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sinamile's review against another edition
5.0
TW: ableist slurs, physical abuse, knives (stabbing)
I.. I don't know what say. I don't know what to say!
What a book, what story. Holy wow, holy WOW! Like, I don't know what to say!!
I will never forget the moment I realized what was going on in this book.
P.S. How can I both love and loathe a character so much đ
I.. I don't know what say. I don't know what to say!
What a book, what story. Holy wow, holy WOW! Like, I don't know what to say!!
I will never forget the moment I realized what was going on in this book.
P.S. How can I both love and loathe a character so much đ
amyhungerford's review against another edition
4.0
Star Rating : 4.5 Stars
Holy crap! I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but IT WAS FANTASTIC!
Holy crap! I don't know what I was expecting from this book, but IT WAS FANTASTIC!
emleemay's review against another edition
4.0
âBeware, Xifeng, of magic that comes too easily. There is a price for everything, as she learned and you, too, will learn. Some magic requires blood. Other magic requires a piece of your own self and eats away at your soul.â
4 1/2 stars. In short: [b:Forest of a Thousand Lanterns|33958230|Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1)|Julie C. Dao|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496338822s/33958230.jpg|53186285] is an East Asia-inspired fantasy in which a young woman chooses ruthless ambition and power over the love of a hot guy. Halle-freaking-lujah.
I should probably say this is not for readers who must like the protagonist in order to enjoy a book. I almost DNFed it in the beginning when Xifeng hates and/or is jealous of every other woman she encounters. Girl-on-girl hate is one of my all time biggest pet peeves in YA. However, it soon became apparent that this is kind of the point. We're not really supposed to like Xifeng. She's a complex antiheroine and, honestly, it worked really well for me.
The story opens with Xifeng living in a small town with her abusive aunt/Guma and secretly longing to fulfil the destiny the cards have predicted for her, again and again. The cards show a future of ultimate power, with Xifeng as the Empress, but there are sacrifices to be made and many obstacles to be overcome. She finally gathers her courage and runs away with her beloved, Wei, searching for a way to plant herself close to the Emperor and achieve what the cards have promised.
It's nasty, twisted, and kinda gory. And I loved it! I experienced a whole array of emotions while reading. It's one of those books that gets under your skin until you're not quite sure how you feel about what is happening. On the one hand, Xifeng's dark jealousies and obsession with her own beauty should make you dislike her, and yet it is easy to feel the suffocating, frustrating cage of being a woman in a man's world.
[b:Forest of a Thousand Lanterns|33958230|Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1)|Julie C. Dao|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496338822s/33958230.jpg|53186285] goes into a surprising amount of depth, never allowing characters to become one-dimensional stereotypes, and considering the complexities of abuse - how one can love their abuser for their few kind, gentle moments, despite everything. Even the most despicable character in the book offers us glimpses of her humanity:
âLife is difficult when youâre born a woman in this world,â the concubine murmured. âYouâve entered a game you canât win. Men make the rules and we are left to be used by them or claw our way to whatever scraps theyâve left behind. Do you think my father gave me to the Emperor because he loved me? Did he care when he tore me from my motherâs arms? He thrust me into this pit of scorpions to be stung and forgotten.â
In a strange way, it's something of a feminist tale. Or, at least, a critique of a patriarchal world that can make a woman terrified of losing that which she considers her greatest weapon - her beauty. It may be difficult to like Xifeng, but I truly felt her claustrophobia and pain here:
âI was Gumaâs, and now you want me to be yours. I have my own soul and my own destiny, and Iâm tired of belonging to someone else.â
It definitely has a very Macbeth-esque feel to it. The use of prophecy - and how a person can become obsessed with and corrupted by it - reminds me of the Shakespearean tale. I can't say I would want Xifeng for a friend, but I am very interested in where her story is going. I have a feeling things are only going to get darker and nastier from here. I can't wait.
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tiffy137's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book. I like how romance was a big part of it at the beginning but wasnt a main part of the story even though i am a sucker for romance. This book was very plot heavy which meant lots of detail and interactions between character which i throughly enjoyed. It took me a bit to get into with their being so many characters and who was who but once you get into the book and understand what was happening. I liked learning about Asian and chinese culture which i dont know much about with how much detail the book goes into its easy to catch on and learn.
I gave this book 4 stars and im excited to read the sequel.
