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A review by gabykyu
Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit by Jesse Q. Sutanto
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I would say this book isn’t necessarily the most amazing book I’ve ever read, but it’s not terrible. It’s a bit higher than average but not nearly a 4 stars for me. The points of view switching with almost each chapter took a bit to get used to but once I got over it, it actually made the writing easy to follow.
The plot does feel very heavily character driven, as the story felt a bit hard to follow or decipher what was going on.I still do not understand if Theo performed a purification ceremony on Kai or if he fully sacrificed his life and was rewarded with living (albeit a shorter life now apparently??) and with Kai dispelling her demonic energy. Also, if Xiaohua is meant to be a celestial being as a dragon, and the book says celestial beings can dispel demons… why couldn’t she do that when Danny was attacked by Kai…? There’s a few more questions I have about this book tbh The story lost me a few times and I had to reread some pages over because I couldn’t understand how the characters got to that point in the story.
I kind of hope there’s more about Theo’s brother and his family in the next book, though I am not completely sold on if I will read it. Maybe I’ll seek it out in a library so I don’t spend my money on it. This book could be enjoyable to the middle grade audience it was intended for and I commend it for that. The diversity, the basis of why Theo feels so torn from his cultural heritage, and the hints as to the antagonists were good as well. The info-dumping could definitely have been handled better and the majority of Kai’s chapters felt like they were meant just to info/world-dump so I kind of wish she had MORE character in her chapters than just rambling on about the way spirits and the world works.
Otherwise, it’s a solidly average book.
The plot does feel very heavily character driven, as the story felt a bit hard to follow or decipher what was going on.
I kind of hope there’s more about Theo’s brother and his family in the next book, though I am not completely sold on if I will read it. Maybe I’ll seek it out in a library so I don’t spend my money on it. This book could be enjoyable to the middle grade audience it was intended for and I commend it for that. The diversity, the basis of why Theo feels so torn from his cultural heritage, and the hints as to the antagonists were good as well. The info-dumping could definitely have been handled better and the majority of Kai’s chapters felt like they were meant just to info/world-dump so I kind of wish she had MORE character in her chapters than just rambling on about the way spirits and the world works.
Otherwise, it’s a solidly average book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Xenophobia
The death is literally mentioned in the summary so you know what you’re going into. The xenophobia is not very prominent but I feel like it’s moderate as it does seem like an issue that shaped who Theo is.