A review by woolgathering_jane
A Magic Steeped In Poison by Judy I. Lin
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This is very probably because I'm not a native English speaker, but wow, getting through the prose was annoying. Sure, flowery prose sounds nice in theory, but why does it feel like the author has searched thesaurus for all the words I didn't know lmao
Anyway because I had to use Google translator while reading (which I haven't done in... Years?), reading this book was a bit slow and unfortunately I haven't felt any connection with the characters. The plot somehow managed to feel predictable despite the fact that I haven't actually predicted anything??
The tea magic and the overall mythology and culture was the best part, but it unfortunately wasn't enough for me to want to pick up the next book. Such a shame, I really wanted to love this one :(
Anyway because I had to use Google translator while reading (which I haven't done in... Years?), reading this book was a bit slow and unfortunately I haven't felt any connection with the characters. The plot somehow managed to feel predictable despite the fact that I haven't actually predicted anything??
The tea magic and the overall mythology and culture was the best part, but it unfortunately wasn't enough for me to want to pick up the next book. Such a shame, I really wanted to love this one :(
Spoiler
also, what a weak motivation Ning had... I understand wanting to save her sister, but I could care less about Shu... Simply telling me she deserves to be saved wasn't enough for me to root for her. By the end, I almost wished Ning's motivation had been hunger for power, because then we'd at least get some more court shenanigans - another part of the book that was (sort of) fun
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent