Fun read! The contemporary side of the plot could have used more detail and plot complications in my opinion. Fantasy side was great and I was won oveFun read! The contemporary side of the plot could have used more detail and plot complications in my opinion. Fantasy side was great and I was won over by the writer interacting with her characters premise over time....more
The trilogy is good, but this is the weakest of the three. Many beats felt repetitive and too easy — so many pivotal scenes of the loyalty of large grThe trilogy is good, but this is the weakest of the three. Many beats felt repetitive and too easy — so many pivotal scenes of the loyalty of large groups of people changing all at once because of one short speech. And then there were plot points that felt like magic solutions we hadn’t earned because they weren’t set up until the last moment. Which is a shame, because some of the worldbuilding in previous books paid off big time in this one; there actually was great planning and execution in this series. Just not for every concept.
Overall, it didn’t ruin the trilogy, but it’s a shame that the ending to two great books faltered so much....more
So, this is really good. I want to start out with that, because even though it wasn't a really great read for me personally, I think objectively it's So, this is really good. I want to start out with that, because even though it wasn't a really great read for me personally, I think objectively it's really good and I do recommend it. It has gorgeous artwork that can pull off everything from intricate clothing and architecture to adorable kids and animals to brutal killings. Visually, it's just amazing. And story-wise, it's filled with plot twists and a really interesting main character. I will definitely be reading the sequel, since I already own it, and I think I would have been too hooked to not keep reading anyway. That ending! Uh, Marjorie Lui explain yourself!!
The worldbuilding is also very interesting (ancient monsters... demigods... witch nuns... wars about to be rekindled... necromancer cats...) but got a bit confusing for me. It's a lot to keep track of in your head, especially combined with the many characters, although being sort of muddled by it didn't usually impede enjoying the story. There was only one point where I honestly did not understand what happened — but unfortunately, it was a pretty major plot point.
I was also put off in the beginning by the amount of mutilation and blood and etc, which is a more personal problem (though as it got less brutal after the first part I was more able to relax). If you aren't bothered by that, consider this a four star rating.
Somehow this book was also missing, I don't know, something. The thing that drives you to grab the book you're reading the moment you have free time. I took far longer to read this than I'd usually take to read a graphic novel. Maybe it was just too much for me. But I'm still looking forward to getting more answers to the mysteries in this volume.
EDIT: bumping rating up to 3.5 stars because only when rereading the blurb just now did I realize how few male characters are in it. There’s hardly any, and it was so natural that I didn’t even notice until now. Out of a pretty large cast, I can think of only two male characters there for longer than a page... and one of them’s a cat. Basically, this is the genderbent version of those fantasy books written by male authors who hate women so much that they make their books 98% male and never adress the imbalance, and I fuckin love it. More majority-women fantasy books please!
Merged review:
So, this is really good. I want to start out with that, because even though it wasn't a really great read for me personally, I think objectively it's really good and I do recommend it. It has gorgeous artwork that can pull off everything from intricate clothing and architecture to adorable kids and animals to brutal killings. Visually, it's just amazing. And story-wise, it's filled with plot twists and a really interesting main character. I will definitely be reading the sequel, since I already own it, and I think I would have been too hooked to not keep reading anyway. That ending! Uh, Marjorie Lui explain yourself!!
The worldbuilding is also very interesting (ancient monsters... demigods... witch nuns... wars about to be rekindled... necromancer cats...) but got a bit confusing for me. It's a lot to keep track of in your head, especially combined with the many characters, although being sort of muddled by it didn't usually impede enjoying the story. There was only one point where I honestly did not understand what happened — but unfortunately, it was a pretty major plot point.
I was also put off in the beginning by the amount of mutilation and blood and etc, which is a more personal problem (though as it got less brutal after the first part I was more able to relax). If you aren't bothered by that, consider this a four star rating.
Somehow this book was also missing, I don't know, something. The thing that drives you to grab the book you're reading the moment you have free time. I took far longer to read this than I'd usually take to read a graphic novel. Maybe it was just too much for me. But I'm still looking forward to getting more answers to the mysteries in this volume.
EDIT: bumping rating up to 3.5 stars because only when rereading the blurb just now did I realize how few male characters are in it. There’s hardly any, and it was so natural that I didn’t even notice until now. Out of a pretty large cast, I can think of only two male characters there for longer than a page... and one of them’s a cat. Basically, this is the genderbent version of those fantasy books written by male authors who hate women so much that they make their books 98% male and never adress the imbalance, and I fuckin love it. More majority-women fantasy books please!...more
This was tons of fun. The plot was sometimes a bit hand-wavy (mostly about the villain knowing/doing things I don’t see how they had the opportunity tThis was tons of fun. The plot was sometimes a bit hand-wavy (mostly about the villain knowing/doing things I don’t see how they had the opportunity to know/do), but overall it was funny and original. Despite mostly being made of standard fantasy elements, they were combined in usual enough ways, with just enough twisted (the kind and rugged blacksmith is a woman, the humble prophesied queen sucks, the friendly animal companions are hellhounds) that the book felt fresh. It definitely marched along to its own beat rather than following any current trends and I appreciate that so much....more
I was excited when I realized this book was going for a kind of regency, Georgette Heyer meets YA fantasy genre (Exciting! Combine regency, fantasy, AI was excited when I realized this book was going for a kind of regency, Georgette Heyer meets YA fantasy genre (Exciting! Combine regency, fantasy, Arabic worldbuilding, and Cinderella retelling, and you have a lot of things going on. This could have been a fascinating melting pot) but ultimately I didn’t enjoy it the way I expected to. The genrebending basically ended up in the range of “regular YA fantasy, but in an extremely formal writing style.” It didn’t do the interesting genre/worldbuilding things I hoped for.
I think my problem with the plot is the timeline. YA fantasy has this tendency to have everything happen in a short timespan—I think this book is a few days (2? 3?). To me, expecting the reader to buy that, for example, an entire royal ball is announced, planned, and then happens in the space of like 2 of those days strains the suspension of disbelief. And at the same time, two characters are falling in love, the main character juggles a job and a sewing commission and attempts on her life, there are hints of a deep dark secret dropped at the beginning that doesn’t come up again until the very end because, honestly, the main characters are just not involved in it, and multiple other players are helping (or are they?) the main character, and I just don’t understand why this couldn’t have taken a month instead, so we could actually have time to explore each of these things....more
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