goutham
another solid fantasy fare!! I think all the characters are solid and likable but none that I got super attached to. The only issues were that all the flashbacks were really heavy-handed in their transitions but they were solid character ideas. I really enjoyed the second to last chapter cuz it was super meaningful given the character journeys but otherwise i just wasn't super invested in my read. But it was definitely a page-turner!
3.5 stars
such a great ending. It was so fulfilling emotional and rewarding. The themes of family defining our identities and growing with us will stick with me for a while.
I think overall the series had such strong characters and strong arcs. But i think the politics and the worldbuilding kind of held the series back. All the locations that we visited in the series were so wonderfully built but there were so many more we barely touched and only heard about through politicking that it made me so much less invested in those sections.
Also while the character arcs were so rewarding, it felt like there was so much telling of the characters rather than showing. The transition from the first book's action packed gangster/clan warfare to a more strategic story that carried the same values and characters was really elegant but it led to some weaker development especially when we skipped around in time so much.
reminded me a lot of sword of kaigen in its character driven fantasy and drama. It treated its characters realistically and made sure that the story happened as a result of the characters rather than to the characters which i think is an important distinction for this genre. I think it wasn't as good as sword of kaigen because a lot of character motivations/emotions/rituals were told rather than shown (ie. we are told that stealing jade is scummy asf rather than shown it through a story action) but i liked it a lot!
2.5
kinda boring tbh like i expected more suspense but it was aight i suppose. it just felt like daily life of a scientist and her clone??? idk it felt like it was trying to be a character exploration but it was so dependent on flashbacks and telling me what shes feeling cuz the plot just didnt have tension to it.
but it was still pretty readable and i like the premise i think
still my fav novella cuz it just fits into such an enjoyable genre
Its also interesting to read this right after the echo wife. The Echo Wife just sidesteps the interesting philosophies and character discussions around cloning/identity stuff whereas this book considers it head on and poses art vs imitation as a theme for it. Very cool
4.75
book was badass and i really enjoyed the character arcs. they felt so fleshed out and meaningful
it felt like a far better poppy war that touched on far more interesting themes of family and tradition and pride and sacrifice. and it was done in such an eloquent and impactful way. i never felt pandered to or that scenes were overdramatized. furthermore it had such an interesting plot arc that i dont want to spoil. the climactic scenes in this book were so excellent in the plot sequences, writing, and internal character growth. it feels rare that a book is able to make climaxes that are so deeply tied to the character arc. big big fan
only reason it wasn't a full 5 was cuz it honestly felt like a setup for the author's other series and that the external baddies felt like a faceless antagonist. also race felt kinda weird to read about but it was minor things
What a banger. I loved it. The writing was excellent. The magical realism induced the perfect level of weirdness into the revenge plot. The characters were pretty flat but fit super well. And an old-school western was so much fun to read.
I also thought it did a solid job breaking up a whitewashed Western genre with its MC and the sequences in the book while still following genre conventions. I read the book feeling like it was a Western even though it was breaking the stereotypes of the genre. It reminded me of something Neil Gaiman said where genre fiction is defined by what people would be disappointed if a book did not do. In that regard, this book did a great job both hitting the feeling of a western and subverting its norms.
I also was reading through some reviews that basically said it was a ‘missed opportunity' to dive into some of the Chinese heritage and stories of the railroad. I can see that but I subscribe to the idea that stories just exist and we have personal relations with them. Its not on the author to write a story for an agenda. Thats not on them.
Besides the cover is dope.
downgraded from 4 to 3. Had really good worldbuilding and interesting heist plot. Magic was kinda handwavey but thats chill. Also characters were aight. Pretty solid 3/5 but the worldbuilding put it at a four for me.
But then i started thinking about the message of the book and how it took on freedom and slavery and shit and i was like its alright i suppose. It like got the job done but its just like inadequate in a sense :/ So back to 3
2 stars
I'm finally free of this series. I cannot listen to more cheesy YA romance jeez. Ok overall this series was alright for YA stuff. It felt cohesive and it juggled perspectives well but it dragged soooo much and felt very contrived + predictable
spoiler alert
The first half of this book felt like an eternity and it wasn't very interesting? It was a lot of characters learning about something happening and and then getting another character's perspective on the same thing happening. It felt super grindy and idk the angst was just a little bit too much. I also do like the characters but they felt very trope-y or they were summarizable by just a few words so their characters felt a lot less interesting. I didn't really comment on it in the past books since I was hoping for a better conflict in this one but it never really makes sense why Levana wants to be Empress instead of just using her powers or her forces to get her way. It felt like the whole marriage bit was oddly contrived as though marriage was the only way for her to get what she wanted. The schemes and plots from Cinder and friends were also really straightforward and didn't need that much setup when it ended up being a “just confront them” plan. I wouldn't say I'm dissatisfied since it met my expectations but it was just a 24 hr audiobook and it felt like I was listening to the same thing forever.
