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frantically's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This had some great moments, especially towards the end, and I loved the characters but for a duology, this one was too slow. I also would've loved some world building — this is a really interesting world but I just had so many questions!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Medical content
inkyinsanity's review against another edition
I DNFd this about a third of the way through, at 120-something pages.
I expected "Empress of a Thousand Skies" to be an politically-savvy science fiction adventure, and I was very excited to read it. Not to mention the cover is gorgeous. While the premise held promise, I stopped reading due to several issues.
My largest issue was with Rhiannon, or Rhee, the main female character. Her determination to avenge her family was understandable, but her refusal to question her shaky beliefs and her failure in asking trusted teachers for help made me frustrated with her lack of maturity.
Yes, characters need to start somewhere in their arc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get invested.
Rhee is also the heir of the entire space empire, but she runs off with a stranger who might want her dead instead of just going home. There was no previous inclination that her people were against her—I got the opposite impression, actually. I don’t understand why she expected to be treated like a common criminal for… surviving an assassination.
She also acts primarily on instinct, despite it clearly not serving her well. This leads to a series of contrived plot developments that kept me from sinking into the story.
The timely appearance of key information or solutions felt too convenient. All of this together with inconsistent world-building made Rhee’s perspective increasingly challenging to read.
The introduction of Alyosha (Aly), a black teenager, as a secondary POV initially gave a refreshing shift in perspective, but the portrayal of his experiences with racism felt heavy-handed. The repetitive emphasis on his minority status especially detracted from his characterization.
As a character, Aly is as unlikeable as Rhee. The story acts like his genre-typical tragic backstory excuses him from all wrongs, and his selfishness, tendency to complain, and complete lack of loyalty made me unsympathetic to his character.
To sum it all up: Empress of a Thousand Skies presents an interesting premise, but falls short in regards to characterization, plot coherency, and consistent world-building. I know plenty of people enjoyed this book a lot, but I would not recommend it.
I expected "Empress of a Thousand Skies" to be an politically-savvy science fiction adventure, and I was very excited to read it. Not to mention the cover is gorgeous. While the premise held promise, I stopped reading due to several issues.
My largest issue was with Rhiannon, or Rhee, the main female character. Her determination to avenge her family was understandable, but her refusal to question her shaky beliefs and her failure in asking trusted teachers for help made me frustrated with her lack of maturity.
Yes, characters need to start somewhere in their arc. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get invested.
Rhee is also the heir of the entire space empire, but she runs off with a stranger who might want her dead instead of just going home. There was no previous inclination that her people were against her—I got the opposite impression, actually. I don’t understand why she expected to be treated like a common criminal for… surviving an assassination.
She also acts primarily on instinct, despite it clearly not serving her well. This leads to a series of contrived plot developments that kept me from sinking into the story.
The timely appearance of key information or solutions felt too convenient. All of this together with inconsistent world-building made Rhee’s perspective increasingly challenging to read.
The introduction of Alyosha (Aly), a black teenager, as a secondary POV initially gave a refreshing shift in perspective, but the portrayal of his experiences with racism felt heavy-handed. The repetitive emphasis on his minority status especially detracted from his characterization.
As a character, Aly is as unlikeable as Rhee. The story acts like his genre-typical tragic backstory excuses him from all wrongs, and his selfishness, tendency to complain, and complete lack of loyalty made me unsympathetic to his character.
To sum it all up: Empress of a Thousand Skies presents an interesting premise, but falls short in regards to characterization, plot coherency, and consistent world-building. I know plenty of people enjoyed this book a lot, but I would not recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
ravensandlace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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Finally, I read a book that was incredibly popular and made rounds on Goodreads. I’m so proud of myself. Granted, I am a couple years late but better late than never, right? I was lucky to find this book at a bookstore in Minnesota. This bookstore was every book lover’s dream. We are talking floor to ceiling of books and all those shelves were just jammed back full of books. The prices were good too! As a thrifter, I always look for good deals and this store had them. Plus, you could take your books there and get credit to the store for them. I could have spent hours in there and never gone through all the books. I’ll visit them again and write a more concise post about this store. I wish I could remember the name but I visited this place with my dad’s girlfriend and it was kind of a spur of the moment visit.
Anyway. I should probably review the book.
While I didn’t quite love this book, I did enjoy the ride even though I was bored through parts of it. One positive I must point out is the maps and family tree in the beginning of the book. It makes things a lot easier to keep track of and it’s a unique thing to reference back too for when things get too confusing. All fantasy books and books with huge worlds should have this in all their books. But I understand why they don’t.
Unfortunately, the book didn’t have a lot happen in terms of events until the surprise twist at the end. I think it was building up for an explosive second book where everything would be answered and conflict would happen. Which is okay if you are into that kind of thing but I was kind of bored through most of the book. However, there was just enough to keep me curious to know what is happening.
This book talks a lot about racism and how quickly people will start a war over prejudices. I think it offers a great discussion on just how much racism affects society. It made me so mad to see just how awful the racism throughout the book was. If anything, the great discussion involving racism was enough to keep me going through and continue reading this book.
Overall, while I didn't quite love the book, I’m intrigued enough to read the second book and see what happens. Especially with that surprised twist at the end. Not to mention the cover of this book is gorgeous and the topic of racism is very well discussed.
Finally, I read a book that was incredibly popular and made rounds on Goodreads. I’m so proud of myself. Granted, I am a couple years late but better late than never, right? I was lucky to find this book at a bookstore in Minnesota. This bookstore was every book lover’s dream. We are talking floor to ceiling of books and all those shelves were just jammed back full of books. The prices were good too! As a thrifter, I always look for good deals and this store had them. Plus, you could take your books there and get credit to the store for them. I could have spent hours in there and never gone through all the books. I’ll visit them again and write a more concise post about this store. I wish I could remember the name but I visited this place with my dad’s girlfriend and it was kind of a spur of the moment visit.
Anyway. I should probably review the book.
While I didn’t quite love this book, I did enjoy the ride even though I was bored through parts of it. One positive I must point out is the maps and family tree in the beginning of the book. It makes things a lot easier to keep track of and it’s a unique thing to reference back too for when things get too confusing. All fantasy books and books with huge worlds should have this in all their books. But I understand why they don’t.
Unfortunately, the book didn’t have a lot happen in terms of events until the surprise twist at the end. I think it was building up for an explosive second book where everything would be answered and conflict would happen. Which is okay if you are into that kind of thing but I was kind of bored through most of the book. However, there was just enough to keep me curious to know what is happening.
This book talks a lot about racism and how quickly people will start a war over prejudices. I think it offers a great discussion on just how much racism affects society. It made me so mad to see just how awful the racism throughout the book was. If anything, the great discussion involving racism was enough to keep me going through and continue reading this book.
Overall, while I didn't quite love the book, I’m intrigued enough to read the second book and see what happens. Especially with that surprised twist at the end. Not to mention the cover of this book is gorgeous and the topic of racism is very well discussed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Religious bigotry
There is an act of terrorism in this book.
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