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A review by bondracstudios
Of Mountains And Seas by Emily Renk Hawthorne, Emily Renk Hawthorne, The Wishing Shelf, Paige Lawson
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Summary
Being a shifter can make you a target.
Statics (non-magical people) have a tendency to hunt down shifters if they aren’t careful. Being a static in a family of shifters can be devastating.
In a political climate where some shifters are pushing for a complete break from statics, one boy without magic discovers a way to steal power from others. Transfer stones are illegal and hard to come by, but desperation for acceptance motivates Davis to chase the magic they provide and hunt for more.
Steeped in Chinese Folklore, this tale of multigenerational relationships between shifters and statics explores what it means to have power, what people will do to harness it, and what others will do to keep their loved ones safe from it.
What We Like
•Shifter Folklore - A refreshing break from wolves, bears, and hawks; Renk Hawthorne beautifully incorporates mythological creatures from Chinese Folklore. Her descriptions of shifters in the form of Qilin (a unicorn-like deer/lion/dragon creature), white unicorn/fox hybrids, azure dragons, vermillion birds and more-- are mesmerizing. No prior experience with Chinese mythology needed! She paints the imagery of these forms with expertise.
• Shifting POVs - Spanning multiple generations and multiple character arcs, the story is woven together through various flashbacks to different time periods with ease. Jumping timelines can risk muddling up a story, but Of Mountains and Seas remains engrossing and organized for the best kinds of plot reveals.
• The Main Characters -
- We love a humanized villain! Despite the lengths he goes to in order to acquire magical abilities, it’s clear why Davis makes the choices he does. And, as readers, the experience of seeing how humanity (or lack thereof) can have lasting impacts for generations will cause you to reflect on how we interect with others, and explore who is being ostracized in our real-life communities.
- The FMCs: Ling • Meng • Nivi • Amber • Iris What a formidable cast of female characters! Dynamic, strong, loving, flawed people who grapple with their identities, their relationships, and their place in a community gripped by the binary of shifter/static politics.
- The narration: Natalie Naudus is an impeccable, narration queen!
Real Talk
Normally, we reserve this section for things that could have been better in a book, but... we have no improvement notes! Instead, let’s have some real talk about representation.
• Representing the Layers of Tradition - Set in the fictional, coastal, California town of Yuras, Of Mountains and Seas honors the rich history of the many, diverse cultures that make up Californian communities by unapologetically describing the established influence of Chinese immigration, especially in the late 19th century. While there is some brief backstory on one character’s circumstances in immigrating to the U.S., in general, there isn’t a feeling of preemptively needing to explain how these characters with deep connections to the traditions and mythos of their ancestral roots arrived in this setting. The Chinatown depicted in Yuras represents the connections these character have to their traditions, but also to the place their families have called home for generations. We appreciate that even in an urban fantasy set in a fictional town, the reality of diasporic hubs are a representation of real neighborhoods in so many cities across the U.S. that are integral to the fabric of their communities, and are not a novelty of Hollywood dramas.
• AAPI & BIPOC Representation - The characters are primarily Chinese/Chinese-American, with one main character born from a Chinese mother and Black father, and a few characters of South Asian heritage. In our reality, where AAPI/BIPOC authors get far more criticism in both the publishing world and the reader review spaces, we love to see this kind of representation breaking through. AAPI characters written by an AAPI author means we, the readers, are gifted with badass characters full of complex desires, relationships, and the full breadth of the human experience through a cultural lens that connects five and a half million Americans. Renk Hawthorne also takes the experience of the “model minority” stereotype and the impacts & pressures this stereotype can inflict. Walking the line between holding on to your culture but not “standing out” too much, is artfully woven into both the human and fantasy experience.
BonDrac Studios' Book Dragon Rating
This is an easy 5/5 on the Book Dragon Rating Scale. The fantasy aspect is magical, the human aspect is heartfelt, and we will shamelessly beg Emily Renk Hawthorne for a sequel!
