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lanceypoo's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
oweatherwax's review
adventurous
dark
funny
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
4.25
mahry's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
evspekkie's review
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
bookfrey's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
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
listless_librarian's review
adventurous
mysterious
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
4.0
katieconrad's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sea_uh_dahmay's review
2.0
tbh this sucked i take back everything i said abt m*le authors deserving rights if i wanted to read a book abt kavik i would have picked up a book called dawn of Kavik instead of yangchen boooo also the fact that in the 5 pages that focused on yangchen she was cool asf but that’s all we got ah im so mad
morgonwashere's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-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
4.75
rachelwhtexo's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
[FOR SOME REASON THE SPOILER BUTTON DOESNT SEEM TO WORK BUT THERE ARE SPOILERS IN MY REVIEW]
i really think i did a disservice by not reading this book consistently, because so many of the details were lost on me because i took way too much time between reading sessions. but i think that showed how the story wasn't the best at keeping my attention. the prologue did a great job at warming me up to yangchen and jondu and i felt the same love i had for yangchen in the kyoshi's second novel bubbling up again, but throughout the rest of the story the love kind of faded.
similar to kyoshi's novels we follow other characters besides just yangchen which i really didn't mind, because it didn't really take away from kyoshi's story. but i feel like kavik really dominated the narrative which absolutely took away from yangchen's story. we got to know him way better than her which is not what i signed up for. he's not even a bad character, but i didn't feel connected to him either. for a character i got to know the most about i feel like there wasn't a lot of thought put into his character for some reason, it was like his character and story was just a little short of feeling real. which is a shame, because in the original series and kyoshi's novels the side characters are all so enjoyable and made the stories a hundred times better.
then we have yangchen herself. she's fine to be honest, i still really like her, but i wish we got to know her better outside of her being the avatar. i feel like having jondu, or literally any other character from her past, around during the story would create opportunities to develop the same love i had for aang, korra and kyoshi. so i hope the second book shows a little more of her relationships with others. it doesn't even have to be in the form of a team avatar, but we barely got to see her with any mentor figures or just someone she cared deeply about from the start. although i could argue she has an avoidant attachment style when it comes to friendships, because she believes it's her fault jondu died. that avoidant attachment style is definitely briefly touched upon, but showing it a little more clearly throughout the story when it came to the development of her friendship with kavik would have made me like her more. it would have shown that besides her avatar duties, she's still very much human even if those duties come first.
the antagonists were honestly fine, but not memorable. capitalists being evil isn't the worst trope, but there wasn't much depth there either when it came to henshe, chaisee and the other shangs. but not gonna lie, i don't think any antagonist could have topped yun and jianzhu. although i love the original series and zuko had one of the best redemption arcs ever, i feel like the relationship kyoshi had with yun and jianzhu from the start elevated the story and the emotional stakes immensely.
i was extremely happy and surprised with the reveal of what (i should say who) unanimity actually was. i am not completely caught up with all the lore from the comics so i am not sure if the origin of combustion bending was explained anywhere else, but the crumb of an explanation we got was enough to make me want to know everything about it. so i really hope the second book touches on that much more, because the mention of drowning had my eyes go wide.
i also really liked the political aspect of the story, but almost none of the shows, comics or novels have ever lacked when it came to the politics so i'm definitely not surprised. i also really liked how it was a simple conversation that put the plot into motion. like both yangchen and henshe said, if she handled that first conversation better this wouldn't have happened the way it did, but then again it would probably have happened in the future. i think yangchen would have had a much bigger problem if unanimity was in the hands of chaisee.
Over all the story was enjoyable enough, but lacked a little too much in certain aspects for me to love it.
i really think i did a disservice by not reading this book consistently, because so many of the details were lost on me because i took way too much time between reading sessions. but i think that showed how the story wasn't the best at keeping my attention. the prologue did a great job at warming me up to yangchen and jondu and i felt the same love i had for yangchen in the kyoshi's second novel bubbling up again, but throughout the rest of the story the love kind of faded.
similar to kyoshi's novels we follow other characters besides just yangchen which i really didn't mind, because it didn't really take away from kyoshi's story. but i feel like kavik really dominated the narrative which absolutely took away from yangchen's story. we got to know him way better than her which is not what i signed up for. he's not even a bad character, but i didn't feel connected to him either. for a character i got to know the most about i feel like there wasn't a lot of thought put into his character for some reason, it was like his character and story was just a little short of feeling real. which is a shame, because in the original series and kyoshi's novels the side characters are all so enjoyable and made the stories a hundred times better.
then we have yangchen herself. she's fine to be honest, i still really like her, but i wish we got to know her better outside of her being the avatar. i feel like having jondu, or literally any other character from her past, around during the story would create opportunities to develop the same love i had for aang, korra and kyoshi. so i hope the second book shows a little more of her relationships with others. it doesn't even have to be in the form of a team avatar, but we barely got to see her with any mentor figures or just someone she cared deeply about from the start. although i could argue she has an avoidant attachment style when it comes to friendships, because she believes it's her fault jondu died. that avoidant attachment style is definitely briefly touched upon, but showing it a little more clearly throughout the story when it came to the development of her friendship with kavik would have made me like her more. it would have shown that besides her avatar duties, she's still very much human even if those duties come first.
the antagonists were honestly fine, but not memorable. capitalists being evil isn't the worst trope, but there wasn't much depth there either when it came to henshe, chaisee and the other shangs. but not gonna lie, i don't think any antagonist could have topped yun and jianzhu. although i love the original series and zuko had one of the best redemption arcs ever, i feel like the relationship kyoshi had with yun and jianzhu from the start elevated the story and the emotional stakes immensely.
i was extremely happy and surprised with the reveal of what (i should say who) unanimity actually was. i am not completely caught up with all the lore from the comics so i am not sure if the origin of combustion bending was explained anywhere else, but the crumb of an explanation we got was enough to make me want to know everything about it. so i really hope the second book touches on that much more, because the mention of drowning had my eyes go wide.
i also really liked the political aspect of the story, but almost none of the shows, comics or novels have ever lacked when it came to the politics so i'm definitely not surprised. i also really liked how it was a simple conversation that put the plot into motion. like both yangchen and henshe said, if she handled that first conversation better this wouldn't have happened the way it did, but then again it would probably have happened in the future. i think yangchen would have had a much bigger problem if unanimity was in the hands of chaisee.
Over all the story was enjoyable enough, but lacked a little too much in certain aspects for me to love it.