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A review by elleisntabell
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
3.75
Oh baby do I have mixed feelings.
I'm just going to come out and say it: the feminist messaging in this book is heavy-handed. Sometimes to its own detriment.
I hate saying that. The book being so feminist should be a good thing. It is a good thing in a lot of ways. It's just,, it often got in the way of the plot. The plot needed more detail for it to reach its potential. But the book wasted time hammering in its obvious message. A message the reader already understood. We didn't need in hamfisted. We need more time to understand the villain, who was supposed to be sympathetic, but instead, his motivation made little sense because WE NEVER SPENT MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS FOCUSING ON HIM before we're back to hammering in the fact that women are treated like objects in this world. WE got it. Okay. I understand.
The world that was set up makes sense. It's good for a feminist tale like this. I like what Chee was going for. I did NOT need it shoved done my throat repeatedly while I was trying to figure out the plot. I understood that Miuko traveling as she did, being as loud as she was, was seen as improper and that's bad. YOu didn't have to explain it to me EVERY GODDAMN TIME.
But I still enjoyed the plot for what it was. And the world Chee created is like, really cool. And all the spirits and demons and gods. SO cool. And Geiki is such a fun character. And Miuko is too. She's great. The book as described by its summery fricken slaps. I'm just sad it never got to be that good.
I swear I liked this book though my dude. A solid 3.75.
I'm just going to come out and say it: the feminist messaging in this book is heavy-handed. Sometimes to its own detriment.
I hate saying that. The book being so feminist should be a good thing. It is a good thing in a lot of ways. It's just,, it often got in the way of the plot. The plot needed more detail for it to reach its potential. But the book wasted time hammering in its obvious message. A message the reader already understood. We didn't need in hamfisted. We need more time to understand the villain, who was supposed to be sympathetic, but instead, his motivation made little sense because WE NEVER SPENT MORE THAN FIVE SECONDS FOCUSING ON HIM before we're back to hammering in the fact that women are treated like objects in this world. WE got it. Okay. I understand.
The world that was set up makes sense. It's good for a feminist tale like this. I like what Chee was going for. I did NOT need it shoved done my throat repeatedly while I was trying to figure out the plot. I understood that Miuko traveling as she did, being as loud as she was, was seen as improper and that's bad. YOu didn't have to explain it to me EVERY GODDAMN TIME.
But I still enjoyed the plot for what it was. And the world Chee created is like, really cool. And all the spirits and demons and gods. SO cool. And Geiki is such a fun character. And Miuko is too. She's great. The book as described by its summery fricken slaps. I'm just sad it never got to be that good.
I swear I liked this book though my dude. A solid 3.75.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence