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minryll's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
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
THIS BOOK WRECKED ME
VERY GOOD READ
VERY GOOD READ
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Turns out political intrigue is interesting when it’s not white people in castles!!! should’ve known
what can I say about this: deliciously ruthless, so many characters to love and hate and root for anyway, SAPPHICS!!!!, ~gender~…
that “support women’s rights and women’s wrongs” meme was made with this book in mind. incredibly fun and so hard to put down, sorry to the author for waiting this long. buying the next one asap 🫡
what can I say about this: deliciously ruthless, so many characters to love and hate and root for anyway, SAPPHICS!!!!, ~gender~…
that “support women’s rights and women’s wrongs” meme was made with this book in mind. incredibly fun and so hard to put down, sorry to the author for waiting this long. buying the next one asap 🫡
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Death of parent, Murder, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
starsmakenoise's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
matcha_pages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
A queer, magical reimagining of the rise of one of China's emperors. It's equal mix of politics and exploration of gender roles in a very rigid society. I'm not sure how much is historical vs fantasy but it was a great hearing stories about China under Mongol rule.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
dianlyyaliz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Misogyny and Murder
Minor: Child death
madscientistcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Sexual content
klbreyfogle's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-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
I enjoyed it and am going to read the second one! The characters are super morally grey, which can be frustrating when you want to root for them and they do something awful, but it also makes them really interesting to think about! I enjoyed both main characters - I have a little more sympathy for Ouyang’s moral greyness because of his traumatic past but I think I have too much Ma in me to get on board with everything Zhu does. Lots of compelling queerness, which I deeply enjoy! Plenty of action, also lots of politics. Clearly inspired by c-dramas, so if you like those you’ll probably like this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death and Slavery
adoto's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
5.0
You know a book is good when you marvel at how well every single aspect of it was carried out and think "I could never do this" like this gave me the same feeling that Percy Jackson did.... absolutely legendary
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Slavery, Xenophobia, Blood, Dysphoria, and War
saltyseakitten's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
mariebrunelm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
4.5
Une fille grandit dans la poussière d’une terre desséchée auprès d’un père négligent et d’un frère destiné à la grandeur. Lorsque ce dernier meurt avant d’avoir accompli son destin, elle décide que c’est elle qui touchera la grandeur. Elle vole le nom de son frère et se met en route vers la première étape de son destin : le monastère interdit aux femmes.
Il souffle un vent épique sur ce roman de fantasy historique. J’ai bien apprécié la courte introduction éclairant le contexte historique dans lequel se déroule l’intrigue. Sans noyer le lectorat dans les informations, elle donne des repères bienvenus.
A mon sens, le plus grand succès de ce livre, c’est son personnage principal et toute sa complexité. Alors qu’elle n’est même pas nommée au début de l’histoire, Zhu s’impose assez rapidement comme une figure magnétique, dont la volonté inébranlable semble pouvoir déplacer des montagnes. Pourtant, rien n’est aisé. Son parcours est fascinant à suivre et m’a fait tourner les pages à toute vitesse. J’avoue avoir été moins captivée par les autres points de vue, même si j’ai aimé la nuance qu’ils apportaient. Le fait est que la dimension géopolitique du texte et ses nombreux personnages m’ont perdue. J’ai suivi les grandes lignes de l’intrigue, mais au bout d’un tiers du livre je ne savais plus quel personnage secondaire était qui et où allait son allégeance. J’ai pourtant continué, charmée par le personnage de Zhu. La fin, un peu rapide à mon goût, est clairement écrite pour donner envie de lire la suite de cette duologie. Je ne suis pas sûre de poursuivre car les machinations ne vont que se compliquer, mais je recommande chaudement ce roman aux amateurices de fantasy ou de fiction historique qui ne reculent pas devant la multiplicité des personnages.
Rep : personnage principal non-binaire, relation sapphique.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, and War
Moderate: Blood