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euphemiajo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism
aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
I liked this one more than the 1st in the duology (I read the 1st one a year ago and don't remember too much of it to be fair tho). I think it was a good ending to the story/world. I loved all the magic. I was a little disappointed by the twist but not because it was a bad twist but because the resolution was a bit quick after a semi-slow build up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
guessgreenleaf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
While the writing is lovely and the tea-based magic system is so clever, I did not enjoy this duology sequel as much as book 1. The plot involves a lot of running around the kingdom and gathering relics (felt like a video game quest, honestly) and Kang’s POV didn’t add much.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
luverbyrd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this one more than the first book. I would advise rereading the first, because I didn't and there isn't a big recap of the events just some comments sprinkled in of the past events. I did catch on and remember enough to get by.
This one felt more adventurous and in the fantasy of the world than the first book. Ning shows off her tea magic and we have more of a traveling adventure. The vivid descriptions of the dream world and the magic were great. I will never get the creepy image of "fish with human teeth" out of my head.
I think the only con I feel is that we really didn't get to know characters. They felt very surface level.
I kind of wish this could have been expanded to a trilogy and dug deeper into this world.
This one felt more adventurous and in the fantasy of the world than the first book. Ning shows off her tea magic and we have more of a traveling adventure. The vivid descriptions of the dream world and the magic were great. I will never get the creepy image of "fish with human teeth" out of my head.
I think the only con I feel is that we really didn't get to know characters. They felt very surface level.
I kind of wish this could have been expanded to a trilogy and dug deeper into this world.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Violence
gatorademachinegun's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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? N/A
5.0
Holy shit what a ride. Amazing read, the switch from 1st person to 3rd when changing character perspectives is something I’ve never read before but Judy I Lin, does it so well.
Absolutely loved this book, the characters are so real and the medium to fast pace kept me on the edge of my seat.
10/10 stunning cover, stunning contents
Absolutely loved this book, the characters are so real and the medium to fast pace kept me on the edge of my seat.
10/10 stunning cover, stunning contents
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
allisonbrooke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
yaoipaddle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I did not like this as much as the first book. Sorry! Minor spoilers in review, major ones hidden.
It had a very similar problem to the first book where the beginning and middle drag on and the end is SUPER fast paced and action packed.
For characters, I found Ning to be less likeable than in the first book. Maybe because she feels very repetitive and single minded in everything she does here. She also has a lot of rage that comes quite suddenly and remains for a lot of the book. I just didn't like her as much because of it. The very frequent moments where she was pining after Kang also annoyed me.I also found this concept of her wanting to give in to the serpent's demands for power just shoehorned in for "tension"
What I did like was the magic and the growth of her powers. I think Lin did a wonderful job creating the magic system in the first book and it does not disappoint in the second either. I think the ways in which it was expanded were nice.
Shu was a lot more likeable than I thoughtBut she is basically thrown off and not mentioned in the last parts of the book. Very lame! and Zhen and Ruyi were great too. I wish there was more of them.
I liked the chapters from Kang's point of view especially by the middle. They kept me reading despite the lull in Ning's storyline. The mystery in them was quite interesting even though some of the parts felt like they were forgotten by the end of the story. :/
Overall I felt let down by the book because the pacing was always either too slow or too rushed. It made the story a drag to read through and I forced myself to push through the middle.
It had a very similar problem to the first book where the beginning and middle drag on and the end is SUPER fast paced and action packed.
For characters, I found Ning to be less likeable than in the first book. Maybe because she feels very repetitive and single minded in everything she does here. She also has a lot of rage that comes quite suddenly and remains for a lot of the book. I just didn't like her as much because of it. The very frequent moments where she was pining after Kang also annoyed me.
What I did like was the magic and the growth of her powers. I think Lin did a wonderful job creating the magic system in the first book and it does not disappoint in the second either. I think the ways in which it was expanded were nice.
Shu was a lot more likeable than I thought
I liked the chapters from Kang's point of view especially by the middle. They kept me reading despite the lull in Ning's storyline. The mystery in them was quite interesting even though some of the parts felt like they were forgotten by the end of the story. :/
Overall I felt let down by the book because the pacing was always either too slow or too rushed. It made the story a drag to read through and I forced myself to push through the middle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ch3m15t's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
pikitat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
It was alright. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first book and the conclusion of the story felt a little rushed and anticlimactic to me. It wasn't a very satisfying end to the story. Although, I thought the part where Lady An pulled the centipede from Ning's arm was an amazing reveal. I enjoyed the Bamboo Forest, too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, and Grief