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beccaras 's review for:
A Venom Dark and Sweet
by Judy I. Lin
DID NOT FINISH
DNF around 40%
This didn't work for me the way the first book did.
A Magic Steeped in Poison was fun, original, had great world building, and an intriguing magic system. This book lost a lot of that originality and was, in my opinion, quite boring.
I really didn't like the changing perspectives in this. I'm not usually a fan of multiple POV and I wasn't expecting it in this novel since the first one is only in Ning's POV. I understand why Lin did this as we wouldn't be able to see what was happening in the palace without the second POV, but it just didn't work for me. Kang's POV is in third person while Ning's is in first so it was jarring to switch back and forth. Since Kang's perspective is written in third person, it feels distant, and when things are happening to staff that we got to know from Ning's perspective, they're hard to recognize because Kang doesn't know them.
This being a quest driven book (with a newly established second enemy no less) also was a downside for me. The first book was about a competition set in one particular place, so we were able to learn about palace life in a very immersive way. This book however... It's just moving from Point A to Point B to Point C and honestly? That made it boring to read and I found myself skim reading which lead me to DNF'ing this.
Judy Lin's writing still does shine in this book which made me try to push through. It's lyrical yet easy to read in a way that makes the time fly by. Her descriptions of food and landscapes are just *chef's kiss*.
This didn't work for me the way the first book did.
A Magic Steeped in Poison was fun, original, had great world building, and an intriguing magic system. This book lost a lot of that originality and was, in my opinion, quite boring.
I really didn't like the changing perspectives in this. I'm not usually a fan of multiple POV and I wasn't expecting it in this novel since the first one is only in Ning's POV. I understand why Lin did this as we wouldn't be able to see what was happening in the palace without the second POV, but it just didn't work for me. Kang's POV is in third person while Ning's is in first so it was jarring to switch back and forth. Since Kang's perspective is written in third person, it feels distant, and when things are happening to staff that we got to know from Ning's perspective, they're hard to recognize because Kang doesn't know them.
This being a quest driven book (with a newly established second enemy no less) also was a downside for me. The first book was about a competition set in one particular place, so we were able to learn about palace life in a very immersive way. This book however... It's just moving from Point A to Point B to Point C and honestly? That made it boring to read and I found myself skim reading which lead me to DNF'ing this.
Judy Lin's writing still does shine in this book which made me try to push through. It's lyrical yet easy to read in a way that makes the time fly by. Her descriptions of food and landscapes are just *chef's kiss*.