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elisabettamariagiuseppa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
SEQUEL NEEDED
Content Warnings
hannahinpages's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 63%.
I rarely DNF, but I am so bored I literally cannot do it anymore. Disappointing as this has been on my shelf for years and I thought I could like it. Won't give it a one star because I didn't finish and because there's nothing glaringly terrible, the characters are just bland and it's boring.
I rarely DNF, but I am so bored I literally cannot do it anymore. Disappointing as this has been on my shelf for years and I thought I could like it. Won't give it a one star because I didn't finish and because there's nothing glaringly terrible, the characters are just bland and it's boring.
lightningsews's review against another edition
Not the right time. Would have loved it when I originally saved the book on my tbr years ago, but now there are other books that capture my attention better. Want to return to it someday
markake123's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
paige_georgia_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
I loved this so much. Hesina is such an awesome protagonist and I had to keep turning the pages to find out what happened next. My only complaint is that there is no “next”/sequel!
sueks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
azurathena's review
4.0
Kitap baştan sona yüksek bir tempoyla ilerliyor. Bölüm başlarındaki öğüt kısımları bile sizi üstünde düşündürtüyor. Yazar bir kaç yerde güzel ters köşe yapıyor ama bir sorun var ki bu kitap yarım. Yazar, kitabın devamını hikayenin sonunda vadediyor ancak yayımlandığı günden beri ikinci kitabın yazılacağına dair en ufak bir işaret vermemiş. Umarım bu hikaye böyle yarım kalmaz.
the_alexeli's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5/5
This one was quite difficult to rate. And just a reminder that even a 3 star rating is NOT a bad rating for me. Still means I found it to be overall a pleasant or exciting. 4 stars is just for the books that have incredible characterization or wonderfully compelling plot lines. And 5 stars means I would practically sell my soul for the book.
He writing gave a lovely and thorough narrative to the story as a whole. It had an intriguing concept to it's plot, and the structure of it itself was reasonably sound. I also adored the concept of the magic system. I just wish it there had been MORE. This was a lot more of a "who dunnit" mixed with politics, than an exciting adventure or fantasy novel. Which I already am not a big murder mystery/ who dunnit fan. A lot of the mysterious plot points placed to build intrigue, I had guessed early on before their reveals.
As for characters, I admired Hesina for not being perfect. Just being a girl doing her best, and undoubtedly making mistakes. But she admitted to those mistakes readily, and wanted to learn from them. Wanted to do better. Wanted to grow for the sake of others. I really admired that. Sadly, she was the only fleshed out character though. All the others had no depth to them. We didn't get to feel anything from them. Which in turn, made their relationships with Hesina not as meaningful. So losses and betrayals didn't have the full force of impact they could have. Which saddened me, because I really had the sense would could have gotten some amazing friendships and found family vibes when I was first going in.
Lastly... It also makes this jarring to read now, knowing there will not be any sequels. I went in with the expectation that this was and had always been a standalone. I definitely understand the terrible hardships He had to go through to even get her power back from this book, and why she wouldn't want to go back and finish it. But man, this book is so incomplete on it's own. So much is left opened and unanswered at the end, that I'm left very dissatisfied with ending, knowing I'll never get answer and conclusions.
This one was quite difficult to rate. And just a reminder that even a 3 star rating is NOT a bad rating for me. Still means I found it to be overall a pleasant or exciting. 4 stars is just for the books that have incredible characterization or wonderfully compelling plot lines. And 5 stars means I would practically sell my soul for the book.
He writing gave a lovely and thorough narrative to the story as a whole. It had an intriguing concept to it's plot, and the structure of it itself was reasonably sound. I also adored the concept of the magic system. I just wish it there had been MORE. This was a lot more of a "who dunnit" mixed with politics, than an exciting adventure or fantasy novel. Which I already am not a big murder mystery/ who dunnit fan. A lot of the mysterious plot points placed to build intrigue, I had guessed early on before their reveals.
As for characters, I admired Hesina for not being perfect. Just being a girl doing her best, and undoubtedly making mistakes. But she admitted to those mistakes readily, and wanted to learn from them. Wanted to do better. Wanted to grow for the sake of others. I really admired that. Sadly, she was the only fleshed out character though. All the others had no depth to them. We didn't get to feel anything from them. Which in turn, made their relationships with Hesina not as meaningful. So losses and betrayals didn't have the full force of impact they could have. Which saddened me, because I really had the sense would could have gotten some amazing friendships and found family vibes when I was first going in.