Second Read: 3.5 Stars (leaning toward four)
I think my first read through review was fair. The book has a lot of STUFF you have to notice or put together and it can be really chaotic. But rereading it was super enjoyable since now that I knew what was going to happen I could understand all the mega confusing stuff from before and actually see a lot of the puzzle pieces. I still think the flashback/dream sequences were pretty uninteresting and its a lot of lore dump but it was far better than my first read through.
Middle book syndrome is omega real.
** SPOILER ALERT **
I have to give this book props though. The use of perspectives in this book was super interesting and fun to piece together. The issue was that it felt like nothing was happening during the first 70% of the book. All I got were tidbits hinting at the bigger picture and a whole lot of exposition about characters I just wasn't super invested in and I didn't think mattered. Same thing with the smaller “present” plot. The threat of the Resurrection Beasts felt super irrelevant (it basically was) and it just filled up space while Harrow was getting confused by her memories. I kind of felt like I got the point about her being an unreliable narrator and her needing Gideon after the first few references. However, the way it was written was excellent and it made me bump its rating up a ton though it required a ton of attention. I literally had to read it all in one sitting because I wanted to keep it straight in my head.
Side note: it was super hard to get into the flashback memories since they felt like they were there to keep sticking the same point.
But once the climax started to hit, the finally started to breathe. It was weird. I literally felt like the book was dammed up until Gideon finally surfaced. After that the book had the same feel as the first book in the series and it clicked into that familiar spot. The climax itself was really overwhelming though. There were so many weird twists with Gideon and her lineage along with all the reveals about the Lcytors, God, and the Blood of Eden were just like “ok. got it. alright I guess” etc. It took multiple reads for me to understand the actual lore there. Also I was so annoyed by the weird immersion breaking humor there. The climax in the River with Harrow was also weird and it felt like it just jumped the shark there.
I kind of just attribute a lot of it to middle book syndrome but I do end up comparing it to The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Both of these books had this huge buildup about a mystery and not too much happening. However, Sanderson's execution made that all pay off well and it was super gripping. This one just felt less well executed.
3.5 Stars
Zhu POV chapters were a ton of fun to read but Ouyang POV chapters felt like a chore. Also the whole desire + suffering bit felt repeated to no end. Overall enjoyable read and I think that the journey was well worth it. Just wish there was a bit more depth to the themes and a more compelling second perspective.
3.5 Stars
GREAT popcorn book. The first 25% was so cringey it was funny but the rest of the book was super enjoyable and a great page turner. Don't wanna read too much into it cuz it was a popcorn book and analysis for those is not worth the loss of enjoyment (TLDR stuff: flourish-y writing + mega edgelord + men writing women stuff + weird smut). I just love fantasy school settings and good worldbuilding clap
4.75
This book was wayyyyyy too good. This was some of the most authentic, nuanced high school portrayals and characters that I've read. It rarely fell into some of the cliches of high school romance (apart from some Shirley stuff) and it deftly handled so many complex topics within its characters. The LGBT community, high school drama, Red Scare, women in science, San Francisco, and Chinese American identity were all elegantly interwoven within Lily's life in a way that made her feel so alive and real. Her struggle really opened my eyes to perspectives that I had never really considered and it managed to do so with a compelling narrative that kept me invested.
My only issues came from some overly dramatic bits in the beginning that felt very “floaty” and the places where the book meandered a bit too much.
3.5 Stars
This book handles its various perspectives very very well. The momentum carries between different character's POVs and it works out really well!I found the climax really compelling though! Everything plot and world related worked really well for me. I think the middle of this book was a little dry and felt frustratingly slow. I think it led to a lot of romance and cute stuff but I'm not normally a huge fan of romance especially YA romance so I was just not super into it. I also found it annoying that Scarlet and Wolf were relegated to the sidelines and were left as plot devices even though we just came out of their book. For those reason Cress gets a 3.5