A review by sahibooknerd
A Snake Lies Waiting: The Definitive Edition by Jin Yong

3.0

I didn’t take too long this time to start the third book after finishing the second because A Heart Divided ended on quite a tense note and I wanted to know what was gonna happen next. 

I think I enjoyed this book more in first 30-40% on the ships and the remote island. The confrontations between Count Seven Hong, Guo Jing and the Ouyangs was fun to read about and it was interesting to see how the tides kept changing in each of their favor quite frequently. But some of the middle part felt boring because of the whole eavesdropping from a secret room in the inn setting, especially because drastic things kept happening outside and I just couldn’t grapple with Lotus’s reactions. I agree she is playful and doesn’t care about anyone, but she just came across as cavalier of other people’s lives sometimes. I also hated that the good guys kept being good and even helping the bad guys, despite only getting treachery in return every single time  - it just felt so pointless if the bad guys were always gonna get the upper hand because the good guys couldn’t comprehend their evil. Yang Kang is ofcourse devious as hell and I pity Mercy for always falling for his charms. 

I know there’s only one book left now and I’m very excited to get to the final portion of this story, but I hope the good guys get more smart and don’t fall for the evil ones all the time. I have a basic idea of how the story ends but I am eager to see how we reach there.