I gave this book 4 stars and im excited to read the sequel.
narteest's review against another edition
4.0
Actual rating 3.8 stars.
As one of few fantasies in YA set in an East Asian-inspired world, this book stands out remarkably.
But part of me wonders how really great it is. First off, I do want to point out that I did really enjoy this book. Iâve always been interested in such Asian inspired words, but rarely see actual East Asian/Asian background authors snapping it up. Not that Iâm saying non-asian writers canât do it, but sometimes, the little tiny difference is the feeling left behind or woven into the words. Itâs like, one needs to have experienced something Asian in order to understand the value of adopting such a world as a setting.
Forest of Thousand Lanterns captures much of the world that inspired it. And it also captures much of the, I guess I could say âAmericanismâ of popular YA literature.
This is essentially an origin story for the evil queen from Snow White, so in a way, itâs a retelling of Snow White from the Evil Queenâs perspective set in an East Asian inspired world â Iâm going to so far as say it feels like a Tang Dynasty inspired era, however, the era could have been anything (more info on why later)âand you canât even say itâs not, because the keys points are all there: beauty, heart eating, fairest, and whatnot.
Now where to start?
P R O S
There are a handful of pros that make this book worth reading, but I have a feeling there arenât that manyâŚ.
1) Setting. Different to usual fantasy settings, this sets it as âuniqueâ for now.
2) Antihero, with lots of show of women in power. When I see this, Iâm always reminded of Fan Bingbingâs The Empress of China. Which I loved btw, though, this and that are incomparable. The Empress of China was an amazing tv series.
3) This does in fact really capture that East-Asian inspired world. Typical values and beliefs (Iâm going to say Chinese for now and be done with it) are highlighted, like those between her and Guma, the Emperor and his servants as well as his concubines, and whatnot.
4) Supporting characters are great.
5) The re-envisioning of the Evil Queen is actually really fascinating. I did like that. I find it quite creative too how Dao weaves in those typical notions we associate with the Evil Queen that fairytale into her world and bring it to life.
6) Names. To me, names of East-Asian characters or inspired worlds are very important. Often, authors will play it safe and give us boring old names like âMeiâ or âLinâ or whatnot. And trust me, thatâs boring, horrendous and terrible ancient. Sure, there are names like that still, but letâs be creative, shall we? I love that Dao goes beyond that (I mean how can she not? Sheâs setting it in an East-Asian inspired world and if she called everyone Mei, then that would be really repetitive, wouldnât it?) and she does it well too. East-Asian names are usually double syllables, which Dao definitely does: XiFeng and Lihua. Yup. Perfect. While Iâm only semi expert (heritage and research to count for it), I definitely liked this in the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. And even though I know the author is listed as Vietnamese-American, I think she really did some solid research. Tbh, I donât care if the author isnât East-Asian to begin with, but if you do use an East-Asian character, at least read up on naming practices that make sense, and not be lazy. Lazy is boring.
7) Iâm pretty sure Dao did it this way to save time, but so yâall out there are aware, but âGumaâ isnât just a name, itâs a title that literally refers to aunt (it also specifies which, usually paternal, but this varies with mandarin across varieties, and it can refer to what you would call/address a woman older than you who is not necessarily blood related yet who is married and whom you respect), so donât just mistake it for a name! But as it is, I think Dao did it for the sake of simplifying the complicated, furthermore, this is fantasy and who knows, maybe in Daoâs world âGumaâ is a name!
8) Xifeng. I have noted that others donât really like Xifeng, and I agree. I donât think sheâs a character thatâs meant to be loved, and she feels disconnected to people, which probably, imo, reflects that cold heart in her chest, so in a way I feel this makes a very interesting story to have this disconnected feeling. It works better here than Meyerâs Catherine in Heartless. Xifeng has many traits that make her an ideal villain, vain, selfish, possessive. And I donât fault her on any of this. Itâs a bit refreshing to have a character like this, and that her beginning in this book, I think was done well (specially when sheâs jealous of Wei talking to another girl). You have a reason for Xifengâs desire towards her ultimate ambition, to be from no one to someone. And sometimes this carries though all the way into her court daysâŚ
9) My favourite scene with Xifeng is actually the scene where she meets with Empress Lihua and Lihua tells her about the Emperorâs interest in her. I like it because I really felt genuine emotions from Xifeng, and that there is a much deeper connection between her and Lihua that I havenât really seen all book.
