Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee

16 reviews

pandacosm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad 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

4.75

I loved this book!! It was so interesting that Kyoshi had such a different beginning from the impression we get of her as a mature avatar in the TV series, and I'm glad one of the ATLA creators warned us at the beginning about it because I might have been very puzzled otherwise.

I think it was clever and fitting that if Kyoshi was going to struggle with bending, it would be because she was too powerful about it. It's not the first time I've seen this trope but it suits well.

I absolutely adored the bi/pan representation, of course, and I had also been hoping for

polyamorous representation but alas... poor Yun... though who knows what book 2 will bring?

I loved seeing Kyoshi get a found family. Every Avatar deserves their Avatar gang! It was touching how the bonds were woven as Kyoshi and other characters battled with the traumas they went through and recognized similar experiences in each other. There were also interesting bending techniques displayed. It was great to see airbenders get to be more involved since they hadn't been massacred yet in this era.

I just hope Kyoshi can find a great airbender companion as well eventually. It feels a shame that she lost Kelsang when we got so little airbender rep in the main show, but I understand why it happened. Part of me wonders if Kyoshi's airbender mother is truly dead?

It was also very interesting to see the corruption behind the scenes of

those who support the Avatar. I had already thought before reading the book that it must have been difficult during times of the Avatar cycle when they're too young to do anything and wondered what people in the past before Aang's long disappearance did about that, guessing that there must be a support system in play. It's touching to see that the Avatar's companions who outlive him who play a part in that. I'm also not surprised at the implied White Lotus involvement, though we'll see if that's confirmed in the sequel.

Fair warning to those who watched the TV series that this book is far darker and would never be allowed to be broadcast to the same audience as an animated show for kids, but I think the majority of us ATLA fans are now old enough to be fine reading it. There's a lot of death, and the only reason I took 0.25 stars off my rating is because

I found Lek's death unnecessary. All the other major character deaths spurred plot and character development, but I feel that Lek's was just unnecessarily rubbing salt in the wound and didn't really change what was going to happen. Kyoshi was already going to meet with Jianzhu to get Rangi back no matter what happened to Lek.

I also don't like that

the found family split up at the end-- why do authors always do this???--

but I assume that will change in the sequel so it didn't affect my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Medical content

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

There was a lot of dark content in this book so I apologize if I missed tagging anything. The homo/lesbo/biphobia is not actively enacted by any character, but it's just briefly mentioned by a supportive character that others might not be as understanding.

scramuel058's review against another edition

adventurous emotional relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death

ashlikes's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug use, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

rallsley's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

Push everything you thought about Kyoshi from the beloved TV series aside and be immersed in the beginning stages of her life and training. Every page solidified her case for justice, doing right by her promises and ambitions. Fall in love with the unlikely cast of characters she inherited from her parents much like her iconic fans and headdress.

While she never knew her parents as well as her bending teachers, she found that she may not have been too different in idealogoy

Breaking the tradition of avatars being groomed and trained from young childhood, The Rise of Kyoshi makes you question what you thought about their role in the universe entirely along with Kyoshi herself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

kyoshi was abandoned by her parents and worked as a servant in a household. Her mentor dies in front of her eyes by her employer and she revists the memory more than once. These are the main motivations through the book

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

luciferlibrarian_93's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Blood, Abandonment, and Classism

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I couldn’t get over the fact that a queer woman avatar’s story was written by a man. Overall, Kiyoshi’s story seemed fitting for what we see of her in ATLA, and the descriptions allowed me to picture how this would look animated. I’m left with unanswered questions, so I’ll be continuing into the next volume.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Stalking, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

suzanne28's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a great book I buddy read with my sister as we grew up watching the Avatar series. This was an exciting read whether or not you watched the show, but full of little nuggets of foreshadowing and nods to the TV series. 

This was definitely YA, not PG like the kids show. Kyoshi is a notoriously murderous Avatar and this is her back story. Unlike the stories of Aang and Korra which spend a lot of time showing how they worked tirelessly to master elements, this book is more about the political landscape and how Kyoshi became the legend she is in the time of the TV series. There were a lot of twists and turns, characters you loved, loved and hated, and loved to hate. The author really brought the culture of the Earth Kingdom to life—the good and the bad—and used classic Avatar sage wisdom mixed with well-timed humor.

My sister and I are excited to continue to the next book and watch the Kyoshi movie when it comes out in a few years! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Medical content, and Kidnapping

nixieba25f's review against another edition

adventurous sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Stalking, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Fire/Fire injury

tiredtori's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Torture, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship