imaginingly's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
a beautiful book touching on lgbtqia+ acceptance and found family
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Blood
peggy_racham's review against another edition
4.75
What a fun read! There's young lesbian love, married gay pirates, found family, love confesions, great plot twist and mouthwatering discriptions of food. Fun retelling filled with real life history. The writing is engaging,the lore beautiful and the love story is sweet and slow. Will read more from this author
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
Xiang feels ignored by her mother, treated as a thing to be kept safe rather than a person who can want things and pursue them competently. She's been surrounded by people paid to teach her and keep her safe, part of a village where she's free to roam to hills and read, but is kept away from anything more adventurous. Her prized possession is a pendant from her presumed-dead father. When her mother agrees to let her try to learn one aspect of the business, it appears as though her mother might finally take her seriously. Instead her mother keeps trying to arrange a marriage for Xiang, a prospect which feels stifling. She meets Anh, a sailor, and feels close to her almost immediately, but takes longer to realize just how different their perspectives are, due to their vastly different life experiences. When she runs away and joins Anh's crew she finds a place where she is valued for what she does and for how she fits into a larger whole.
The worldbuilding leans into a heady mix of clothing, food, and legends of the Dragon Queen's exploits from decades ago. Once she's on the ship, Xiang works to learn as much as she can and revels in the feeling of getting stronger from daily work. There's an emphasis on found family, and in untangling the difference between where you come from and where you feel at home.
I enjoyed this both on its own and as a retelling of Treasure Island. You don't need to be familiar with the original, as this takes the bones of that other story and clads them in something wonderful and new. The ending is tense and dramatic, I like how it wraps things up.
The worldbuilding leans into a heady mix of clothing, food, and legends of the Dragon Queen's exploits from decades ago. Once she's on the ship, Xiang works to learn as much as she can and revels in the feeling of getting stronger from daily work. There's an emphasis on found family, and in untangling the difference between where you come from and where you feel at home.
I enjoyed this both on its own and as a retelling of Treasure Island. You don't need to be familiar with the original, as this takes the bones of that other story and clads them in something wonderful and new. The ending is tense and dramatic, I like how it wraps things up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Gun violence, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Drug use, and Child abuse
astridsbookishlife's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Sexism and Misogyny
lily1304's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
LOVED this - just a delightful YA adventure. I love CB Lee's Sidekick Squad series and this did not disappoint, even though it's a completely different genre/setting. SO fun!!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Blood
Violence is mostly with swords, only the occasional gun There is also at least one near-drowningshelvesofivy's review
adventurous
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Alcohol and War
shaipanda's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? No
4.25
This was really well done!! I’ve never read Treasure Island so idk how much of the main plot elements stayed the same and how much was changed but I really enjoyed the story and the relationships between the charactersss
I did feel like it was a bit rushed at times and it was a lot of story to fit into one book but overall I really liked it :)
Edit: had to dock it a bit from 4.75 to 4.25 cause I remember very little lol but I did really enjoy it and I remember liking the characters a lot
I did feel like it was a bit rushed at times and it was a lot of story to fit into one book but overall I really liked it :)
Edit: had to dock it a bit from 4.75 to 4.25 cause I remember very little lol but I did really enjoy it and I remember liking the characters a lot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Death, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Blood and Homophobia
fayesreads_'s review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
I love this so much!!!!! A sapphic Chinese retelling of Treasure Island & it absolutely hits!!! I usually struggle with historical books, but this was everything & I adored it!!!
-The slow burn romance ❤️🤌
- Xiang realizing & accepting her sexuality & the acceptance of the found family of pirates around her 🥲
- the mommy issues were wildly relatable
- the historical context was so interesting & I loved the authors note, language notes, historical notes, & recommended reading all listed in the back!! The author put so much effort into this book & it shows!
-The slow burn romance ❤️🤌
- Xiang realizing & accepting her sexuality & the acceptance of the found family of pirates around her 🥲
- the mommy issues were wildly relatable
- the historical context was so interesting & I loved the authors note, language notes, historical notes, & recommended reading all listed in the back!! The author put so much effort into this book & it shows!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Violence, Alcohol, Abandonment, Murder, Blood, Death, and Misogyny
mandkips's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Blood
Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
alouette's review
adventurous
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
4.75
a lovingly crafted historical fiction filled with adventure, as advertised. and queer pirates! saw this one as a recommendation at a local book shop, and i'm glad i did. the author did a great job of transporting me back to the right time period with descriptions of the various settings. and though the ship's crew kind of melded together, the central characters were really well fleshed out and i liked them a lot! Xiang's development as a person, a sheltered girl entering adulthood and realizing the truths of a chosen family and a chosen lifestyle, becoming her own individual, was lovely to see. and the development of Anh, someone cynical being able to believe and hope again, was great as well. though i didn't think their was much development between the two to being a romantic pair, i was still happy for it nonetheless. i liked Master Feng a lot, too.
another big bonus is that this book actually does travel scenes well! a lot of books, especially historical fiction, can turn the periods during which characters are travelling for an extended time into a slog. but in this case, the pacing felt very smooth.
the twist was very obvious and some of the character motivations very questionable, thus some points off on my star rating, but this is still a novel that i adored. :)
another big bonus is that this book actually does travel scenes well! a lot of books, especially historical fiction, can turn the periods during which characters are travelling for an extended time into a slog. but in this case, the pacing felt very smooth.
the twist was very obvious and some of the character motivations very questionable, thus some points off on my star rating, but this is still a novel that i adored. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Misogyny