10) When the action begins happening at the end, it gets pretty interesting!
C O N S
Now, the cons, for those who were super excited about this, will probably hate this part, but actually, the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns has many cons that irked me as I read it. And perhaps these stood out even more because I just finished reading Crooked Kingdom (Leigh Bardugo) before this, and despite me not liking the original Grisha trilogy, I found she did much better with Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom (in terms of worldbuilding).
1) The setting, while I liked it, isnât built up well. I donât have a very clear idea of what the world looks like, and for me to imagine life at court, I think of any and all Chinese period dramas I might have happened to watch before. Yes, Dao describes well with pretty metaphors and similes, but sometimes it isnât enough. I get impressions of sleeves and that everyone is dressed and certain colours, but I think I need just a bit more.
2) Xifeng. While I do have my interpretation listed in cons, at the same time, I donât really like her at all. And this time, not because Iâm made to, but because of how sheâs written. Ignoring her lack of connection with most characters, Xifeng herself is actually really annoying to me. I mean, I dislike it when she jumps out and pushes Wei into joining the Crown Princeâs army, she becomes so outspoken then, I was likeâŚ.um, are we talking about the same girl from the beginning of this book? I donât like the way seems to do something deceptive then wastes a page wondering how can she avoid walking down this devious path. i.e.
Gosh woman! Just donât walk down it! I would have been more interested to see her walk away from this road only to be drawn back. I wanted to see her fight just a bit against what she is supposed to become by attempting many times to take a different road to obtain her final goal, because right now, it seems like there is only one path, and for a book that begins with tarot cards and foretelling, there arenât many attempts to fight or tempt the conflict inside of her.
3) I want to compare Xifeng to other antiheroines, but barely any come to mind. I guess I think of Lada from And I Darken. Sheâs vicious and cruel and only wants one thing, yet as a character sheâs not hateable because her cause is so genuine and her flaws are as apparent as day, yet she doesnât seek to be liked, nor does she care who she kills (well not reallyâŚ.). Xifeng is different on the other hand, she was born with beauty, lived a life in which she was poor and had a parental figure who was cruel and mean and who wanted nothing from Xifeng except what her beauty could get, and Xifeng herself has been brainwashed by this one person who knew her only value. So in the court, tbh, I was kind of expecting more vicious harem games from the women (as per some of the Chinese period dramas Iâve seen), but also some friendships â but those arenât really clear â but it was just a bit too tame. And Lady Sun was just plain annoying. Hardly a rival.
4) Relationships. This is easily the non-highlight of this book. Sure, Xifeng and Wei seem to love each other. But truthfully, I didnât feel even an inch of love. Indeed, Xifengâs pov doesnât allow for it, like I said before and with my interpretation, I think her cold character wants to think it can love but doesnât possess it (plus she was told by Guma and others that such feelings are weaknesses) and therefore, we as readers feel her disconnect. But because of this, this makes her relationship with Wei shallow and baseless.. Plus it felt like a physical touching thing only, one in which Xifeng had been beaten for before (speaking of which, since she had already been beaten once, as mentioned and shown at the beginning of the book, it just seemed really pointless for the person responsible to go and smack the helper for the same reason, geezz just hit Xifeng, sheâs already used to it *rolls eyes* - I know thatâs cruel to say, but if youâre writing a character like that with an abusive childhood then why stop, itâll just give her more reasons to be better and get more). In truth I donât think this is all too bad, to have her feel extreme love before turning to greed and vanity might just make her a crazy evil queen rather than someone who didnât know how to love, or didnât have that ability. As such I would have liked to see more of Xifengâs background, to really see the basis for her actions. Not just because guma put her on this path. Her other relationship with Emperor Jun was just boring. Since Xifeng doesnât love him, just desires what he can give her, and so as a reader, I just didnât feel anything for it at all.
5) Relationships between the women: Theyâre there, but I wish there was more. Especially more development of Lihua and Xifeng, of Xifeng and Guma (come on the woman is her aunt, but the aunt really only shows up as the instigator, and Xifeng never really seems to hate the woman, but why?) and I would like to see more of Xifeng and Akira (why bother sending someone to watch over the pregnant woman? Even the brief introduction between them earlier on in the novel was not enough for me to be convinced by the friendship), and of course, more of Xifeng and Lady Sun (it was mainly hate here, but even hate has many facets and colours, and I wish that was developed more too).
6) The ending. I get that there was a necessity for the giant timeskip (2 years), but reallyâŚwas it that necessary? I didnât feel enough for every page leading up to it, that when it hit, I felt like, wellâŚ.why didnât I timeskip the 300+ pages before that?
7) Cover. I donât find it ugly, but I wish it was just a bit more appealing.
O V E R A L L
I did not hate this book. I just think it was unfortunate that I read it after other great fantasy books. What I do love about FoaTL is the uniqueness it brings to YA literature. There are East-Asian inspired books out there, but not quite something like this just yet in this kind of creativive capacity. And while this book wonât be sitting on my favourites shelf just yet, I am willing to hope that the next book will satisfy my thirst.
LOL P.s. I just read Julie C. Daoâs comment/review on the book and noticed she pointed out Wu Zetian. The same real historical being that the Chinese Drama The Empress of China was based on (I havenât finished watching that btw). I wish Xifeng lives up to her creatorâs imaging in the next one.
As one of few fantasies in YA set in an East Asian-inspired world, this book stands out remarkably.
But part of me wonders how really great it is. First off, I do want to point out that I did really enjoy this book. Iâve always been interested in such Asian inspired words, but rarely see actual East Asian/Asian background authors snapping it up. Not that Iâm saying non-asian writers canât do it, but sometimes, the little tiny difference is the feeling left behind or woven into the words. Itâs like, one needs to have experienced something Asian in order to understand the value of adopting such a world as a setting.
Forest of Thousand Lanterns captures much of the world that inspired it. And it also captures much of the, I guess I could say âAmericanismâ of popular YA literature.
This is essentially an origin story for the evil queen from Snow White, so in a way, itâs a retelling of Snow White from the Evil Queenâs perspective set in an East Asian inspired world â Iâm going to so far as say it feels like a Tang Dynasty inspired era, however, the era could have been anything (more info on why later)âand you canât even say itâs not, because the keys points are all there: beauty, heart eating, fairest, and whatnot.
Now where to start?
P R O S
There are a handful of pros that make this book worth reading, but I have a feeling there arenât that manyâŚ.
1) Setting. Different to usual fantasy settings, this sets it as âuniqueâ for now.
2) Antihero, with lots of show of women in power. When I see this, Iâm always reminded of Fan Bingbingâs The Empress of China. Which I loved btw, though, this and that are incomparable. The Empress of China was an amazing tv series.
3) This does in fact really capture that East-Asian inspired world. Typical values and beliefs (Iâm going to say Chinese for now and be done with it) are highlighted, like those between her and Guma, the Emperor and his servants as well as his concubines, and whatnot.
4) Supporting characters are great.
5) The re-envisioning of the Evil Queen is actually really fascinating. I did like that. I find it quite creative too how Dao weaves in those typical notions we associate with the Evil Queen that fairytale into her world and bring it to life.
6) Names. To me, names of East-Asian characters or inspired worlds are very important. Often, authors will play it safe and give us boring old names like âMeiâ or âLinâ or whatnot. And trust me, thatâs boring, horrendous and terrible ancient. Sure, there are names like that still, but letâs be creative, shall we? I love that Dao goes beyond that (I mean how can she not? Sheâs setting it in an East-Asian inspired world and if she called everyone Mei, then that would be really repetitive, wouldnât it?) and she does it well too. East-Asian names are usually double syllables, which Dao definitely does: XiFeng and Lihua. Yup. Perfect. While Iâm only semi expert (heritage and research to count for it), I definitely liked this in the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. And even though I know the author is listed as Vietnamese-American, I think she really did some solid research. Tbh, I donât care if the author isnât East-Asian to begin with, but if you do use an East-Asian character, at least read up on naming practices that make sense, and not be lazy. Lazy is boring.
7) Iâm pretty sure Dao did it this way to save time, but so yâall out there are aware, but âGumaâ isnât just a name, itâs a title that literally refers to aunt (it also specifies which, usually paternal, but this varies with mandarin across varieties, and it can refer to what you would call/address a woman older than you who is not necessarily blood related yet who is married and whom you respect), so donât just mistake it for a name! But as it is, I think Dao did it for the sake of simplifying the complicated, furthermore, this is fantasy and who knows, maybe in Daoâs world âGumaâ is a name!
8) Xifeng. I have noted that others donât really like Xifeng, and I agree. I donât think sheâs a character thatâs meant to be loved, and she feels disconnected to people, which probably, imo, reflects that cold heart in her chest, so in a way I feel this makes a very interesting story to have this disconnected feeling. It works better here than Meyerâs Catherine in Heartless. Xifeng has many traits that make her an ideal villain, vain, selfish, possessive. And I donât fault her on any of this. Itâs a bit refreshing to have a character like this, and that her beginning in this book, I think was done well (specially when sheâs jealous of Wei talking to another girl). You have a reason for Xifengâs desire towards her ultimate ambition, to be from no one to someone. And sometimes this carries though all the way into her court daysâŚ
9) My favourite scene with Xifeng is actually the scene where she meets with Empress Lihua and Lihua tells her about the Emperorâs interest in her. I like it because I really felt genuine emotions from Xifeng, and that there is a much deeper connection between her and Lihua that I havenât really seen all book.
10) When the action begins happening at the end, it gets pretty interesting!
C O N S
Now, the cons, for those who were super excited about this, will probably hate this part, but actually, the Forest of a Thousand Lanterns has many cons that irked me as I read it. And perhaps these stood out even more because I just finished reading Crooked Kingdom (Leigh Bardugo) before this, and despite me not liking the original Grisha trilogy, I found she did much better with Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom (in terms of worldbuilding).
1) The setting, while I liked it, isnât built up well. I donât have a very clear idea of what the world looks like, and for me to imagine life at court, I think of any and all Chinese period dramas I might have happened to watch before. Yes, Dao describes well with pretty metaphors and similes, but sometimes it isnât enough. I get impressions of sleeves and that everyone is dressed and certain colours, but I think I need just a bit more.
2) Xifeng. While I do have my interpretation listed in cons, at the same time, I donât really like her at all. And this time, not because Iâm made to, but because of how sheâs written. Ignoring her lack of connection with most characters, Xifeng herself is actually really annoying to me. I mean, I dislike it when she jumps out and pushes Wei into joining the Crown Princeâs army, she becomes so outspoken then, I was likeâŚ.um, are we talking about the same girl from the beginning of this book? I donât like the way seems to do something deceptive then wastes a page wondering how can she avoid walking down this devious path. i.e.
Xifeng bent her head, shocked by her own callous thoughts. âThank you, Your Majesty.â This time, the tears that slipped from her eyes were real.
Save me, she thought. Save me from this long and dark road
Gosh woman! Just donât walk down it! I would have been more interested to see her walk away from this road only to be drawn back. I wanted to see her fight just a bit against what she is supposed to become by attempting many times to take a different road to obtain her final goal, because right now, it seems like there is only one path, and for a book that begins with tarot cards and foretelling, there arenât many attempts to fight or tempt the conflict inside of her.
3) I want to compare Xifeng to other antiheroines, but barely any come to mind. I guess I think of Lada from And I Darken. Sheâs vicious and cruel and only wants one thing, yet as a character sheâs not hateable because her cause is so genuine and her flaws are as apparent as day, yet she doesnât seek to be liked, nor does she care who she kills (well not reallyâŚ.). Xifeng is different on the other hand, she was born with beauty, lived a life in which she was poor and had a parental figure who was cruel and mean and who wanted nothing from Xifeng except what her beauty could get, and Xifeng herself has been brainwashed by this one person who knew her only value. So in the court, tbh, I was kind of expecting more vicious harem games from the women (as per some of the Chinese period dramas Iâve seen), but also some friendships â but those arenât really clear â but it was just a bit too tame. And Lady Sun was just plain annoying. Hardly a rival.
4) Relationships. This is easily the non-highlight of this book. Sure, Xifeng and Wei seem to love each other. But truthfully, I didnât feel even an inch of love. Indeed, Xifengâs pov doesnât allow for it, like I said before and with my interpretation, I think her cold character wants to think it can love but doesnât possess it (plus she was told by Guma and others that such feelings are weaknesses) and therefore, we as readers feel her disconnect. But because of this, this makes her relationship with Wei shallow and baseless.. Plus it felt like a physical touching thing only, one in which Xifeng had been beaten for before (speaking of which, since she had already been beaten once, as mentioned and shown at the beginning of the book, it just seemed really pointless for the person responsible to go and smack the helper for the same reason, geezz just hit Xifeng, sheâs already used to it *rolls eyes* - I know thatâs cruel to say, but if youâre writing a character like that with an abusive childhood then why stop, itâll just give her more reasons to be better and get more). In truth I donât think this is all too bad, to have her feel extreme love before turning to greed and vanity might just make her a crazy evil queen rather than someone who didnât know how to love, or didnât have that ability. As such I would have liked to see more of Xifengâs background, to really see the basis for her actions. Not just because guma put her on this path. Her other relationship with Emperor Jun was just boring. Since Xifeng doesnât love him, just desires what he can give her, and so as a reader, I just didnât feel anything for it at all.
