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A review by shinku
Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
1.0
I cannot believe there’s batik in a fantasy world, with the character wearing it described like a stereotypical Indonesian with brown skin. You can’t even argue it’s just the inspiration or reimagination for a fantasy story because it’s not a similar form of art, it’s batik. It has its own history. When it’s not your culture, either do your research properly or don’t write about it at all. If I see another Filipino author writing about Indonesians (or seemingly Indonesian-inspired fantasy race) wearing batik, I would scream.
That aside, the writing is so juvenile and unpolished. For a book that offers such an interesting premise, it sure spends a lot of time focusing on the aspect that matters the least: the love triangle. Who cares about the competition and the stakes, don’t we all love a good old love triangle with flat characters and zero chemistry? Priorities, man. I pushed through for the food because that was the only thing I cared about in this book, but it ends so abruptly it feels unfinished. It makes no sense, and the payoff is so not worth it.
That aside, the writing is so juvenile and unpolished. For a book that offers such an interesting premise, it sure spends a lot of time focusing on the aspect that matters the least: the love triangle. Who cares about the competition and the stakes, don’t we all love a good old love triangle with flat characters and zero chemistry? Priorities, man. I pushed through for the food because that was the only thing I cared about in this book, but it ends so abruptly it feels unfinished. It makes no sense, and the payoff is so not worth it.