sky's legion. Her and Sky train together at night and become close but he doesn't know she is a woman. Meilin also has a piece of Jade from her Mother which gives her spirit powers from a sea dragon who she can communicate with.
The worldbuilding for me was pretty weak. It was very surface level and I didn't feel immersed in the world due to lack of detail. The storyline was also incredibly simple and I guessed the few "twists". I even found the magic to be lacking in substance even though this was one of the better parts. The fighting scenes were sime of the worst I've read in a while and over super quickly. I also found that the story was repetitive with Meilin getting into trouble in some way and then finding a way out or an answer pretty easily and quickly. It became rather tiresome.
The characters were also lacking in any real personality and depth. Meilin was rightly the best character but even she was pretty surface level. The two Princes and her friends just seemed to be props to make the story continue and didn't have much about them. Because of this the romance was also boring.
The writing was easy and quick to read. Nothing special but not off putting at all. I did wish for more within it. For instance there was never any humour or any real deep conversations. For me, this is a young YA book because of the writing and basic storyline.
Overall, I am really sad that this didn't work for me. I was so excited for it and I constantly hoped it would improve but to no avail. I wouldn't recommend it and I won't be continuing this series.
Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.