A review by girlreactionreads
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There was a lot I liked about this. The magic had such cool (and yet disturbing!) elements (even just the idea between how the glyphs are created and what they can do). But the tone had a weird mix of adult topics (sexy sex scenes, dissection of colonialism, empire, race/class) and teenage feelings (Jebi seems like SUCH an 8th grader, a lot of the conversations have a very silly feel, there’s a bit of “here we go on our grand adventure” tweeness to it). I felt like the tone wasn’t quite consistent about who its audience is/was. AND although I did like it, it QUITE pales in comparison intellectually to the Ninefox Gambit. Then again, ALL one’s novels can’t be the world’s most intriguing mindfuck, can they. 
Also Arazi was so by far my favorite character…but his conversation while delightful often felt so juvenile. But then…perhaps it should? Does gifted sentience need time to mature? I don’t know. Something to think about.