Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Phoenix Extravagant

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

29 reviews

nina_rae_131's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed the world building in this book. I thought the paint magic and automata were unique and interesting.
I liked that the main character was a painter and a pacifist for the most part, although sometimes their incompetence was frustrating. I also didn’t particularly care for the romance.
My favorite part of this book was Arazi. I wish we could have seen more of it. I enjoyed its commentary and its relationship with Jebi.
I wish there was a sequel!!

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azaliz's review against another edition

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The story is too cliche, and i really didn't understand some of the choices that the protagonist makes.

How they're not shown to question the work they're doing for the ministry

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elylzlz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

4.25

Non-binary main character with normalized queer culture

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woolerys's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.5

Writing - 4/5

Plot - 3/5

Characters - 3/5

World-building - 4/5

Personal tastes - 4/5

TOTAL: 3.6

The main character and the dragon (it’s not a spoiler to say there’s a dragon, right? it’s on the cover) are the highlights. I found the MC very relatable—wanting to ignore the political tensions they are enmeshed in, not wanting to truly hurt anybody, just wanting to paint!

I wish there had been as much deeply-felt emotional angst around the love interest as there was for the sibling relationship. Not that I minded the sibling relationship getting higher priority, it just felt like for the romantic relationship, a lot of emotion was implied rather than described.

The world-building was also cool, with a focus on visual arts and their underlying philosophies. The magic felt a bit runaway as the story went on but the concept was original and intriguing.

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bisexualwentworth's review against another edition

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

4.0

There's a lot that I love here: the worldbuilding, the magic system, the prose, the women with swords, the mechanical dragon. I think that Yoon Ha Lee accomplished exactly what he set out to do with this book. Unfortunately, I think that the concept is just fundamentally not super compelling for me. The execution is as strong as it could have possibly been, but Jebi just isn't an interesting enough main character for me. I would have loved either a more slice of life story or a more action-packed story, but again, those aren't the books the author wanted to write, and that's okay. I will absolutely be reading his other work cause I think there's a lot of good stuff here. I did wish the book was longer, but I do appreciate a good quick fantasy standalone.

The first and second half of this book are very distinct in terms of vibes and pacing. I preferred the second half, but I think the first half may work better for a lot of readers. Very much a personal taste thing.

Anyway, this book isn't a new favorite, but it did leave a positive impression and I would definitely recommend it.

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

3.25

I want to first praise the fascinating premise, especially considering that it was clearly based on colonial Korea in a fantasy setting. Lee also brought to attention the importance of art in life and society, turning it into a literal weapon to signify its value even during war. He also reimagined really interesting politics that clearly drew from historical figures and events of the Korean peninsula while under Japanese rule.

And, with that said, I was underwhelmed by the novel and wanted more. Lee was working with a fascinating setting and powerful themes that all felt underdeveloped. I wanted to learn more about the politics of what was happening; a better understanding of the magic system and mechanical dragons; as well as a stronger idea of characters' motives and desires. Regarding the last point, Jebi (the protagonist) was clearest in what they wanted, even if what they wanted wasn't particularly revolutionary. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but in a fantasy novel that demanded action, it conflicted with Jebi's interests and made the overarching story less interesting.

I think there's still a lot to take from this novel, and I know many readers would love the incredible queer representation (and seamlessly woven into the world) that is present. The novel had a lot of potential across the board and, unfortunately, they weren't fully realized.

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? It's complicated

3.0

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lynxpardinus's review

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adventurous emotional tense

4.0

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therainbowshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense 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

4.0

I was hesitant to read this because of how dark the last Yoon Ha Lee book I read was, but I’m glad I did because I loved it. The paint magic system was alarming and awesome, and the unexpected connections were interesting throughout. Loved the tie-ins with Korean folklore and the non-binary rep. I wish things with Hawk had been a little more developed.

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fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense 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? No

4.0

I enjoyed this book. The way it depicted collonialism and revolution and it's necessity for violence was well written. Especially the focus on art and what counts as valuable art and for what reasons was really interesting. Seeing everything from an artists point of view really gave a different take on it and I loved the very artsy and flowery discriptions of things, landscapes, fighting, war,..
I also really liked that the main character, Jebi, didn't just suddenly become good at being a revolutionary, when they decided to join the revolution. They were clumsy and made mistakes and were unsure about, what the right thing to do was. It made it much more relatable and realistic.
And I loved Arazi! It was like an excited toddler exploring a new place, but also really wise, so much fun to read.
The relationships were really well-written, too. I especially enjoyed the sibling relationship between Jebi and their sister. Having vastly different goals, hobbies, opinions, but still accepting and loving each other without understanding, that just got to me.

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