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miss617's reviews
992 reviews
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
2.0
This book is... Kind of a mess.
Initially, I was really into it, but I quickly started to lose interest. It reads a bit too juvenile for YA in some places, especially in some of the dialogue (Sima Yi in particular comes to mind, but Zetian's dialogue is also pretty bad at times).
Zetian goes from simply wanting to avenge her sister to "let the bodies hit the floor" in 0.2 seconds flat (oh, but Sima Yi was right about her being unhinged!) And we're supposed to believe it's solely because she realizes the system is broken, which apparently none of the other pilots have done in two centuries? I could buy that if she showed any bit of remorse or hesitation, but she never does.
A big criticism I often have with YA books is never really explaining why the MC is the chosen one/cycle breaker. Maybe Zetian is the only female pilot who went into it with vengeance in mind, but would the cycle have continued if her sister had lived? Similarly, for all of her talk of wanting to save girls (which she really only does at the end), Zetian really only attempts to get the other female pilots on her side once. And that's before she learns the truth. It really feels like the only woman Zetian cares about herself. She shows *some* concern for her mother and grandmother, but look how that turns out at the end...
This book really has potential, but it ended up being a huge letdown for me. I felt there was too much telling and not enough showing, and not enough world-building. The side characters have very little development (we *almost* get it with Li Shimin, but it just barely scratches the surface). At this point, I am unsure if I want to read the sequel.
Initially, I was really into it, but I quickly started to lose interest. It reads a bit too juvenile for YA in some places, especially in some of the dialogue (Sima Yi in particular comes to mind, but Zetian's dialogue is also pretty bad at times).
Zetian goes from simply wanting to avenge her sister to "let the bodies hit the floor" in 0.2 seconds flat (oh, but Sima Yi was right about her being unhinged!) And we're supposed to believe it's solely because she realizes the system is broken, which apparently none of the other pilots have done in two centuries? I could buy that if she showed any bit of remorse or hesitation, but she never does.
A big criticism I often have with YA books is never really explaining why the MC is the chosen one/cycle breaker. Maybe Zetian is the only female pilot who went into it with vengeance in mind, but would the cycle have continued if her sister had lived? Similarly, for all of her talk of wanting to save girls (which she really only does at the end), Zetian really only attempts to get the other female pilots on her side once. And that's before she learns the truth. It really feels like the only woman Zetian cares about herself. She shows *some* concern for her mother and grandmother, but look how that turns out at the end...
This book really has potential, but it ended up being a huge letdown for me. I felt there was too much telling and not enough showing, and not enough world-building. The side characters have very little development (we *almost* get it with Li Shimin, but it just barely scratches the surface). At this point, I am unsure if I want to read the sequel.
Brooklyn by Tracy Brown
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Let's get this out of the way: Brooklyn is not a likeable character. You sympathize with her in the beginning but, as she gets older, she becomes extremely conniving and selfish. Although she did a lot of people wrong throughout the course of the book, the first and last people she betrayed were the ones that really had me throwing up my hands.
I guessed the killer correctly, but not how they got to that point, so that part was a surprise. However, you will definitely side eye everyone Brooklyn interacts with because they all had a reason to want her dead.
Overall, you can definitely read this as a cautionary tale. When Stacey asks "how many retired hustlers do you know," Brooklyn should have listened. It was easy for her to get caught up in the life, but in the end she was too impulsive for her own good.
I guessed the killer correctly, but not how they got to that point, so that part was a surprise. However, you will definitely side eye everyone Brooklyn interacts with because they all had a reason to want her dead.
Overall, you can definitely read this as a cautionary tale. When Stacey asks "how many retired hustlers do you know," Brooklyn should have listened. It was easy for her to get caught up in the life, but in the end she was too impulsive for her own good.
Joaquim by A.H. Cunningham
3.0
I absolutely loved the fact that all of the characters were Black fantasy writers, as that is one of my favorite genres, and one in which representation is still lacking. I also love how the author incorporates different languages and cultures—isiXhosa is not one I've seen a lot, so I thought that was cool.
Clocking in at just over 200 pages, this was a quick read, but it also felt very rushed. The reason for the trio's fallout needed to be developed more considering it led to eight years of silence. Nevaeh forgave Jonathon entirely too quickly, and he had A LOT more apologizing to do. To be completely honest, I didn't care for him as much individually as I did Joaquim, but he did have his moments. I definitely felt more protective of Joaquim, especially as someone who also struggles with anxiety. Nevaeh helping him through it with the breathing exercise was dope though.
(Minor quibble re: Nevaeh as this is the second time I've seen this in a novel, but becoming a surrogate without having previously been pregnant is generally not a thing. So although the first one would have qualified her for the second, what qualified her for the first? Just something that stuck out to me from my own research.)
Leave it to A.H. Cunningham to bring the representation, but this one just fell a little flat to me.
Clocking in at just over 200 pages, this was a quick read, but it also felt very rushed. The reason for the trio's fallout needed to be developed more considering it led to eight years of silence. Nevaeh forgave Jonathon entirely too quickly, and he had A LOT more apologizing to do. To be completely honest, I didn't care for him as much individually as I did Joaquim, but he did have his moments. I definitely felt more protective of Joaquim, especially as someone who also struggles with anxiety. Nevaeh helping him through it with the breathing exercise was dope though.
(Minor quibble re: Nevaeh as this is the second time I've seen this in a novel, but becoming a surrogate without having previously been pregnant is generally not a thing. So although the first one would have qualified her for the second, what qualified her for the first? Just something that stuck out to me from my own research.)
Leave it to A.H. Cunningham to bring the representation, but this one just fell a little flat to me.