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kays_reading_journal's review against another edition
5.0
Content warnings: full warnings listed in the section below but there are multiple instances of on page sexual assault.
I can't believe I let this book sit on my shelf for over a year before I picked it up, it's incredible!!
The romance, the plot, the world building, the aesthetics oh my god. All incredible.
It was a bit slow at the beginning as the story was setting itself up, but once our two main characters started fully interacting I was hooked.
I also think some of the side characters could have had a bit more development, but it's looking like we'll see that in the sequel!
I can't believe I let this book sit on my shelf for over a year before I picked it up, it's incredible!!
The romance, the plot, the world building, the aesthetics oh my god. All incredible.
It was a bit slow at the beginning as the story was setting itself up, but once our two main characters started fully interacting I was hooked.
I also think some of the side characters could have had a bit more development, but it's looking like we'll see that in the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, and War
Minor: Torture
madamenovelist's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
bloodbrooxv's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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 really liked this book, I would suggest it to anyone who doesn't feel comfortable enough to read the poppy war. Colonialism, as a theme, is very prominent, and although it's analized in a YA-ish way, it's still very impactful. The romance was very cute, and i'm interested in how it'll develop in the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Genocide and Gore
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual assault
Representation: chinese main characterscozigremlin's review against another edition
- Pace = Slow
- Characters = slow development and unlikable
- Trauma-driven motivation from the characters gave me the ick. The female MC growth was not believable to me. The male MC to driven by his trauma. Overall (ironically so, I think) this book lacked the balance between hope and darkness.
- I also was really turned off by the voice the narrator gave the female MC.
IDK this book wasn't for me. Gave me weird vibes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Violence
leedolee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
A great read! I found myself unable to put this book down as I wanted to keep on reading and find out what came next. The entire plot line, the characters, the lore, and the world were all entertaining, well fleshed-out, and exciting! I’m definitely going to be counting down the days until the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Cultural appropriation
heartbrekker's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
"Live not for those whose souls rest in eternal slumber in the next world... but for those still struggling to find peace in this one."
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is my first novel by Amélie Wen Zhao, and I can honestly say that it was well worth the wait. I've always considered reading her Blood Heir trilogy, but this book solidified her as a stunning writer in world building, lore, and characterization. I'm gonna have to do some backtracking via her older works. I expected a few of the plot trajectories within SOSFLN, but overall, I was STUNNED by quite a few revelations. I think this duology has a good chance of becoming a favorite of mine.
"So long as there was war, there was sacrifice. So long as there was power, there was bloodshed. So long as there was life, there was hope."
Now the characters were immensely interesting. Lan reminds me a bit of typical YA girl protagonist with her love of comfort food, snarky sass, and fast proficiency at utilizing her magic—aka her qí—so it took me a bit longer to fall for her because she felt a bit copy and paste at first glance. But once she started to interact with other characters, specifically Zen, Lan really starts to grow and develop into who she was meant to be... Or who she will be within the second book honestly. She goes through eons worth of development, and I can't help but think of her in her final few chapters torn between what one group of people tell her vs. her mother. It's a very raw moment.
"Power was a blade, and the only blame was in that its wielder's hand was too weak."
Then, there's Zen. HAHA. He is the other main character of this book and a downright mess and a half if I'm being honest. He initially comes off as this calm, collected, cool dude, but chaos kicks in soon after and he's about as confused as Lan. But in all seriousness—he's actually a great foil/ contrast to Lan because both are surrounded by ying energies (pain, anger, death, etc.), but they act on those feelings in completely different ways. Lan has an outlet for her pain through her experiences with loved ones and friends, also just her aspirations for answers via her mother; whereas, Zen has always internally coped with his feelings, particularly because nobody ever accepted him due to certain circumstances (aka spoilers haha).
"As we live today, it is either everything or nothing."
Now let's get to my favorite part of this book—the world building and lore. I'll admit that Amélie likes to lean heavily into info-dumping throughout the course of Lan's tutelage and qí discovery. It gets old a bit because a lot of information gets thrown at you in a sort of lecture context, but I'm willing to let that critique slide quite a bit because it allows readers to jump faster into the history and lore AKA THE BEST PART. They're four Demon Gods (Azure Tiger, Silver Dragon, Crimson Phoenix, and Black Tortoise) that plague the Hin kingdom and their respective clans throughout the course of this country's history, and of course, minor demons cause plenty of strife too. We get to meet quite a few throughout the entirety of the book. Although, these demons are not brought to the forefront of the story until about 50% into the book, so our first antagonist is actually the Elantian people who have been decimating the Hin for over a decade. Instead of qí the Elantians use a metal magic, and their goal for years is to completely eradicate the practitioners of qí and possibly find any information on the Demon Gods. Elantians killed Lan's mother in the opening prologue, and they are the shadows hot on her heels for the entire book as she searches for answers. Readers do get the truth of what happened exactly the night Lan's mother dies, and it is without a doubt the most impactful scene within SOSFLN. So colonialism and racism are the central destructive force of this book in my opinion because while these Demon Gods have done their fair share of death on the Hin people (you'll find out how via the history info-dumps), the Elantians are trying to weaponize them to further control the Hin and probably the world at large. It made me sick to read the one Elantian POV at the end of this book because just as Lan says somewhere within the story—it hasn't been the demons she's had to worry about for the last decade... but rather power hungry Elantians.
