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A review by evidoe
The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
This book was full of strong and interesting female characters and non-stop action. The martial arts-based fantasy was fun and inventive. It also had strong feminist and queer themes throughout. The story takes place with a group of women (and queer) outlaws with varying backgrounds and moral compasses. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric, fitting perfectly with the style and scenery of the story. The scenery and action-packed plot made this book for me. It was an exciting ride.
This book took me longer to read than expected, partly because a lot happened and it was quite a heavy read, and partly because there were so many characters, and I needed to slow down to pay attention and keep track. The number of characters and plot in this book also meant that while the characters were so distinct, more time was focused on the plot rather than fleshing out the characters. There were a lot of characters we didn't get to spend much time with because there were so many, so people who prefer character-driven stories may find this less enjoyable, however, I really enjoyed the variety of perspectives of the central characters of the plot and I did really like how morally complex the assortment of characters was
I would strongly advise readers to pay attention to the content warnings of this book. The world this book is set in is harsh and unforgiving, and some readers may find this too confronting. This book comes with several trigger warnings, around sexual assault, torture, violence and cannibalism.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, but the heavy and violent content and the number of characters to keep track of meant this book took time and concentration to read to enjoy. I found myself needing to take a lot of breaks.
This book took me longer to read than expected, partly because a lot happened and it was quite a heavy read, and partly because there were so many characters, and I needed to slow down to pay attention and keep track. The number of characters and plot in this book also meant that while the characters were so distinct, more time was focused on the plot rather than fleshing out the characters. There were a lot of characters we didn't get to spend much time with because there were so many, so people who prefer character-driven stories may find this less enjoyable, however, I really enjoyed the variety of perspectives of the central characters of the plot and I did really like how morally complex the assortment of characters was
I would strongly advise readers to pay attention to the content warnings of this book. The world this book is set in is harsh and unforgiving, and some readers may find this too confronting. This book comes with several trigger warnings, around sexual assault, torture, violence and cannibalism.
Overall I really enjoyed this book, but the heavy and violent content and the number of characters to keep track of meant this book took time and concentration to read to enjoy. I found myself needing to take a lot of breaks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Torture, Violence, and Sexual assault