Lastly... It also makes this jarring to read now, knowing there will not be any sequels. I went in with the expectation that this was and had always been a standalone. I definitely understand the terrible hardships He had to go through to even get her power back from this book, and why she wouldn't want to go back and finish it. But man, this book is so incomplete on it's own. So much is left opened and unanswered at the end, that I'm left very dissatisfied with ending, knowing I'll never get answer and conclusions.
rxnnmelody's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mastersal's review against another edition
4.5
Read on audio - which was the right way to go here as I think the narrator did a good job and allowed me to be focused on the book (IRL strikes again).
This book follows a young queen, Hesina, on her quest to find the mystery behind her father’s murder. This book was pitched as a “shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy” from a debut author - and I must say that the author did a great job with that inspiration. This is a Chinese setting, world, culture and (for me) it felt authentic and deep while still being a complete secondary fantasy setting. I am not Chinese so I don’t know how much of the inspiration is directly picked up from Chinese history and how much Ms. He made up, but I was thoroughly engaged.
Spoiler I mean the fact that there is literally a plot point on simplified vs traditional writing of characters - loved that.
And had a great time googling the traditional dresses mentioned (I would really like to see this on TV please Streaming Gods).
I was also impressed by the lack of gender violence and misogyny in the world-building. It is such a shortcut to import real-world convention into fantasy settings which often then don't make sense, or are thrown in so that we know that the world is “dangerous”. I was very impressed at what the author did here. She does not make a big deal that the throne doesn’t work as a patrimony as an example - Hesina doesn’t have to prove herself in the sense of her gender. She is the queen and no one challenges that based on her gender. The author also didn’t fall it the trap of making Hesina exceptionally competent or making the men around her stupid - excellently done here.
I compare this to [b:The Emperor's Blades|17910124|The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1)|Brian Staveley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369246817l/17910124._SY75_.jpg|25095579], which I read near-abouts this book. That book, perhaps because it was ‘adult fantasy’ used patriarchy as a sloppy way to bring “grit” to the book but really didn't matter to the story (except to annoy me). Here it was a refreshing non-issue.
The author also very smartly chose a murder mystery plot engine to drive the story forward. It allowed us to spend time with our lead but still let us discover the world and the politics. She introduced this courtroom proceeding into the plot which I thought was a great choice. I will say that I found this probably the best use of the YA story beats that I have read in a while. Hesina’s youth matters to the plot. For example, her conviction that justice will always prevail’ her lack of cynicism, the missteps she makes - all make sense for a young character and prevent her from coming across as stupid. Very well done.
Despite a slight wobble with a sort-of-forced love interest (which could have been safely removed), the focus of the character dynamics was on sibling relationships - which I adored. The tension between the characters is sibling jealousy and fear about being replaced in their family’s affections. Hesina’s main support system here are her siblings which was both refreshing in that she needed support, and that it was not a romantic relationship providing that bulwark. Excellent job!
I will say that despite the excellent bones of the book - I did find the start to be a bit slow. For the first 90 odd pages I was quite disconnected with the characters and despite the murder mystery, I didn’t really care about solving the murder. This could have been IRL fatigue to be fair but I did find the book slow to get off the ground - until we were basically in the trial scenes.
I will say that I had been expecting that this book was a standalone - which is most definitely not. The ending was a bit rushed and left us in a place where some of the plot threads did not come together. In fact the entire last part was overstuffed and too much happened too quickly. The plot got a little too higher concept in the last quarter - it was a little too much for me and I felt that the world-building became a little rushed - kind of like the author had to introduce a whole bunch of things for the next book.
This would probably be fine if we were getting book 2 - but the author has had issues with her publishers so it is not clear if there will ever be a sequel for this book. I will say that if you are reading this - I would recommend that you do not read the epilogue. It left the book will too many questions. The rest of the book can be read as a standalone - mostly. It doesn’t work as well as a standalone as it could have but overall I still found it excellent.
If this every gets a debut and some of the background to the plot is explored more I can see this rating climbing.
