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A review by jamiesbookclub
Kingdom of Without by Andrea Tang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
I was willing to give this book lots of leeway because it seemed to be a young author's debut novel. It has plenty of the traps that debuts fall into: unnatural dialogue, cliche tropes, and info dumping to name a few.
I didn't mind, with debuts you have to let the story find its footing.
This is the author's 10th book.
Once I discovered that, the problems just became worse. There is no development in the character's relationships. At one point Cheng Yun goes on and on about how close Ge Rong and Ning'er are when we have seen them interact all of like 5 pages!!!
They talk about top secret information out in public all the time. They mention Cheng Yun's secret double life in front of everybody!! And if you had any interest in the plans or development of the heist you will find that missing. The main character is a THEIF and we don't see her theiving at all!
There was an interesting sci-fi world but the political unrest is not developed or based on anything other than "corrupt money hungry corporation".
It felt less like a storyline and more like it was following a checklist of tropes.
The comp titles for this story were "Les Miserable" "Six of Crows" and "Fullmetal Alchemist". All of which I am intimately familiar with. Instead of the wonderful characters, amazing writing, and complex world building that those stories have, this book has: a revolution, a heist, and an mc with prosthetic limbs. I feel lied to.
I didn't mind, with debuts you have to let the story find its footing.
This is the author's 10th book.
Once I discovered that, the problems just became worse. There is no development in the character's relationships. At one point Cheng Yun goes on and on about how close Ge Rong and Ning'er are when we have seen them interact all of like 5 pages!!!
They talk about top secret information out in public all the time. They mention Cheng Yun's secret double life in front of everybody!! And if you had any interest in the plans or development of the heist you will find that missing. The main character is a THEIF and we don't see her theiving at all!
There was an interesting sci-fi world but the political unrest is not developed or based on anything other than "corrupt money hungry corporation".
It felt less like a storyline and more like it was following a checklist of tropes.
The comp titles for this story were "Les Miserable" "Six of Crows" and "Fullmetal Alchemist". All of which I am intimately familiar with. Instead of the wonderful characters, amazing writing, and complex world building that those stories have, this book has: a revolution, a heist, and an mc with prosthetic limbs. I feel lied to.