A review by emptyreadings
The Floating World by Axie Oh

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I’m so glad I got around to this one, it had been shelved for a while. Jaeil is a mystery that I so want to know more about. He has a complicated relationship with the politics of his search for his long lost friend while also being basically in love with her since childhood. Sunho’s instant want to protect and defend Ren is a little plot convenient as he doesn’t really wrestle too much with the quandary of sidelining the search for his brother in order to follow Ren. Their destinations do end up lining up but he was pretty quick to be like “oh I like her and she’s pretty and so I will continue to protect her.” It’s not that I don’t like their relationship, I find it nice. It makes sense to me why she likes him– he’s so tortured and really is there for her. 

Some plot elements (wandering about after the train car incident) felt drawn out without the pressing feeling of immediacy while the end of the book felt rushed in comparison. The danger of being discovered is something that could have been taken more seriously by all parties involved, it kind of felt like there was a lack of urgency in the looming reality off scouts and assassins coming for Ren. The world building is cool to me and I really was compelled by this mithril demon situation. The visual of blue iridescent blood is pretty awesome. 3.25/5, I need my man Jaeil to really make waves in the second book.