In my notes I had said that because of the epilogue I was docking this to 4 stars as it kind of changed the focus of the book Spoiler and undermined some of Hesina’s growth and agency. The epilogue made the book less about Hesina solving the mystery and more about Caiyan’s manipulations - it made Hesina feel irrelevant as she didn’t really do much because he was pulling all the strings. I’ve decided to be more generous and give this 4.5 stars as I thought it was excellent for a debut.
This book follows a young queen, Hesina, on her quest to find the mystery behind her father’s murder. This book was pitched as a “shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy” from a debut author - and I must say that the author did a great job with that inspiration. This is a Chinese setting, world, culture and (for me) it felt authentic and deep while still being a complete secondary fantasy setting. I am not Chinese so I don’t know how much of the inspiration is directly picked up from Chinese history and how much Ms. He made up, but I was thoroughly engaged.
Spoiler I mean the fact that there is literally a plot point on simplified vs traditional writing of characters - loved that.
And had a great time googling the traditional dresses mentioned (I would really like to see this on TV please Streaming Gods).
I was also impressed by the lack of gender violence and misogyny in the world-building. It is such a shortcut to import real-world convention into fantasy settings which often then don't make sense, or are thrown in so that we know that the world is “dangerous”. I was very impressed at what the author did here. She does not make a big deal that the throne doesn’t work as a patrimony as an example - Hesina doesn’t have to prove herself in the sense of her gender. She is the queen and no one challenges that based on her gender. The author also didn’t fall it the trap of making Hesina exceptionally competent or making the men around her stupid - excellently done here.
I compare this to [b:The Emperor's Blades|17910124|The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1)|Brian Staveley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369246817l/17910124._SY75_.jpg|25095579], which I read near-abouts this book. That book, perhaps because it was ‘adult fantasy’ used patriarchy as a sloppy way to bring “grit” to the book but really didn't matter to the story (except to annoy me). Here it was a refreshing non-issue.
The author also very smartly chose a murder mystery plot engine to drive the story forward. It allowed us to spend time with our lead but still let us discover the world and the politics. She introduced this courtroom proceeding into the plot which I thought was a great choice. I will say that I found this probably the best use of the YA story beats that I have read in a while. Hesina’s youth matters to the plot. For example, her conviction that justice will always prevail’ her lack of cynicism, the missteps she makes - all make sense for a young character and prevent her from coming across as stupid. Very well done.
Despite a slight wobble with a sort-of-forced love interest (which could have been safely removed), the focus of the character dynamics was on sibling relationships - which I adored. The tension between the characters is sibling jealousy and fear about being replaced in their family’s affections. Hesina’s main support system here are her siblings which was both refreshing in that she needed support, and that it was not a romantic relationship providing that bulwark. Excellent job!
I will say that despite the excellent bones of the book - I did find the start to be a bit slow. For the first 90 odd pages I was quite disconnected with the characters and despite the murder mystery, I didn’t really care about solving the murder. This could have been IRL fatigue to be fair but I did find the book slow to get off the ground - until we were basically in the trial scenes.
I will say that I had been expecting that this book was a standalone - which is most definitely not. The ending was a bit rushed and left us in a place where some of the plot threads did not come together. In fact the entire last part was overstuffed and too much happened too quickly. The plot got a little too higher concept in the last quarter - it was a little too much for me and I felt that the world-building became a little rushed - kind of like the author had to introduce a whole bunch of things for the next book.
This would probably be fine if we were getting book 2 - but the author has had issues with her publishers so it is not clear if there will ever be a sequel for this book. I will say that if you are reading this - I would recommend that you do not read the epilogue. It left the book will too many questions. The rest of the book can be read as a standalone - mostly. It doesn’t work as well as a standalone as it could have but overall I still found it excellent.
If this every gets a debut and some of the background to the plot is explored more I can see this rating climbing.
In my notes I had said that because of the epilogue I was docking this to 4 stars as it kind of changed the focus of the book Spoiler and undermined some of Hesina’s growth and agency. The epilogue made the book less about Hesina solving the mystery and more about Caiyan’s manipulations - it made Hesina feel irrelevant as she didn’t really do much because he was pulling all the strings. I’ve decided to be more generous and give this 4.5 stars as I thought it was excellent for a debut.