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A review by riotbatgrrl
Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien
I was tempted to rate this higher than I otherwise would because there was a pearl-clutching review on here that was all, "THIS BOOK IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN BECAUSE SAME-SEX ATTRACTION AND GENDER-BENDING" and I just... Stop??? Preventing kids from reading about LGBTQ characters and gender-nonconforming characters is actively damaging to them????
The content of this book was entirely appropriate for the age-level it's aimed at. There's a very gentle romance that doesn't go beyond holding hands and the thought of kissing (but no kiss happens), and even the "topless fight scene" mentioned by SLJ as THE reason to not buy the book (but not mentioned in aforementioned Goodreads review) was fine -- it wasn't titillating or sexual in any way (and none of the characters took it as such), nor was it described graphically (or really described at all beyond the basics so that you know what happened). It was an obvious depiction of an escalation of bullying, which the character in question overcomes. Reminded me of a similar scene in Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.
Anyway, actual thoughts about the book:
I think Henry Lien has lived in the world of Pearl and Shin for a very long time. The world-building was mostly great, but there were moments where there was an assumed familiarity that the readers did not yet have. I really did love the concept of a figure-skating/kung-fu mashup, but it wasn't always clear to me what the various moves were supposed to look like. Peasprout was infuriating and so wrapped up in protecting herself and her brother -- but mostly herself -- that she smashed his dreams on purpose. The political intrigue was pretty interesting, though it took Peasprout an embarrassingly long time to realize that the Dowager Empress was using her as a pawn. I guessed the big twist about halfway through and it made some of the interactions in the second half very sad. Peasprout really only showed signs of character development after the main conflict was resolved.
The content of this book was entirely appropriate for the age-level it's aimed at. There's a very gentle romance that doesn't go beyond holding hands and the thought of kissing (but no kiss happens), and even the "topless fight scene" mentioned by SLJ as THE reason to not buy the book (but not mentioned in aforementioned Goodreads review) was fine -- it wasn't titillating or sexual in any way (and none of the characters took it as such), nor was it described graphically (or really described at all beyond the basics so that you know what happened). It was an obvious depiction of an escalation of bullying, which the character in question overcomes. Reminded me of a similar scene in Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass.
Anyway, actual thoughts about the book:
I think Henry Lien has lived in the world of Pearl and Shin for a very long time. The world-building was mostly great, but there were moments where there was an assumed familiarity that the readers did not yet have. I really did love the concept of a figure-skating/kung-fu mashup, but it wasn't always clear to me what the various moves were supposed to look like. Peasprout was infuriating and so wrapped up in protecting herself and her brother -- but mostly herself -- that she smashed his dreams on purpose. The political intrigue was pretty interesting, though it took Peasprout an embarrassingly long time to realize that the Dowager Empress was using her as a pawn. I guessed the big twist about halfway through and it made some of the interactions in the second half very sad. Peasprout really only showed signs of character development after the main conflict was resolved.