Reviews tagging 'War'

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

31 reviews

azaliz's review against another edition

The story is too cliche, and i really didn't understand some of the choices that the protagonist makes.

How they're not shown to question the work they're doing for the ministry

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and War

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Gore, Sexual content, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

emrythequeer's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

elylzlz's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny 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? Yes

4.25

Non-binary main character with normalized queer culture 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

woolerys's review against another edition

adventurous 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? No

3.5

Writing -  4/5

Plot -  3/5

Characters -  3/5

World-building -  4/5

Personal tastes -  4/5

TOTAL: 3.6

The main character and the dragon (it’s not a spoiler to say there’s a dragon, right? it’s on the cover) are the highlights. I found the MC very relatable—wanting to ignore the political tensions they are enmeshed in, not wanting to truly hurt anybody, just wanting to paint! 

I wish there had been as much deeply-felt emotional angst around the love interest as there was for the sibling relationship. Not that I minded the sibling relationship getting higher priority, it just felt like for the romantic relationship, a lot of emotion was implied rather than described.

The world-building was also cool, with a focus on visual arts and their underlying philosophies. The magic felt a bit runaway as the story went on but the concept was original and intriguing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

Moderate: War

Minor: Torture

rory_o_rama's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Abandonment

jayisreading's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

3.25

I want to first praise the fascinating premise, especially considering that it was clearly based on colonial Korea in a fantasy setting. Lee also brought to attention the importance of art in life and society, turning it into a literal weapon to signify its value even during war. He also reimagined really interesting politics that clearly drew from historical figures and events of the Korean peninsula while under Japanese rule.

And, with that said, I was underwhelmed by the novel and wanted more. Lee was working with a fascinating setting and powerful themes that all felt underdeveloped. I wanted to learn more about the politics of what was happening; a better understanding of the magic system and mechanical dragons; as well as a stronger idea of characters' motives and desires. Regarding the last point, Jebi (the protagonist) was clearest in what they wanted, even if what they wanted wasn't particularly revolutionary. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but in a fantasy novel that demanded action, it conflicted with Jebi's interests and made the overarching story less interesting.

I think there's still a lot to take from this novel, and I know many readers would love the incredible queer representation (and seamlessly woven into the world) that is present. The novel had a lot of potential across the board and, unfortunately, they weren't fully realized.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Grief, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Torture and Xenophobia

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and War

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual harassment

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Toxic relationship, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.0

I was hesitant to read this because of how dark the last Yoon Ha Lee book I read was, but I’m glad I did because I loved it. The paint magic system was alarming and awesome, and the unexpected connections were interesting throughout. Loved the tie-ins with Korean folklore and the non-binary rep. I wish things with Hawk had been a little more developed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Torture, Medical content, and Grief

fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this book. The way it depicted collonialism and revolution and it's necessity for violence was well written. Especially the focus on art and what counts as valuable art and for what reasons was really interesting. Seeing everything from an artists point of view really gave a different take on it and I loved the very artsy and flowery discriptions of things, landscapes, fighting, war,..
I also really liked that the main character, Jebi, didn't just suddenly become good at being a revolutionary, when they decided to join the revolution. They were clumsy and made mistakes and were unsure about, what the right thing to do was. It made it much more relatable and realistic.
And I loved Arazi! It was like an excited toddler exploring a new place, but also really wise, so much fun to read.
The relationships were really well-written, too. I especially enjoyed the sibling relationship between Jebi and their sister. Having vastly different goals, hobbies, opinions, but still accepting and loving each other without understanding, that just got to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail