Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

3 reviews

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

What a wonderfully pleasant surprise. I must confess I only picked up a copy of this book because it came in my February Illumicrate and I took part in their Discord readalong. Ordinarily it’s not something I would have picked up as I tend to avoid YA like the plague these days.

Fast-paced with a truly beautiful, gorgeously described world, Amélie Wen Zhao has crafted an enchanting and thrilling tale inspired by Chinese history and legends. Main characters Lan and Zen are a lot of fun, highly endearing, and I was utterly gripped from start to finish.

Will definitely be reading the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Confinement

Minor: Self harm, Blood, and Fire/Fire injury

One of the characters has a cleft palette, and is referred to with a slur that isn't really challenged, even though other people's prejudiced attitudes to the character's appearance are.

bittennailbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

A breakneck, high stakes tale about the true cost of power.

Fast-paced, lyrical, heart pounding, Zhao delivers on one of the most anticipated YA fantasies of the year.  I was lucky enough to get an early release of this beautiful hardcover and it shot up my TBR very quickly.

Thumbs up: The Qi magic system is outstanding and does not leave a reader behind when explaining how it works and it's limitations. The characters were delightfully flawed, more diverse than I was expecting, and felt fully formed. A fascinating take on colonization and the power struggles and intergenerational impacts of having history wiped because of it. The story had me completely hooked and was so full of rage and adventure, I finished it very quickly. This is my first read by Zhao but I will definitely be coming back for more.

Thumbs down: If I am being picky, the pacing could have used a little tweaking. It was a full lung-burning sprint for the first half of the book and came to a sudden halt halfway in.

Was it a nail biter? My hands are gone. This may be one of my favorite reads of this year and I cannot wait for the second installment. You'll catch me camped out launch day at the doors for sure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Colonisation, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: War, Death of parent, Confinement, and Cultural appropriation

Threats of sexual violence

leedolee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

A great read! I found myself unable to put this book down as I wanted to keep on reading and find out what came next. The entire plot line, the characters, the lore, and the world were all entertaining, well fleshed-out, and exciting! I’m definitely going to be counting down the days until the next book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexual assault, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Torture, Murder, Physical abuse, Gore, Death, Death of parent, War, Sexual harassment, and Genocide

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Medical content, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, and Confinement