You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
splitdice's Reviews (151)
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
honestly really good book that i think opens the door to expanding this mythology to a bigger culture. while i think a lot of the metaphors are on the nose, considering the books length i think its justified. really, my biggest critique is that so much of the book could have been expanded on. once finishing, i really recommend on listening to the titular song and reading more on the history + making of this book. personally, i would love to see more of oori and yetus relationship, basha, zoti, and more of an enviornmental aspect. that being said i think this book perfectly served what the author was going for. the "we" chapters were brilliant as well! easily my favorite part of this book.
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
man.. to say this book was a disappointment would be an understatement.
i think there is some merit to this book, especially if you are reading it from the perspective of someone who is white and terminally online. as someone who is latine and indigenous, however, i just feel like this book was just 300 pages of saying... nothing. its 2024, and i feel like we have had discussions like this that have gone much more in depth about the topic at hand.
if this book had been a short story, i think it would have been much more effective. the characters only serve a purpose of being caricatures/tropes to tell the overlying message. i actually don't think it is a flaw to write characters this way, but the message it tells needs to be complex enough to hold a story like this long enough for 300 pages. instead, i just feel like kuang got the low hanging fruit of "white woman who is liberal still has crazy microaggressions!1!1" which.. yeah. but after 50 pages of the same thing over and over again, i honestly considered DNF-ing because I really did not see the point of continuing that same discussion.
and honestly, its really disappointing. im also an underrepresented academic who aims high and i want to impress, and i fear being misunderstood, which i think is very similar to kuang. but writing a novel at this length to say nothing feels disappointing. much like kuang, despite being underrepresented, i also have privilege that has helped me become as successful as i am in my academic career. and i will be the first to say how that has helped me. however, these were just jealous remarks from the ultra racist white character saying how she needs reparations from kuang's self insert b/c she was poor and kuang was rich. but there is a discussion to be had about intersectionality. i am writing this review in the month of june, where last month was AAPI month. most of those lists consisted of korean, chinese, and japanese authors. asia is a huge continent, but those authors are always heavily focused on. i dont think i even saw lists that included pacific islanders. and again, i think kuang is a great writer despite some flaws, but she is only 28 as of writing this review. and shes good! but the dismissal of very valid critiques of her books- such as the problem of indigenous representation in the poppy war trilogy- feels very double sided.
i think there is some merit to this book, especially if you are reading it from the perspective of someone who is white and terminally online. as someone who is latine and indigenous, however, i just feel like this book was just 300 pages of saying... nothing. its 2024, and i feel like we have had discussions like this that have gone much more in depth about the topic at hand.
if this book had been a short story, i think it would have been much more effective. the characters only serve a purpose of being caricatures/tropes to tell the overlying message. i actually don't think it is a flaw to write characters this way, but the message it tells needs to be complex enough to hold a story like this long enough for 300 pages. instead, i just feel like kuang got the low hanging fruit of "white woman who is liberal still has crazy microaggressions!1!1" which.. yeah. but after 50 pages of the same thing over and over again, i honestly considered DNF-ing because I really did not see the point of continuing that same discussion.
and honestly, its really disappointing. im also an underrepresented academic who aims high and i want to impress, and i fear being misunderstood, which i think is very similar to kuang. but writing a novel at this length to say nothing feels disappointing. much like kuang, despite being underrepresented, i also have privilege that has helped me become as successful as i am in my academic career. and i will be the first to say how that has helped me. however, these were just jealous remarks from the ultra racist white character saying how she needs reparations from kuang's self insert b/c she was poor and kuang was rich. but there is a discussion to be had about intersectionality. i am writing this review in the month of june, where last month was AAPI month. most of those lists consisted of korean, chinese, and japanese authors. asia is a huge continent, but those authors are always heavily focused on. i dont think i even saw lists that included pacific islanders. and again, i think kuang is a great writer despite some flaws, but she is only 28 as of writing this review. and shes good! but the dismissal of very valid critiques of her books- such as the problem of indigenous representation in the poppy war trilogy- feels very double sided.
i also think kuang needs more practice in contemporary writing. the overuse of social media, pop cultural references, and famous actors already makes this book feel aged just a year after publication. the parts where kuang was trying to be snarky and funny about the mc was just... meh. i honestly feel like this book will look like a sore spot in kuang's bibliography, which again could have been fixed if this was a short story! i feel like this is by far her weakest work, though i do enjoy how she pushed herself out of a historical, academic setting.
i do think the book has some merit to it, though. like i said, the message is good, even if over repeated and lacking complexity. i enjoyed the climax and ending even if it felt a little over the top, but its a satire so i think its fine within context.
i KNOW kuang can be better. i WANT her to be better. i think she should explore more complex themes and trust her audience more. this book could have been taken in so many directions but i feel like i wasted my time being lectured to about something i have already experienced throughout my life.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
im not a big romantasy person but I still really enjoyed it- that being said I think the romances except for elias and helene did feel quite rushed. I did cry ðŸ˜
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
honestly I would've given this a 3 star had the third act not been so bad. I liked everyone else except feyre (who is NOT a strong fmc... I don't know where people get that notion). honestly if nesta would have been the main character this would bring it up a star for me. otherwise, the third act really made this book worse for me. I felt like SJMs writing got significantly worse and repetitive and everything was easily predictable. what really sealed the deal for me was how romanticized feyre's suffering was. honestly I had to put the book down sometimes. I read a lot of dark stuff so I don't think it was the content but rather the portrayal and romantization of the abuse feyre suffered.
kind of spoiler for the future of the series:what i especially dont like is that the majority of the abuse comes from rhysand, feyres actual endgame love interest. and it gets kind of excused bc he was amaranthas sex slave but i feel like what he did was still so unnecessary? i haven't read ACOMAF yet but i feel like there has to be some really bad character assassination on tamlins part to make rhysand look a lot better because what he did in this book is NOT GOOD
kind of spoiler for the future of the series:
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i LOVED the complex relationships in this book and how they evolved over time. my only complaints was that the first third was really slow and pacing was weird at times (like 10 year jumps in the middle of paragraphs) but otherwise its a really hopeful book about love- and not just the romantic kind
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i think this book is a metaphor for multiple things. on one hand, its a metaphor for the antisemetism that sarah has faced, that her ancestors have faced. but at the same time, its a metaphor for misogyny that she faces both internally and externally, with sentiments about abuse, about survivors guilt, about victim blaming. i think it could also be a metaphor for how isolated one feels when one faces mental illness like depression or OCD, and how your apparent misery turns you into an outcast, furthering a downward spiral. this is a book for eldest daughters, for minorities who have ever felt other-ed, for those who have felt isolated because of their mental illnesses, and for abuse survivors.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i feel like this is a book with a purpose is to Set Things Up later in the series, so pacing is weird at times. I loved part 1 and 3 but part 2 felt really slow at times, and we really needed development with rins relationship with the cike. i think they were going for a found family vibe but i didnt really feel it . also things dont get really dark until later in the book but when it gets dark it gets DARK
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
there are some very engaging and some very slow parts of the book, which considering how long it is may or may not make it worth it. some parts i cried at and some parts i was just skipping ahead. while sad i also got really frustrated at some of the characters philipose!!!! but i think their growth really shone through. i did have like a month break reading this, i think the very first parts are very slow and not as interesting as the rest, its a book you need to put down every once in awhile to fully enjoy