kelseyr713's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, War, Murder, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Death of parent
The sexual assault is attempted, not completed, and alluded to vaguely.claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Minor: Violence, Torture, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and Confinement
jj_tj's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Bullying, War, Blood, Grief, and Kidnapping
melethwi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Before I get into the review, I do want to say that I think this is a great fantasy book, especially considering the author says in her acknowledgments section that she had very little writing experience. I did enjoy this book, though at some points I felt lost and like I was dragging myself to keep reading.
I admit that I picked up this book because of the beautiful cover and title. The book did not disappoint, and the author showed her mastery of imagery in her beautifully elegant writing throughout the story (she has a really good vocabulary of great words, but has the tendency to repeat them to a point that is very noticeable..... I'm looking at you, "magnanimous.") This book was enchanting in its premise, and really dazzled me with the prose. I also really loved Xingyin as a leading lady. She was strong, smart, and reliable as a narrator.
Unfortunately, where this book lost stars with me was with the "romance." I did not feel particularly attached to any party, and most of the romantic development occurred "off-screen," so to speak. It felt like we were missing a whole book between a few of the chapters. For that reason, this book really failed to capture my attention for the first half because I was just trying to keep up. This could be explained by 99% of the characters being immortal and not really having a good sense of time, but the main relationship just felt really forced and then left me feeling really unsatisfied with the ending. I get that the author is setting up for a second book, but I was really hoping that after 500 pages of a book with "romantic" on the back cover, we would have a little more. :,(
Overall, I wouldn't let that deter you from reading this book. If you're a big fan of lush writing, of Chinese mythology, and VERY strong female leads, this book would be for you! Just... dampen your expectations for the romance, maybe?
More spoilery stuff:
For me, this book started off really fast. I barely had any time to get to know the characters before we were fully delving into the meat of the plot. We then met the main love interest, and their relationship took off really fast.
Spoiler
After a two-year time skip,</> our main guy and girl had basically established their entire relationship off-screen. I feel like I didn't know the main guy at all, and didn't find the budding romance very convincing at all, as we went from barely knowing each other to being head over heels in just a few pages.I got really interested again when
Spoiler
Wenzhi, the second love interestSpoiler
he was suddenly in love with Xingyin and asking her to marry him and have his kids or something??? I was also incredibly disappointed when he turned out to be ~evil~ because I felt that Xingyin would have a better story with him. His arc felt really forced and completely out of nowhere, almost like a late addition.Spoiler
I also felt like the reunion with Xingyin and her mother was a little bit anticlimactic... Though I am very happy they got reunited!!!Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Kidnapping, Vomit, and Death of parent
wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual assault
momma_needs_to_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The writing of this was done fantastically. I felt like I could close my eyes and see exactly what she wanted us to envision. The characters were also so well written and developed throughout the story. Xingyin is such a fierce badass, not only because of the way she always fights for what she believes in and never gives up hope of helping her mother, but because she literally went from nothing to becoming a phenomenal warrior all through incredibly hard and exhausting work. Her personal character development was amazing. I was very torn over her romances. I won’t spoil anything but I will say I have a clear favourite who I want her to be with.
This is definitely a story of love. Love of a mother. Love of a daughter. First loves. New loves. From the very beginning, you know, this is a story driven by love. What Xingyin is doing for her mother and what her mother did for her.
I definitely recommend this book. If you love Chinese mythology, or any mythology, a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies trope, or a fierce female warrior and magic, this book is for you!
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, and Bullying
Minor: Alcohol and Sexual harassment
woolgatherer's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping and Confinement
clairew97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Medical content, Slavery, War, Alcohol, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Violence
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Death, War, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Violence
solarel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I loved the world, though. It was fun and I found it immersive. It felt rich and saturated, though at times repetitive.
What bumped it up to 3 stars for me was a twist that I had misread the signs for as overused tropes. I was delighted about this turn in the plot and it was a lot of fun to see it play out.
Overall I think this book is very charming and worth a read. Parts of the plot felt like they floated by without enough weight, and others felt as if they were drawn out far too long. I’m looking forward to the second one.
Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Murder, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity