Reviews with content warning for Racism - Song of Silver, Flame Like Night

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!

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takarakei's review against another edition

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Initially I was intrigued by the beginning of the book, it was relatively fast-paced and the world was interesting. However by 25% in the pacing really slowed down and got very info dumpy. It really lost me in distinguishing itself from other Chinese mythology based books I've read, which is a shame because I think there was a lot of potential for this to be something unique.

Really it was reading so much like a YA version of The Poppy War that it was a bit jarring to me the amount of similarities. That's fine if you're looking for a YA TPW, but personally I am not.

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bellebookcorner's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews about this book which had me feeling even more excited to read this one. Sadly, I couldn’t say the same about this book.

The plot idea is really good, the first time I read the blurb I was intrigued and it caught my interest for the first few chapters.

But somewhere in the middle, the pacing took a slow turn and I started to lose interest in following this story.

I finally got interested again in the last 30%, where the puzzle pieces start to come together and the secrets are revealed.

I had difficulties with understanding the magic system and the world building.

I appreciate the history of the world at the beginning of the story but somehow it doesn’t make it easier for me to follow the plot. At times, I would get confused and also feel bored with the repeated information provided throughout the story.

As for the characters, it’s hard for me to connect with them and I can’t even feel the spark of romance between the main characters. When they’re trying to speak out their feelings, they’ll got cut off with something else happening.

Overall, this book has a lot of amazing elements but the slow pacing and the info dumping makes it really hard for me to fully enjoy it.

I was really closed to stop reading it altogether but the last few chapters and the epilogue change my mind. I’m curious to see what’s gonna happen in the next book.

While this one didn't really work for me, you can still give this one a try if you love reading about detailed world building and a fantasy story without much romance.

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bloodbrooxv's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? Yes

4.0

I really liked this book, I would suggest it to anyone who doesn't feel comfortable enough to read the poppy war. Colonialism, as a theme, is very prominent, and although it's analized in a YA-ish way, it's still very impactful. The romance was very cute, and i'm interested in how it'll develop in the sequel.

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