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emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I really enjoyed reading this. I had been looking for a fantasy to sink my teeth into and this was teeth-sinkable for sure. The writing style was really well done; I liked the tone it leant to the novel and the ways in which setting, characters, objects (etc.) were described.
The multiple POVs were an unexpected delight. It gave so much breadth to the story, insight into characters, and the satisfaction of disparate tales weaving together. All the POV characters were distinct, and I liked that Chee gave them all nuance in their motives. I.e., the "bad guys" had more going on than "must do bad things". I particularly liked Reed's character, in his almost-obsession with himself and his loved ones being remembered by doing great deeds that will grant them immortality in oral storytelling.
The romance was, thankfully, unobnoxious. It didn't take away from the story, and felt very minor considering the multiple POVs. Also, I actually liked Archer, the male LI, as a character, which definitely helped.
The most captivating part of this book was how meta it was. Not just in how the MC was philosophising about being a main character in a book, but also in the physical elements of the actual book itself. For example, there's a message in the page numbers, and some pages have burnt or blacked out parts and finger smudges. It was trippy to wrap my head around how the book I held in my hands related to "The Book".
I do have a couple of criticisms. The first is that the world-building was pretty standard. We don't get much of a deep dive into the character of each island, how they are culturally and physically different from one another. This left the world feeling shallow. But the Library did add uniqueness, as did hints of other aspects that may come out to play in the next two books. The magic system was pretty cool, especially seeing it in use. But we only really saw one aspect of it at that.
The second flaw I found was that not a whole lot happened over the course of the story. While there were fights and challenges to keep the reader engaged, it was all pretty straight-forward and linear, especially as the MC's journey is literally marked on the map at the beginning of the book.
The multiple POVs were an unexpected delight. It gave so much breadth to the story, insight into characters, and the satisfaction of disparate tales weaving together. All the POV characters were distinct, and I liked that Chee gave them all nuance in their motives. I.e., the "bad guys" had more going on than "must do bad things". I particularly liked Reed's character, in his almost-obsession with himself and his loved ones being remembered by doing great deeds that will grant them immortality in oral storytelling.
The romance was, thankfully, unobnoxious. It didn't take away from the story, and felt very minor considering the multiple POVs. Also, I actually liked Archer, the male LI, as a character, which definitely helped.
The most captivating part of this book was how meta it was. Not just in how the MC was philosophising about being a main character in a book, but also in the physical elements of the actual book itself. For example, there's a message in the page numbers, and some pages have burnt or blacked out parts and finger smudges. It was trippy to wrap my head around how the book I held in my hands related to "The Book".
I do have a couple of criticisms. The first is that the world-building was pretty standard. We don't get much of a deep dive into the character of each island, how they are culturally and physically different from one another. This left the world feeling shallow. But the Library did add uniqueness, as did hints of other aspects that may come out to play in the next two books. The magic system was pretty cool, especially seeing it in use. But we only really saw one aspect of it at that.
The second flaw I found was that not a whole lot happened over the course of the story. While there were fights and challenges to keep the reader engaged, it was all pretty straight-forward and linear, especially as the MC's journey is literally marked on the map at the beginning of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Terminal illness, Medical content, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Moderate: loss of a loved one, PTSD Minor: theft, gambling, drought, famineravenwolf_waf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.5
Debut for Ms. Chee so there are some pacing issues. Also, the chapters bounce around character POVs, back in time, and include stories within the story, all without giving the reader a "heads-up" so it took a bit to get into the groove of that style. Despite this, the plot is very interesting and definitely warrants picking up the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Murder
noellelovesbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings: Violence, blood/gore, torture, murder, PTSD, child soldiers, death of loved ones, and mention of cannibalism.
This is one of those books that just gets better each time you read it. The first time I read this book I honestly didn’t know what I was getting into. Traci has created such a magical world that you can’t help wanting to fully explore.
In this first book, we’re introduced to a bunch of different characters, as well as jumping between a bunch of different perspectives. Altogether, we bounce between seven different people’s perspectives/stories in book one.
Our main journey, that we follow, is Sefia’s as she’s thrust into the world alone and must find answers that she didn’t know she needed. When the story first begins Sefia is 14, close to 15, and as we are closer to the end of the book she is 16. Sefia has lost everyone she’s ever cared about and is determined to hunt those that hunt her in order to get answers and revenge for all that she’s lost.
Along her journey Sefia meets, and frees, Archer a young man who was taken as a child, scarred, and forced to fight other young boys to the death. The trauma of being forced to murder, and then being locked in a box for extended periods of time, caused Archer to not only forget his past but also to become mute. After Sefia sets him free, unaware of who he is or where he’s from, Archer decides to follow Sefia and help her get answers from, and revenge on, those that have wronged them.
As we draw closer, to the end of the book, some of the perspectives/stories start to connect. When I first read this book, I struggled to see why there were so many different stories being told, and so many perspectives being switched too. Upon this re-read, I’m in even more awe of the way Traci has woven, and connected, all these stories together. Traci truly is an amazing storyteller.
Fun things you’ll find within these pages are…A world without a written language, pirates, war themes, secret societies, cannibals, magic, prophecies, and so much more.
This is definitely a story that you’ll want to re-read so you can see the breadcrumbs of how all the different stories are connected. Having read this book three times now…I’m still in awe of how Traci crafted this book and that THIS was her debut novel. Such a fantastic fantasy world that I love to immerse myself in.
8/2/20
Not going to lie…this book took me a bit to get into (like 150 pages *nervous laugh*)…but once I did…I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN! I’m not used to reading a book that switches between a bunch of different viewpoints, so that threw me off a bit, and it’s so mysterious…just giving you little bits of information at a time…amazing story though. I’m so glad I bought the entire trilogy so I don’t have to wait to start book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse and Torture
Minor: Cannibalism