Reviews

Rendez-vous à Pékin by Sherry Thomas

grace_astudentreading's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes

4.0

This book reminded me just how much I love Sherry Thomas and everything she writes. She does everything so well: the characters, the action, the pacing, the plot twists. I loved all of it. To start with the characters. Both Ying-Ying and Leighton went through so much over the course of this book that shaped them into strong people. Yet they were also both so kind and loving and devoted to those they cared about. Despite their wildly different beginnings they end the book as very similar people and I can’t wait to see how they interact. I also loved the side characters, especially Amah and Herb. Now for the action. The martial art scenes were amazing! The training was fascinating and final action sequence was utterly thrilling. The entire story was thrilling, with it fast paced from the start. Even the more peaceful moments were used for important reflection and growth for the characters. I will say I did not love the ending. I was expecting something different, and as result felt a bit disappointed. Overall, I highly recommend this book!

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense 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? No

4.5

This is the prequel to Thomas's historical romance, My Beautiful Enemy, and functions as a coming-of-age story for our eventual main characters, Ying Ying and Leighton. This was published prior to My Beautiful Enemy, but can be read either before or after, as I do feel like they each stand alone. I loved spending more time with these characters after falling in love with them in MBE, and appreciated how well-built this story was (with a tight page count and a story spanning multiple continents, no less). This has fascinating wuxia elements that build out our lightly fantastical world, and is high stakes, tense and action packed from start to finish. I highly recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction - we don't have a primary romance in this installment, but it delivers in MBE!
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xandrarama's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense 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? No

4.0

Very exciting and I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

kimu23's review against another edition

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3.0

My mistake is not reading the reviews because I thought this was romance, turns out it was a PREQUEL to romance. At some point, I did figure it out but I thought they would meet near the end at least… I mean the summary for the sequel said that thay betrayed each other or something like that so I thought we’re going to see it in this book…

My thoughts of The Hidden Blade :
The author is too in love with England, which is crazy because the author herself is Chinese. She should’ve known all the the horrors. Lady Atwood is potrayed as ‘good’ in here but she is literally a Christian missionary who wants to ‘save’ African people. I don’t know what to say except read some history books…

I hope the actual romance is good though or this will be all for nothing

gabymck's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense 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? N/A
This is book #1 in a duology, but it's more a setup for book #2, it feels wrong to rate it without reading the rest of the story.

ammbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

I was urged to read this by a friend...and I am really happy I did. Loved the storyline and enjoyed the creating of both Ying & Leighton characters. Look forward to reading the series.

seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition

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4.0

What begins as a strangely disconnected tale of two youngsters, Ling-Ling and Leighton, growing up around the world from one another but with similar stories of sorrow.

The death of her mother moves Ling-Ling from a life of sheltered luxury to the home of her mother's former protector, with no prospects for a future she trains under her Umah for the chance of something else.

Leighton witnesses the death of his father, death by suicide after threats of incarceration in an asylum after being caught with his male lover. Trapped under the eye of his uncle, he dreams of being united with Herb, his father's beloved and his younger brother and mother.

You couldn't get two stories further apart, and yet somehow it all worked.

al_b's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

posole's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. This was the simple, fast paced adventure tale that I needed. The plot is somewhat cliché, but I don’t care. It was fun and entertaining and I liked the characters. Sometimes you need a book like this to refresh your palate. I’ll be looking out for the sequel.

posole's review against another edition

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4.0

I have not read many romance novels, but I love Sherry Thomas’ other books and this one was very good. I liked that although the romance was the driving force behind the story, it was also full of action, adventure, espionage and martial arts.