5) Relationships between the women: Theyâre there, but I wish there was more. Especially more development of Lihua and Xifeng, of Xifeng and Guma (come on the woman is her aunt, but the aunt really only shows up as the instigator, and Xifeng never really seems to hate the woman, but why?) and I would like to see more of Xifeng and Akira (why bother sending someone to watch over the pregnant woman? Even the brief introduction between them earlier on in the novel was not enough for me to be convinced by the friendship), and of course, more of Xifeng and Lady Sun (it was mainly hate here, but even hate has many facets and colours, and I wish that was developed more too).
6) The ending. I get that there was a necessity for the giant timeskip (2 years), but reallyâŚwas it that necessary? I didnât feel enough for every page leading up to it, that when it hit, I felt like, wellâŚ.why didnât I timeskip the 300+ pages before that?
7) Cover. I donât find it ugly, but I wish it was just a bit more appealing.
O V E R A L L
I did not hate this book. I just think it was unfortunate that I read it after other great fantasy books. What I do love about FoaTL is the uniqueness it brings to YA literature. There are East-Asian inspired books out there, but not quite something like this just yet in this kind of creativive capacity. And while this book wonât be sitting on my favourites shelf just yet, I am willing to hope that the next book will satisfy my thirst.
LOL P.s. I just read Julie C. Daoâs comment/review on the book and noticed she pointed out Wu Zetian. The same real historical being that the Chinese Drama The Empress of China was based on (I havenât finished watching that btw). I wish Xifeng lives up to her creatorâs imaging in the next one.
katthedogperson's review against another edition
4.0
Here is my video review of this book!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEg7DJrF7G0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEg7DJrF7G0
pages_oflau's review against another edition
1.0
I started this book as a buddy read with Emma & Kasia.
My god what a boring book...Iâve just finished it and I feel like I want to rip my eyes out.
I just didnât like it at all.
I didnât like the names, the writing, the story...it was confusing and just dull.
The characters were boring and I didnât feel any connection to them.
I hated the amount of abuse towards women.
I really struggled with this one and struggled to want to pick it up. And when I did pick it up I mostly skim read until the parts were people spoke because I just couldnât stand the writing style.
The only good thing was the last 2 chapters which I enjoyed. The rest of it I hated.
At least the cover is pretty I guess đ
My god what a boring book...Iâve just finished it and I feel like I want to rip my eyes out.
I just didnât like it at all.
I didnât like the names, the writing, the story...it was confusing and just dull.
The characters were boring and I didnât feel any connection to them.
I hated the amount of abuse towards women.
I really struggled with this one and struggled to want to pick it up. And when I did pick it up I mostly skim read until the parts were people spoke because I just couldnât stand the writing style.
The only good thing was the last 2 chapters which I enjoyed. The rest of it I hated.
At least the cover is pretty I guess đ
summerseeds's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
It had some good moments and the story was an enjoyable read overall. Some of it was a little iffy, especially when it came to the serpent god. Iâm not sure what it was about him, but many of those scenes just seemed off somehow. Same when came to her âaunt.â
As much as I want to see the point of all this talk about destiny and inner darkness (which, honestly, would have been perfectly acceptable even WITHOUT the influence of a dark god, because people are flawed and evil doesnât always need a reason), I heard book two was a major let down. Unfortunately.
It had some good moments and the story was an enjoyable read overall. Some of it was a little iffy, especially when it came to the serpent god. Iâm not sure what it was about him, but many of those scenes just seemed off somehow. Same when came to her âaunt.â
As much as I want to see the point of all this talk about destiny and inner darkness (which, honestly, would have been perfectly acceptable even WITHOUT the influence of a dark god, because people are flawed and evil doesnât always need a reason), I heard book two was a major let down. Unfortunately.
betsyjoy's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
carrot_khan's review against another edition
3.0
It was fun to read a book where the main characters aren't Sweet and Nice(tm).