Find it on Amazon HERE
Find it on Bookshop HERE
Being a shifter can make you a target.
Statics (non-magical people) have a tendency to hunt down shifters if they aren’t careful. Being a static in a family of shifters can be devastating.
In a political climate where some shifters are pushing for a complete break from statics, one boy without magic discovers a way to steal power from others. Transfer stones are illegal and hard to come by, but desperation for acceptance motivates Davis to chase the magic they provide and hunt for more.
Steeped in Chinese Folklore, this tale of multigenerational relationships between shifters and statics explores what it means to have power, what people will do to harness it, and what others will do to keep their loved ones safe from it.
What We Like
•Shifter Folklore - A refreshing break from wolves, bears, and hawks; Renk Hawthorne beautifully incorporates mythological creatures from Chinese Folklore. Her descriptions of shifters in the form of Qilin (a unicorn-like deer/lion/dragon creature), white unicorn/fox hybrids, azure dragons, vermillion birds and more-- are mesmerizing. No prior experience with Chinese mythology needed! She paints the imagery of these forms with expertise.
• Shifting POVs - Spanning multiple generations and multiple character arcs, the story is woven together through various flashbacks to different time periods with ease. Jumping timelines can risk muddling up a story, but Of Mountains and Seas remains engrossing and organized for the best kinds of plot reveals.
• The Main Characters -
- We love a humanized villain! Despite the lengths he goes to in order to acquire magical abilities, it’s clear why Davis makes the choices he does. And, as readers, the experience of seeing how humanity (or lack thereof) can have lasting impacts for generations will cause you to reflect on how we interect with others, and explore who is being ostracized in our real-life communities.
- The FMCs: Ling • Meng • Nivi • Amber • Iris What a formidable cast of female characters! Dynamic, strong, loving, flawed people who grapple with their identities, their relationships, and their place in a community gripped by the binary of shifter/static politics.
- The narration: Natalie Naudus is an impeccable, narration queen!
Real Talk
Normally, we reserve this section for things that could have been better in a book, but... we have no improvement notes! Instead, let’s have some real talk about representation.
• Representing the Layers of Tradition - Set in the fictional, coastal, California town of Yuras, Of Mountains and Seas honors the rich history of the many, diverse cultures that make up Californian communities by unapologetically describing the established influence of Chinese immigration, especially in the late 19th century. While there is some brief backstory on one character’s circumstances in immigrating to the U.S., in general, there isn’t a feeling of preemptively needing to explain how these characters with deep connections to the traditions and mythos of their ancestral roots arrived in this setting. The Chinatown depicted in Yuras represents the connections these character have to their traditions, but also to the place their families have called home for generations. We appreciate that even in an urban fantasy set in a fictional town, the reality of diasporic hubs are a representation of real neighborhoods in so many cities across the U.S. that are integral to the fabric of their communities, and are not a novelty of Hollywood dramas.
• AAPI & BIPOC Representation - The characters are primarily Chinese/Chinese-American, with one main character born from a Chinese mother and Black father, and a few characters of South Asian heritage. In our reality, where AAPI/BIPOC authors get far more criticism in both the publishing world and the reader review spaces, we love to see this kind of representation breaking through. AAPI characters written by an AAPI author means we, the readers, are gifted with badass characters full of complex desires, relationships, and the full breadth of the human experience through a cultural lens that connects five and a half million Americans. Renk Hawthorne also takes the experience of the “model minority” stereotype and the impacts & pressures this stereotype can inflict. Walking the line between holding on to your culture but not “standing out” too much, is artfully woven into both the human and fantasy experience.
BonDrac Studios' Book Dragon Rating
This is an easy 5/5 on the Book Dragon Rating Scale. The fantasy aspect is magical, the human aspect is heartfelt, and we will shamelessly beg Emily Renk Hawthorne for a sequel!
Find it on Amazon HERE
Find it on Bookshop HERE