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A review by redheadreading
A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin
adventurous
slow-paced
3.0
Judy I Lin has crafted such a gorgeous world and I love all the little details, pointing out how embroidery style differs between regions, mouthwatering descriptions of food, beautiful details about the scenery and, of course, the fabulous magic system of the shennong shi and their tea brewing powers (although it's much less present in this than the first).
I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book, alas. I missed the court politics and intrigues, whereas this was more of a quest narrative for Ning. I think I've read a few books lately which begin rooted in court politics and end up becoming quite fantastical with demons and questing to find magical items and personally I always find myself missing the original plotline. It was interesting getting Kang's perspective in this, I guess, particularly as it's narrated in a slightly different way to Ning's, but he does spend quite a lot of time in the dark so isn't particularly thrilling! On the whole, I think Judy I Lin has some real strengths in her writing, some gorgeous descriptions and interesting ideas, but I feel quite disappointed overall with how this duopoly has concluded.
I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book, alas. I missed the court politics and intrigues, whereas this was more of a quest narrative for Ning. I think I've read a few books lately which begin rooted in court politics and end up becoming quite fantastical with demons and questing to find magical items and personally I always find myself missing the original plotline. It was interesting getting Kang's perspective in this, I guess, particularly as it's narrated in a slightly different way to Ning's, but he does spend quite a lot of time in the dark so isn't particularly thrilling! On the whole, I think Judy I Lin has some real strengths in her writing, some gorgeous descriptions and interesting ideas, but I feel quite disappointed overall with how this duopoly has concluded.