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secretsloth's review against another edition
1.0
I really wanted to love this book but I think I made the mistake of reading Iron Widow first.
Note: I'm white and not that knowledgeable about the Chinese and Japanese folklore that this book draws so heavily from so I've chosen not to critique this area of the book. Hopefully there's a reviewer who can shed some light here that will do a much better job than ignorant me.
There were some things I really enjoyed about this book. It's rare to find a book written pre-2015 or so with gender diverse characters in it that don't heavily lean on stereotypes or serve to illustrate transphobic ideas or themes, but this book absolutely does; in fact, diversity amongst the characters in general is a real saving grace. I loved Chart and I loved that we had more than one disabled character here and more than one gender non-conforming character. But in 2022 that's a pretty low bar to pass, and I think in the time that's passed since this book was published it's aged poorly in a lot of ways - especially in its portrayal of womanhood, which is somehow barely explored and yet a central theme of the book. I also greatly enjoyed the relationship between our MC Eon(a) and Prince Kygo which didn't fall into the usual enemies-to-lovers or political rival-themed trappings. Another strong point of this book is the pacing and descriptive work in the fight and battle scenes; usually I'm in the habit of skimming over these or barely following the beats of a fight so I can get to the other bits, but I enjoyed the fight scenes Eona was in and I especially enjoyed seeing not only that she was making progress in building her abilities but also how she was doing so.
That said, I don't think this story could withstand a light breeze. Whilst reading I encountered a lot of easily-fixable plot holes (*why* is it that Eon(a) forgets important things that happened to her, other than so she can conveniently remember in the last third of the book?) and the only reason I didn't guess the two major twists at the end of the book is because they felt entirely hollow and obvious.
I think my expectations of the book had a big impact on how much I enjoyed it; I've recently read Iron Widow, and I'm a big fan of authors like Brandon Sanderson and Philip Pullman who construct incredibly fantasy worlds to set their work in. My standards are doubtless high - but I don't think that excuses this book from giving its characters cohesive reasons to not know things that they absolutely should know (You're telling me
I've already touched on this but I think the largest issue I had with this book was its treatment of femininity and womanhood. I also took particular issue when viewing this book from my perspective as a non-binary person.
The nail in the coffin for me was. I get it, it's no walk in the park to but I would think it to be insensitive and dated to portray this experience as positive even in 2008.
Read it if you like books set in Eastern-style worlds but that aren't really so that the author has the freedom to play fast and loose with the setting, aren't too bothered about things actually making sense and aren't too picky about portrayal of trans/NB/disabled characters.
Note: I'm white and not that knowledgeable about the Chinese and Japanese folklore that this book draws so heavily from so I've chosen not to critique this area of the book. Hopefully there's a reviewer who can shed some light here that will do a much better job than ignorant me.
There were some things I really enjoyed about this book. It's rare to find a book written pre-2015 or so with gender diverse characters in it that don't heavily lean on stereotypes or serve to illustrate transphobic ideas or themes, but this book absolutely does; in fact, diversity amongst the characters in general is a real saving grace. I loved Chart and I loved that we had more than one disabled character here and more than one gender non-conforming character. But in 2022 that's a pretty low bar to pass, and I think in the time that's passed since this book was published it's aged poorly in a lot of ways - especially in its portrayal of womanhood, which is somehow barely explored and yet a central theme of the book. I also greatly enjoyed the relationship between our MC Eon(a) and Prince Kygo which didn't fall into the usual enemies-to-lovers or political rival-themed trappings. Another strong point of this book is the pacing and descriptive work in the fight and battle scenes; usually I'm in the habit of skimming over these or barely following the beats of a fight so I can get to the other bits, but I enjoyed the fight scenes Eona was in and I especially enjoyed seeing not only that she was making progress in building her abilities but also how she was doing so.
That said, I don't think this story could withstand a light breeze. Whilst reading I encountered a lot of easily-fixable plot holes (*why* is it that Eon(a) forgets important things that happened to her, other than so she can conveniently remember in the last third of the book?
Spoiler
I really think I would remember someone deliberately breaking my hip?I think my expectations of the book had a big impact on how much I enjoyed it; I've recently read Iron Widow, and I'm a big fan of authors like Brandon Sanderson and Philip Pullman who construct incredibly fantasy worlds to set their work in. My standards are doubtless high - but I don't think that excuses this book from giving its characters cohesive reasons to not know things that they absolutely should know (You're telling me
Spoiler
not a single person recognised the book was written in Woman Script in four hundred years? Pull the other one.I've already touched on this but I think the largest issue I had with this book was its treatment of femininity and womanhood.
Spoiler
Eona goes on a journey in this book from wilfully concealing that she is a woman from the world to shouting it from the rooftops, but the book never really explores how Eona feels about this experience; I'd love to have known more about that, as it might have explained how she failed to consider the possibility that her womanhood was tied to her Dragoneye status and what impact concealing her sex might be having on her mind and body.Spoiler
Though this book does have what is (in my opinion) a tastefully written trans woman character, it fails to hit the mark by failing to satisfactorily explore Eona's gender identity in this work. We know this setting has the concept of gender identity and trans-ness - so why is it absent from Eona's thoughts when she is living the experience of her presentation not matching her assigned gender at birth? A missed opportunity.The nail in the coffin for me was
Spoiler
when Eona's disability is healed by her dragon at the end and she's all pleased about itSpoiler
be disabledSpoiler
Being disabled, while not always present and often causing physical pain, is not a bad thing and we should be uplifting and empowering disabled characters, not magically healing them like it's loot at the end of a DnD campaign to not be disabled anymore.Read it if you like books set in Eastern-style worlds but that aren't really so that the author has the freedom to play fast and loose with the setting, aren't too bothered about things actually making sense and aren't too picky about portrayal of trans/NB/disabled characters.
