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A review by ketreads
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
adventurous
hopeful
2.5
This is a book bought 100% on cover vibes alone, and I have had to sit with my thoughts for a while before feeling ready to write this review.
The good:
The setting of this book is in a fantasy version of Japanese-occupied Korea, and it does a fantastic job of portraying how this setting and the complex emotions it brings affect our main character of Jebi. As an artist, I don't always love reading about fellow artists, (especially from authors who do little to no research) but Yoon Ha Lee manages to capture the right amount of desperation, passion, and hesitation when it comes to Jebi's artistic morality.
The magic system being built upon the destruction of art (which is then used in painted runes) is a such a compelling choice, especially in a society actively being oppressed by a colonial force.
While I loved the first half of the book, following Jebi and their struggles to find artistic work & their complex relationship with their sister. The second half suffers majorly from the lack of page count. This book is under 300 pages, and it shows with how sloppy and rushed some elements feel past the 50% mark. I truly loved our main duo, but I felt myself struggling to connect to anyone else as we moved from event to event with very little room to breathe.
Overall, this was an ambitious book that did stick the landing with some major elements but didn't quite manage to elevate the overall story into being one I connected to strongly.
The good:
The setting of this book is in a fantasy version of Japanese-occupied Korea, and it does a fantastic job of portraying how this setting and the complex emotions it brings affect our main character of Jebi. As an artist, I don't always love reading about fellow artists, (especially from authors who do little to no research) but Yoon Ha Lee manages to capture the right amount of desperation, passion, and hesitation when it comes to Jebi's artistic morality.
The magic system being built upon the destruction of art (which is then used in painted runes) is a such a compelling choice, especially in a society actively being oppressed by a colonial force.
While I loved the first half of the book, following Jebi and their struggles to find artistic work & their complex relationship with their sister. The second half suffers majorly from the lack of page count. This book is under 300 pages, and it shows with how sloppy and rushed some elements feel past the 50% mark. I truly loved our main duo, but I felt myself struggling to connect to anyone else as we moved from event to event with very little room to breathe.
Overall, this was an ambitious book that did stick the landing with some major elements but didn't quite manage to elevate the overall story into being one I connected to strongly.