Reviews

Le maree nere del cielo by Neon Yang

guineapiggirl's review against another edition

I liked how the author combined modern ideas and a fantastical setting.

eveemilie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

zana_reads_arcs's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars rounded up!

This was so so good! It was basically a character study with a plot. (So literally my favorite.) The characterization with the twins as they grew up was on point. You really understood their different personalities.

And the whole picking your gender thing at 17 was pretty cool. I might have to steal this concept for a short story lol

Knocking off half a star because the world building was sparse. I'd love more descriptions of the world at large. The magic could use more explaining too.

But even then, for a novella this was so rich in storytelling.

jurema's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-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? No

4.0

mattrabpc's review against another edition

3.0

The story was quite good but it hopped around so much it made the story disjointed and difficult to really know the characters and world. The result i felt was more of an outline that could have done with more details and character exloration

ra_schmi's review against another edition

2.0

I would have given this book five stars if it had ended about a quarter of the way before the kids grew up to be 15. After that, it seemed to go rapidly downhill with lots of unexpected surprises and no resolution of plot points from earlier in the book. The author writes beautifully but it does not make up for the hackneyed nonsensical plot. The characters in the first part of the book were compelling but I stopped caring about anyone introduced after Year 15 because I didn't get anything to care about. It's a shame because the author is obviously very talented and good at world-building, and this could have been an amazing compelling book! Did she just have a terrible editor who never pointed out any of these weaknesses?

thoughtsstained's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Full review posted at Thoughts Stained With Ink:

I seriously enjoyed The Black Tides of Heaven. It's exploration of gender and weaponry (and responsibility with such weaponry), on top of complex family and sibling dynamics, was absolutely fascinating to me. It also was the perfect blend of heartbreak.

This is my first of Neon Yang's work, but I already own The Genesis of Memory and I'm really excited to read that by them, too. I definitely plan to read the next novella in this series and I recommend it for you all, too! 

rajaraks's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars rounded down.

So let's start with the good - the world building is impressive and the idea of everyone being allowed to choose their gender is a really cool way to talk about it within a fantasy setting. The magic (or slack as it's called) is tied to the elements of nature, so of course my mind goes to Avatar the Last Airbender. (The show. Not the movie.) Thankfully though, it didn't feel like she ripped off the show - even if it may have been influenced by it, she made it her own.

Now for the bad - because the chapters jump through time so often, I wasn't deeply emotionally connected with any of the characters. I knew I should feel sad, etc at certain moments but at the same time, I was like, 'who cares?'. The author didn't give me enough time/pages to really care about what they're fighting for, their character changes as they grew up, or even the climax of the whole story with the fight with his mom.

I don't know if it my impression would improve if I continued reading the series but as it is right now, I don't feel compelled to get the next one.

aoutramafalda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

5.0

driedfrogpills's review against another edition

4.0

Excellent world building, fascinating treatment of gender and well-written to boot? And there's (so far) four books planned for this series? Sign me up.

Jumping right into Red Threads of Fortune right after this.