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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I really wanted to DNF this story about 35% in - the beginning was exciting and dark and full of action, and then we hit this absolute lull of information dumping and vague travel through the forest. Then we get to a school and suddenly we're bombarded by names and people and things that are all new to me. It was a lot, especially since I'm a Canadianized CBC who knows nothing about these legends and gods. It was hard to digest everything, even though I really wanted to.
That being said, I'm glad I stuck it out - there's a lull for about 15% of the story, but it picks up again and then it's non-stop go-go-go from there. Then the gods, the mystery, and everything start to fall into place. I feel like if we had more showing instead of telling from the start I would've adjusted better, but as they go through all these things and discover everything that's going on, all that lore starts to make more sense and is explained better. These things also helped to unravel who these characters are - Zen, who's desperate to be good and protect the people he loves, even if he has to make bad deals for that to happen; Lan, who's headstrong and hates rules, trying to find a way to save the world without losing herself in the process; along with the masters and disciples of the school.
I loved the lyrical writing - it's very flowery and aligns with the style of storytelling I'm used to from these stories. Though, at times, it was a bit odd *queue the Star Wars reference, or Bible reference, whichever is to your taste* but I loved that it contributed to a lot of the world building and painted us a picture of the characters so well in that moment.
One thing I did feel was that this mimicked her original trilogy a bit - girl with untapped power meets a man who can help her somehow, an escape from an army, and a group coming together to train and change the regime - and I couldn't help seeing the parallels as I read. I think Amelie's writing has improved a lot since her debut, but I couldn't help hear an echo of it as I read Song.
All in all, I enjoyed this story and I'm very curious about what book 2 holds for us now that the world and lore has been well established!
TW: death of a parent, sexual assault, violence, death, blood, injury detail, war, torture, suicide, grief; mentions loss of family in war, imprisonment, mutilation
That being said, I'm glad I stuck it out - there's a lull for about 15% of the story, but it picks up again and then it's non-stop go-go-go from there. Then the gods, the mystery, and everything start to fall into place. I feel like if we had more showing instead of telling from the start I would've adjusted better, but as they go through all these things and discover everything that's going on, all that lore starts to make more sense and is explained better. These things also helped to unravel who these characters are - Zen, who's desperate to be good and protect the people he loves, even if he has to make bad deals for that to happen; Lan, who's headstrong and hates rules, trying to find a way to save the world without losing herself in the process; along with the masters and disciples of the school.
I loved the lyrical writing - it's very flowery and aligns with the style of storytelling I'm used to from these stories. Though, at times, it was a bit odd *queue the Star Wars reference, or Bible reference, whichever is to your taste* but I loved that it contributed to a lot of the world building and painted us a picture of the characters so well in that moment.
One thing I did feel was that this mimicked her original trilogy a bit - girl with untapped power meets a man who can help her somehow, an escape from an army, and a group coming together to train and change the regime - and I couldn't help seeing the parallels as I read. I think Amelie's writing has improved a lot since her debut, but I couldn't help hear an echo of it as I read Song.
All in all, I enjoyed this story and I'm very curious about what book 2 holds for us now that the world and lore has been well established!
TW: death of a parent, sexual assault, violence, death, blood, injury detail, war, torture, suicide, grief; mentions loss of family in war, imprisonment, mutilation
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and War
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
bea_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
Okay I have a lot of thoughts, mostly positive but let’s start with the negative.
This book has a lot of things that I’m realizing are common with “romantasy”, which I am learning is not my thing, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. If you love fantasy romance, these things probably won’t bother you.
First, structurally this book felt rushed. There were typos and weird run-on sentences (not a ton, but definitely enough that I noticed). There were times where the wrong word was used (i.e. “Dredges” when the author meant “Dregs”).
Second - and this is something I really disliked about the From Blood and Ash series - there is a lot of infodumping that is often, for some reason, repeated? Like we get a lot of the same information two or three times over, which made the book longer than I felt like it needed to be.
Third, it was kind of insta-love-y. I mean, the book takes place over a long enough period of time that it isn’t necessarily insta-love, but I personally felt like there were odd leaps between romantic moments, so it felt like we really rushed through the main characters bonding, which made the stronger emotions seem a little unfounded.
Fourth, and this is a very specific to myself complaint, I didn’t like Lan’s characterization very much. I’m getting really tired of every female main character being essentially a cardboard cutout of each other. She’s snarky and sassy, but has to be taught everything, but is also somehow a prodigy at everything she does, all while seeing herself as able to handle a lot, yet she’s constantly crying over something. (This isn’t to say that strength = emotionless, it’s just that her character feels set up to be more withdrawn and to keep her emotions inside, but then she’s falling over a lounge chair like a Disney Princess to sob uncontrollably.)
Lastly, I disliked the fact that Lan has no positive female relationships. Her mother is dead before the book starts; her supposed best friend is murdered like two seconds after we meet her (and Lan almost never thinks about her afterwards); her boss is a horrible person; and the only two female characters she meets for the rest of the book have instantaneous conflict with her that never gets resolved. I'm tired of reading about women and girls who only ever get along with men. Jenifer L Armentrout does this as well: Poppy and Seraphina both have exactly one positive female relationship who they are supposedly close with, but we don't see these women for practically their entire series. Every other female character is a villain or competition for her love interest, or else hates her for no apparent reason.
ON TO THE POSITIVES
I’ve been comparing this book to From Blood and Ash because they’re share a genre and I had some overlapping complaints, but all of the positives of this book are where we differ from that comparison. For instance, this book had a much more present and coherent plot, one that didn’t make me feel lost and confused every two chapters. I felt like the story was actually going somewhere. It also had a really cool magic system, which I did not feel like we got in FBaA.
Additionally, this book has actual themes about things that matter, and I thought they were handled in a much better and more responsible way. There is a recurring theme in Jenifer L Armentrout’s books of the “big bad” being a sexual predator. It happens because the love interest is just as murder-y and selfish as the bad guy, so she needed a way to differentiate so that we the readers would know why it’s okay for Sexy Lover Boy to be a heartless killer and not Evil Nasty Guy. It felt so lazy and frankly, just rancid overall, especially when it continued happening over and over again in each book of hers that I read.
On the flip side, in Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, we do see threats of sexual violence, but in the context of colonizers and invaders wielding their power over their victims, who have no leverage to say no. We also see villains who are actually just bad (greed, violence, lust for power, etc) without needing to make them rapists to show who we’re supposed to root for.
I thought the overarching points of this book were very important and relevant, especially in the context of current world events. The fact that horrific atrocities have been committed upon your people does not give you the right to turn around and do it to another people. Just because your people have hurt each other does not mean that violence against you is justified or “not that bad”.
The last thing I’ll say is that I really loved the setting and magic. It was so vibrant and I felt like I could really see and hear the places and events I was reading about. I know I’ve mentioned it at least twice now, but seriously this magic system might be one of the coolest and most unique I’ve read about recently (probably tied for first place with the magic system in Faebound).
Overall, it’s a good book, but this genre just isn’t my style. I plan to read the sequel because I’m very curious about where the story goes from here, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up more of this author’s books after that.
This book has a lot of things that I’m realizing are common with “romantasy”, which I am learning is not my thing, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. If you love fantasy romance, these things probably won’t bother you.
First, structurally this book felt rushed. There were typos and weird run-on sentences (not a ton, but definitely enough that I noticed). There were times where the wrong word was used (i.e. “Dredges” when the author meant “Dregs”).
Second - and this is something I really disliked about the From Blood and Ash series - there is a lot of infodumping that is often, for some reason, repeated? Like we get a lot of the same information two or three times over, which made the book longer than I felt like it needed to be.
Third, it was kind of insta-love-y. I mean, the book takes place over a long enough period of time that it isn’t necessarily insta-love, but I personally felt like there were odd leaps between romantic moments, so it felt like we really rushed through the main characters bonding, which made the stronger emotions seem a little unfounded.
