Reviews

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

labocat's review against another edition

3.0

3.5, and rounding down because I'm just not sure how I feel about it wrapping up. That said, I love sapphic retellings of well-loved stories, and this delivered on every count of that. We get more about Rosa's past than Hou Yi's, but as Hou Yi's seems to follow the myth fairly closely up to the point of Chang E taking the immortality potion, that's fine. There's a lot of interesting weaving together of western fairy tales, even though they're spread across in-world cultures, but I do wish we'd gotten to spend more time in the present of the novella than the past.

ielerol's review against another edition

5.0

I remembered just a little bit into this that there are two other stories in the same setting, they're both short and available free online ("Hunting Monsters" and "Fighting Demons") so I went ahead and read them and came back to this. I don't think they're necessary to enjoy the novella, and you could potentially argue that Fighting Demons spoils some of this one, but they're good too and I was glad to have the additional context.

Fairytale retelling doesn't seem right to describe this story, there are lot of fairytales (both European and Chinese) in the background, but the events of those stories all happened long ago. This story is about consequences and aftermaths, what happens when the story you thought you were in wasn't the story that was really happening. It's also about how hard it is to change, even when you know you've been wrong.

I don't think I've read many stories about how mothers have hurt their children from the perspective of the mothers, maybe because nobody writes stories centering aging mothers of adult children. I loved it.

emsprobablyreading's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.0

vortacist's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-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

4.25

bekahmccue's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

badmc's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-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

3.5

Two women chase monsters, and run from their pasts. 

I liked the retelling part, and the language was enjoyable. I would've liked to know characters better, and emotions explored for more impact. 

sammiethehammie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

jasepp's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

theysheshe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

city_girl_writer's review against another edition

I am not invested in this story or the characters. Didn't realize it was the third novella in a series, so maybe that is contributing to it. The writing is still good, so curious to see S. L. Huang write something else.