sadjackie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
amidia's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
readwithmesashamarie's review against another edition
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this novel. While I really enjoyed (pretty much loved) the plot I'm not sure if I enjoyed the dialogue and overall execution. At times this was a page turner, and at other times this was dull. For a novel about dragons I wanted way more. I'm hoping Eona, novel 2, gives me a little more of what I felt I was missing in this novel. Overall I'd rate this a 3.5/4.
kathoulhu's review against another edition
3.0
This ancient Asian inspired fanasy was so thrilling, I finished it in under 24 hours. Well developed characters, intrigue, skillful world building, and a fast plot made it hard to put down. An excellent choice for those who enjoyed Eragon.
samanthak298's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot! Not five stars because I felt like the pace could be slow at times.
andi_88's review against another edition
3.0
I like the ideas of this book and was interested by the comparison to Tamora Pierce, a favorite author from when I was young, but somewhere around about 3/4s in I just got fed up, and had to skim read until the main character figured out the key. That said i read in one reading.
The story is set in a world that is an amalgamation of a bunch of Asian cultures but draws most heavily on Chinese. You can definitely envision the world as the Asian continent of earth. The writing is good, descriptive, and does paint a good picture of the world. Eon/Eona though I found to be very frustrating. I thought I liked her for about half the book but then it just got to be too much. I understood that her world was misogynistic but it was difficult for me to relate to character with so much internalized misogynistic hate of her gender and this would have been tempered if her revelation had come earlier but alas this attitude persists through most of the book. The big revelation about her relationship with her dragon is no mystery and I had it figured out from the beginning, ie the bonding ceremony. Thus it was torturous to try and read a story where the character is being so dense and at one point i literally said out loud to the book "THIS IS THE ANSWER!". I just can't take the dragging out of one point to the point of sheer stupidity. I was given the impression this was a smart girl and that she did not figure out what was the key until basically the end just didn't click with me. In addition a lot of other plot points are based on this frustrating detail.
I found some of the supporting characters really interesting, especially Lady Dela. I will probably read the next one in the series as the aspect that frustrated me most is finally revealed to the main character (the reader knew) so the story might get more interesting. It is a bit different of a story and worth the read if you like fantasy.
The story is set in a world that is an amalgamation of a bunch of Asian cultures but draws most heavily on Chinese. You can definitely envision the world as the Asian continent of earth. The writing is good, descriptive, and does paint a good picture of the world. Eon/Eona though I found to be very frustrating. I thought I liked her for about half the book but then it just got to be too much. I understood that her world was misogynistic but it was difficult for me to relate to character with so much internalized misogynistic hate of her gender and this would have been tempered if her revelation had come earlier but alas this attitude persists through most of the book. The big revelation about her relationship with her dragon is no mystery and I had it figured out from the beginning, ie the bonding ceremony. Thus it was torturous to try and read a story where the character is being so dense and at one point i literally said out loud to the book "THIS IS THE ANSWER!". I just can't take the dragging out of one point to the point of sheer stupidity. I was given the impression this was a smart girl and that she did not figure out what was the key until basically the end just didn't click with me. In addition a lot of other plot points are based on this frustrating detail.
I found some of the supporting characters really interesting, especially Lady Dela. I will probably read the next one in the series as the aspect that frustrated me most is finally revealed to the main character (the reader knew) so the story might get more interesting. It is a bit different of a story and worth the read if you like fantasy.
elfduchess's review against another edition
DNF
Don't remember how much I read, but it just felt unpleasant to me with the whole: you're a girl so you're not good enough (and her own feelings of not being good enough because she's a girl - I dealt with that enough with Alanna, thank you very much) and the: you're disabled so you're not good enough.
(Mostly a note for myself so I don't decide to try reading it again, forgetting that I already did once. Besides, it cropped up on my recommendations and I'm left going yeah, I did try that.)
Don't remember how much I read, but it just felt unpleasant to me with the whole: you're a girl so you're not good enough (and her own feelings of not being good enough because she's a girl - I dealt with that enough with Alanna, thank you very much) and the: you're disabled so you're not good enough.
(Mostly a note for myself so I don't decide to try reading it again, forgetting that I already did once. Besides, it cropped up on my recommendations and I'm left going yeah, I did try that.)
mfox1018's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this up expecting a mildly entertaining, fairly standard coming-of-age story about a girl disguised as a boy. I love it when a book exceeds my expectations as much as this one did! There was so much that was fresh and original about Eon that I'm not sure where to start. I've read Asian-inspired fantasy before, but it's still relatively rare and is particularly well done here. These dragons are not the western fire-breathing sort but twelve eastern-style dragons inspired by the signs of the Chinese zodiac. I appreciated that Eon came to the masquerade unwillingly and was forced to participate by the master who owned her bond in a chancy bid for influence - it was a nice change. I loved, loved, LOVED Lady Dela.
Spoiler
The very existence of the Contraires, who are not respected in Eon's culture but are admired in the culture that Dela came from, was a pleasant surprise in a ya book; how refreshing to not only see a transgendered character as a major player in the story, but have her portrayed in a positive light!Couldn't put it down and will definitely be picking up the sequel!