Fourth, and this is a very specific to myself complaint, I didn’t like Lan’s characterization very much. I’m getting really tired of every female main character being essentially a cardboard cutout of each other. She’s snarky and sassy, but has to be taught everything, but is also somehow a prodigy at everything she does, all while seeing herself as able to handle a lot, yet she’s constantly crying over something. (This isn’t to say that strength = emotionless, it’s just that her character feels set up to be more withdrawn and to keep her emotions inside, but then she’s falling over a lounge chair like a Disney Princess to sob uncontrollably.)
Lastly, I disliked the fact that Lan has no positive female relationships. Her mother is dead before the book starts; her supposed best friend is murdered like two seconds after we meet her (and Lan almost never thinks about her afterwards); her boss is a horrible person; and the only two female characters she meets for the rest of the book have instantaneous conflict with her that never gets resolved. I'm tired of reading about women and girls who only ever get along with men. Jenifer L Armentrout does this as well: Poppy and Seraphina both have exactly one positive female relationship who they are supposedly close with, but we don't see these women for practically their entire series. Every other female character is a villain or competition for her love interest, or else hates her for no apparent reason.
ON TO THE POSITIVES
I’ve been comparing this book to From Blood and Ash because they’re share a genre and I had some overlapping complaints, but all of the positives of this book are where we differ from that comparison. For instance, this book had a much more present and coherent plot, one that didn’t make me feel lost and confused every two chapters. I felt like the story was actually going somewhere. It also had a really cool magic system, which I did not feel like we got in FBaA.
Additionally, this book has actual themes about things that matter, and I thought they were handled in a much better and more responsible way. There is a recurring theme in Jenifer L Armentrout’s books of the “big bad” being a sexual predator. It happens because the love interest is just as murder-y and selfish as the bad guy, so she needed a way to differentiate so that we the readers would know why it’s okay for Sexy Lover Boy to be a heartless killer and not Evil Nasty Guy. It felt so lazy and frankly, just rancid overall, especially when it continued happening over and over again in each book of hers that I read.
On the flip side, in Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, we do see threats of sexual violence, but in the context of colonizers and invaders wielding their power over their victims, who have no leverage to say no. We also see villains who are actually just bad (greed, violence, lust for power, etc) without needing to make them rapists to show who we’re supposed to root for.
I thought the overarching points of this book were very important and relevant, especially in the context of current world events. The fact that horrific atrocities have been committed upon your people does not give you the right to turn around and do it to another people. Just because your people have hurt each other does not mean that violence against you is justified or “not that bad”.
The last thing I’ll say is that I really loved the setting and magic. It was so vibrant and I felt like I could really see and hear the places and events I was reading about. I know I’ve mentioned it at least twice now, but seriously this magic system might be one of the coolest and most unique I’ve read about recently (probably tied for first place with the magic system in Faebound).
Overall, it’s a good book, but this genre just isn’t my style. I plan to read the sequel because I’m very curious about where the story goes from here, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up more of this author’s books after that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, and War
cassielaj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I am not a fantasy reader, but this story is captivating! I love the mythological feel to it, with magic and adventure and honor and sacrifice. It’s pretty easy to follow, which is about the highest compliment I can pay a fantasy book, and the characters are beautifully rendered. Can’t wait to read book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and War
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.5
Shelley Parker-Chan wasn't kidding when she compared this book to The Untamed because it is essentially a less violent version of MDZS (the novels it was based on) but with M/F leads. Not that this is a bad thing, but if you've read any wuxia or xianxia novels, you'll probably be like me and feel this is treading over ground you've already been through. That said, a lot of the terminology was put simpler than in those novels (seeing as Chinese audiences are likely already familiar with such concepts) so if you found MDZS or any other similar novels a bit too unwieldy, I could see this book being beneficial to those kinds of people.
What I liked:
What I liked:
- It bears repeating again but you can tell a lot of love was put into representing the Chinese culture, both for atmospheric purposes and so that it is sufficiently devastating when the Elantians come and destroy everything. The characters also got to criticise some aspects of their culture too, but in a respectful manner.
- Although I feel like the romance between the two leads is a little rushed, it was nice that there wasn't any smut between them. I have nothing against smut, but it would have felt gratuitous and likely gone against any precepts of cultivation the characters were following if it was included.