"If I must see darkness for our people to find light, then I will make that same choice, over and over and over again."
At the end of the day, this first book in the duology is about Lan's journey to finding answers about her mother. I get so tired of authors constantly killing off parents to their protagonists, but SOSFLN is one of those rare examples where I felt the death and parental-child relationship were done right. I saw myself in Lan's shoes because her mind was constantly drawn back to her mother. Lan doesn't even know her mom's name at one point due to her trauma/ memory issues, so her discovery of her mother's truth felt raw. This whole book is about relationships, even ancestry and what that means for descendants, and by the end, you'll lean back into her pillows or wherever you read and just wonder about the implications of everyone's decisions within SOSFLN. Are we doomed to follow the mistakes or journeys of our parents/ great grandparents? Can we break the cycle of previous family members? You'll be reeling with questions like these once you finish, and I can't believe I have to wait over a year for the sequel.
"In a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive."
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is my first novel by Amélie Wen Zhao, and I can honestly say that it was well worth the wait. I've always considered reading her Blood Heir trilogy, but this book solidified her as a stunning writer in world building, lore, and characterization. I'm gonna have to do some backtracking via her older works. I expected a few of the plot trajectories within SOSFLN, but overall, I was STUNNED by quite a few revelations. I think this duology has a good chance of becoming a favorite of mine.
"So long as there was war, there was sacrifice. So long as there was power, there was bloodshed. So long as there was life, there was hope."
Now the characters were immensely interesting. Lan reminds me a bit of typical YA girl protagonist with her love of comfort food, snarky sass, and fast proficiency at utilizing her magic—aka her qí—so it took me a bit longer to fall for her because she felt a bit copy and paste at first glance. But once she started to interact with other characters, specifically Zen, Lan really starts to grow and develop into who she was meant to be... Or who she will be within the second book honestly. She goes through eons worth of development, and I can't help but think of her in her final few chapters torn between what one group of people tell her vs. her mother. It's a very raw moment.
"Power was a blade, and the only blame was in that its wielder's hand was too weak."
Then, there's Zen. HAHA. He is the other main character of this book and a downright mess and a half if I'm being honest. He initially comes off as this calm, collected, cool dude, but chaos kicks in soon after and he's about as confused as Lan. But in all seriousness—he's actually a great foil/ contrast to Lan because both are surrounded by ying energies (pain, anger, death, etc.), but they act on those feelings in completely different ways. Lan has an outlet for her pain through her experiences with loved ones and friends, also just her aspirations for answers via her mother; whereas, Zen has always internally coped with his feelings, particularly because nobody ever accepted him due to certain circumstances (aka spoilers haha).
"As we live today, it is either everything or nothing."
Now let's get to my favorite part of this book—the world building and lore. I'll admit that Amélie likes to lean heavily into info-dumping throughout the course of Lan's tutelage and qí discovery. It gets old a bit because a lot of information gets thrown at you in a sort of lecture context, but I'm willing to let that critique slide quite a bit because it allows readers to jump faster into the history and lore AKA THE BEST PART. They're four Demon Gods (Azure Tiger, Silver Dragon, Crimson Phoenix, and Black Tortoise) that plague the Hin kingdom and their respective clans throughout the course of this country's history, and of course, minor demons cause plenty of strife too. We get to meet quite a few throughout the entirety of the book. Although, these demons are not brought to the forefront of the story until about 50% into the book, so our first antagonist is actually the Elantian people who have been decimating the Hin for over a decade. Instead of qí the Elantians use a metal magic, and their goal for years is to completely eradicate the practitioners of qí and possibly find any information on the Demon Gods. Elantians killed Lan's mother in the opening prologue, and they are the shadows hot on her heels for the entire book as she searches for answers. Readers do get the truth of what happened exactly the night Lan's mother dies, and it is without a doubt the most impactful scene within SOSFLN. So colonialism and racism are the central destructive force of this book in my opinion because while these Demon Gods have done their fair share of death on the Hin people (you'll find out how via the history info-dumps), the Elantians are trying to weaponize them to further control the Hin and probably the world at large. It made me sick to read the one Elantian POV at the end of this book because just as Lan says somewhere within the story—it hasn't been the demons she's had to worry about for the last decade... but rather power hungry Elantians.
"If I must see darkness for our people to find light, then I will make that same choice, over and over and over again."
At the end of the day, this first book in the duology is about Lan's journey to finding answers about her mother. I get so tired of authors constantly killing off parents to their protagonists, but SOSFLN is one of those rare examples where I felt the death and parental-child relationship were done right. I saw myself in Lan's shoes because her mind was constantly drawn back to her mother. Lan doesn't even know her mom's name at one point due to her trauma/ memory issues, so her discovery of her mother's truth felt raw. This whole book is about relationships, even ancestry and what that means for descendants, and by the end, you'll lean back into her pillows or wherever you read and just wonder about the implications of everyone's decisions within SOSFLN. Are we doomed to follow the mistakes or journeys of our parents/ great grandparents? Can we break the cycle of previous family members? You'll be reeling with questions like these once you finish, and I can't believe I have to wait over a year for the sequel.
"In a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive."
Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, and Sexual assault
bookwormbullet's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Colonisation
Minor: Death of parent