starlings 's review for:

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

2.25

adventurous dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 I... didn't like this. I was really hoping to, having adored the Machineries of Empire series. But I couldn't connect with the protagonist, and the overall plot felt thematically messy. It felt as though Jebi was being ferried from one meditation on art/cultural oppression/the justification of violence to the next, while being entirely incurious about most of it. I honestly disliked Arazi the dragon, who seemed simultaneously innocent and hypercompetent.

I also hated the note it ended on.

It's a more depressing ending than any of the MoE books, even though those books are notably more grim and explore similar themes more thoughtfully. It was a bittersweet ending already, and entirely spoiled by 'actually everyone's doomed and all of this was for naught', no matter how realistic. It might be different if this were the first in a series, but as it is, the book loses a star just for that.

I knew going in that it wasn't going to be the same as MoE. I'll also still read more of Yoon Ha Lee's work, having enjoyed most of it. Still, I think it says a lot that I took a pause partway through reading this (for Life Reasons) and strongly considered leaving it unfinished.