- On a similar but more grim topic (content warning for sexual assault/trafficking):
I'm glad that the sexual assault that the patrons of the Teahouse went when being sold to the Elantians was off-screen but given enough gravitas that it felt enough of a threat to any of the workers. This isn't to say such things can be depicted but I don't think it would have been appropriate for this age demographic (and the bar is so low for avoiding things happening purely for shock value in books to get people to buy them these days and yet many books still fail to clear it) - The magic system is well thought-out. If you've read enough wuxia/xianxia it's nothing new or fresh, but it at least adheres to the conventions of these systems. It was interesting that the Elantians had metal as their main magical element, however, since it is also one of the classical elements in Chinese. Likely it was a magic they stole, but nothing has been confirmed about it as of this book.
What I didn't like:
- A good chunk of the first half of the book felt like it dragged for too long with not much happening. I know a lot of it is supposed to be about Lan training herself, but it felt like there wasn't much else other than her training and getting into trouble. Granted this was because of them waiting for someone to cure Lan's arm, but contrast this with something like MDZS where most of the training is either off-screen or we see the characters go on little missions to show the progress of their cultivation and have opportunities for other things to happen.
- Speaking of Lan, I don't normally get irritated by girl leads but she kept getting under my skin for being disrespectful or doing stupid stuff because she felt like it. I could understand if she developed this kind of attitude after leaving the teahouse at the start, but it didn't make sense to me how the proprietor of the place put up with her for so long just because she had a beautiful singing voice. Even in the School of White Pines, it felt like she got out of punishment too easily for no reason (especially the teacher that pulled a Lan Qiren on her and made her copy out thick books with thin pages as a punishment).
Also while I'm glad her attitude and powers improved, I feel like there was no point where the change was visible. It just sort of happened. Her attitude was particularly egregious with her and Dilaya where she was instantly catty to the latter for no reason. At least the author didn't turn the story into a love triangle where Dilaya and Lan competed for Zen's affections. As for her powers improving, it's revealed it was the work of the Silver Dragon laying dormant in her. It was slightly foreshadowed so I'm not too mad, but it felt weird no one pointed out how prodigious Lan was at something she hadn't learned to do from a young age unlike most of the other pupils at the School. I also felt she got off way easier than Zen did with the Black Turtle when she commanded the Silver Dragon's power. - And then there's Zen. I know I put this series has strong character development but it barely applies to him, save for the second half of the book. For the most part of the story he's the world's most patient stoic guy and that's all he has going for him.
This is definitely a trauma response to losing his people and having a demon bound inside of him so that he could slaughter the culprits in revenge, but even trauma victims are more than just their trauma. He felt like the perfect love interest for the reader to project onto and go "I can fix him!" through Lan over having any actual character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Blood, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Genocide and Rape
fabichirinos's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I really liked the book, it was exciting and fun. I grew fond of the cast of characters and the ending was disheartening, seeing all the culture of the Hin disappear before their very eyes and the shi'fu' last stand left me looking forward for the next book. I realized the story mirrors the Century of Humiliation in China, mixed with some of the current struggle of Chinese ethnic clans, like the Uyghur. Even though, Zen's clan reminds me of Manchuria. This tinge of realism really caught me in the story. However, I thinkthe "betrayal" of Zen was very mild, and I don't get why Lan is so angry at him, like, ok he lied. But she also wished to get t othe Demon Gods before the Elantians, an do what ??? talk with them so they dispersed into the qí. I get it was for th plot so they separate, but it could have been done better I also liked how the author handled the themes of colonialism, war, abuse, very tactful and saying enough to get their point across. An overall good book!
3.75/5⭐
3.75/5⭐
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
Minor: Racism, Blood, and Sexual harassment
malisac16's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Torture, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
allisonsmith120's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape
crochetcatking's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The first half of the book is pretty slow. Everything and yet nothing seems to happen. Amelie does a great job setting up the world in this time. The second half of the book is amazing. The last 8 chapters or so make the whole thing worth reading. It gets so exciting right at the end that you easily forgive how fast some of the other plot came and went. Can't wait to read the 2nd book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Violence, Blood, and War
Minor: Genocide and Torture