Reviews

A Venom Dark and Sweet by Judy I. Lin

Only show reviews with written explanations

_kiratune's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Way better than the first book, in my humble opinion. I almost dnf the first one because i felt that i dragged on and on and we were just waiting for the next competition rounds without much happening in between. Yes, I still think Ning is inexplicably overpowered but at least this time around I understood the scope of what tea magic can do much clearer because rules and repetitions started appearing. I think the first book would have greatly benefitted from already including the cosmic scope of the threat and not just play it as a political intrigue, I still didn’t care for the romance, but I think it did the writer a lot of good to have this quest and all the mythical lore to explain and to show, almost like a Ghibli x Lotr mash up, in a sense. Pacing was a big wonky and the climax was too short and quick, but oh well. I had a good time 🤝

elinestr's review

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4.0

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: /
---
Plot: ❤️❤️❤️
Characters: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Writing: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Re-readability: ❤️❤️❤️
Recommend: yes!

museings's review

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

angrangy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

f10r3nc3777's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.0

shakita45's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.0

This book suffered in the same way as it's predecessor; the overall plot and magic system were compelling, but the characters just couldn't carry the narrative, and I didn't enjoy the romance aspect at all. Plus, all the characters I enjoyed so much from the first book were absent, which was a bummer.