tkhongmaly's reviews
261 reviews

Decapitated Poetry by Ko-hua Chen

3.5

More towards a 3.5 for me. I get the point is all the ways we queer people are in our bodies and how, as the title suggested, decapitated from engaging with  emotions the collection was. But ultimately I was rarely moved by any stanza. I think I need a bit more emotional weight behind my viewing of queerness.

That all aside, I genuinely enjoyed the sci-fi sequences. This half, for me as a person horrible at understanding poetry, did more in that regard. 

I had a good time but I struggled to find why I didn’t DNF a couple of times and constantly wondered if some of the umpf was just lost in translation.

The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

A collection of mostly enjoyable shorts (not you, Manizheh) and an alternative epilogue that provide great extras to the main trilogy. Getting into Hatset’s and Jamshid’s view was very fun. I loved having Zaynab’s POV and think, of all these bonus chapters, that’s the one I would have loved to be in Empire of Gold. But I understand why it wasn’t, so I’m glad to have it here. The other standout for me was The Scout. I loved getting out of the perspective of the main players in the war and seeing how a regular person in this world was seeing things. It was a good way to emphasize  the brutality of regimes in this world.

The alternative epilogue was heartwarming. I loved it but appreciate Chakraborty having it be additional information for those who want these short stories. The anticipation of hope and commitment to build a better Daevabad and the numerous characters choices for atonement is a better note to end on for me.

Jade City by Fonda Lee

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

Reading this book and the whole time, quoting Sandra Oh, “It’s an honor just to be Asian.”

Complex, engaging, incredible world-building. My flabbers were gasted a couple of times.

I have no idea where this series is going and I so deeply love that for me.

Instant favorite series based off book one alone.

The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

5/5

Phew. The stakes of this series. I was shocked many times even in this final book. I was seething with rage more than once. I was loss for hope for a lot of it. At no point was I ever sure who might do what or how anything would be resolved.

This is a fantasy series with a truly hard-fought ending. Nobody was left unchanged, scars of this world running deep. And that’s what truly shines most about this series to me. Everyone has committed at least one atrocity, yet everyone’s choices made sense. Everything was incredibly morally grey. There’s no pure evil, no pure good. It’s just messy, messy, messy and very confusing. And even my one complaint for the series—the romantic aspect—was just more murkiness blurring the lines of character interactions.

To have written a series so incredibly layered and complex—deception met with deception, brutality with brutality with no end in sight—and to end it the way it does…Chakraborty is so expertly talented. 

A true joy to have read (listened) to this series!

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

5.0

This installment was delightfully spooky and foreboding. Not as much world-building to the setting at large as the others, but a very fun trip with Cleric Chih again!

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I loved hating literally everyone’s choices and hated that I still understand all of them. Deeply engaging, though my complaints of the love stories are still weak for me because I simply can’t be bothered with people in love. But I appreciate it solidly makes for complex characters and interactions.

House of Slaughter, Vol. 4: Alabaster by Sam Johns

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

A little confusing for me for where/when/what is going on but enjoyed nonetheless because it’s always interesting to go deeper into the masks and the lore.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

Loved this. There’s something about such quality writing that the plot and the worldbuilding are better off by a lack of detail. It’s known but unknown to the characters, so it’s the same for me as the reader. And I eat that up every time. Give me magic and a world that I can only hope to know but will never truly understand.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.5

4.5/5

I listened to the audiobook via Book of the Month because I have a number of credits to use and none of the physical selections have interested me lately. I enjoyed the narrator’s performances, though admittedly I listened mostly on 1.5 speed because I’m impatient and it was just a tad slow for me, as someone who usually reads fast.

Being immersed in this world was often daunting but has been thoroughly engaging for me. I know a lot of reviews have mentioned that it’s slow paced, but I honestly appreciated that. I listened over a couple of months on my commute to work or on walks or the like. It made trying to understand the complex history and politics of Daevabad a bit more understandable, I think. Not that I’m still not very confused, but that’s mostly because all the characters are also wildly complex! I have no idea who is loyal to who or what even when it seems like it should be obvious. Generally, I like to think myself good at guessing broad plot/character plot points of what a series might do but I am thrilled I have genuinely no clue where books two and three might go. The stakes raised and raised until they broke and now it’ll be a nice journey to see how these characters fare.

Speaking of characters, I think I might be in the minority of readers who actually really enjoyed Ali’s chapters compared to Nahri’s. So frequently I loathe entirely the straight and narrow morally righteous kind of character. Like the Jon Snows in fantasy absolutely are a snore fest and I actively root for their downfall. But Alizayd was always interesting to me for some reason. I think his youth and actions directly causing so much harm kept me intrigued despite his borderline fanaticism driven choices, though he was always just trying to advocate for a better city. Nahri was always enjoyable with the sole exception of falling in love with Dara.

And that’s my only real “critique” of this book. As a general rule I don’t really care for romance, especially between straight characters, in a fantasy novel being a significant part of the plot. This wasn’t overwhelmingly a romance fantasy though so I am not yet put off by it. I just think it could have, for book one at least, been like a deeply platonic love. Or like brother sister. Or something. We can show love without it being romantic love and still move the plot forward. But that’s all just my personal taste.

I look forward to see where this story goes in Kingdom of Copper!

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

This was sublime. Truly wonderful worldbuilding, complex characters all around, brutal and violent in so many ways—truly everything I could hope for in a fantasy book. Not to mention really solidly worked-out literary techniques for how to even tell this story. An instant favorite.