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teri_b's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Tea unexpectedly raises her brother from the dead, and with this her whole world changes.
They first book in the series sees a scholar coming to the shores where Tea as a Bone Witch raises dead creatures and reanimates them. She tells him her story and how she comes to be in this desolate and lonely place.
It was a fantastic read, to hear a woman's voice, telling her story with all the intricacies that comes with her having become a dark one that can muster dark magic.
The world unfolds layer by layer it is not rushed it comes in its on pace and I love the story told for taking its time even more.
I listened to this as an audible book. For once, I have to admit that I did not like the female narrator's voice and her rendition of the text. Tea got too often too tearful within the narrator's voice. However, this may be a YA and or a cultural issue.
They first book in the series sees a scholar coming to the shores where Tea as a Bone Witch raises dead creatures and reanimates them. She tells him her story and how she comes to be in this desolate and lonely place.
It was a fantastic read, to hear a woman's voice, telling her story with all the intricacies that comes with her having become a dark one that can muster dark magic.
The world unfolds layer by layer it is not rushed it comes in its on pace and I love the story told for taking its time even more.
I listened to this as an audible book. For once, I have to admit that I did not like the female narrator's voice and her rendition of the text. Tea got too often too tearful within the narrator's voice. However, this may be a YA and or a cultural issue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
ticktock's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Violence
lyonsdenprojects's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.0
This is like a richer, more magical telling of Memoirs of a Geisha, where the protagonist has far more control of herself and her destiny. I love Rin's writing from The Girl in the Well and this book was as wonderful as I expected. It started slow and but once the world was built enough, it grabbed me with lovable characters and a compelling tale. Highly recommended.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, and Grief
thenovelmaura's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
5.0
Wow, I loved this book! I read it in June and three months later, I already own the second book in the trilogy and plan to read it soon. It's a bit light on action compared to the fantasy I usually read, but I think the second book will pick up quickly. The narrative choice to have an older version of Tea telling her story worked really well here, and the mystery of how she ended up on this remote beach making evil villain speeches kept me reading. Tea and her brother Fox have the sweetest relationship and I can't wait to see how it evolves as Tea gets older.
I was fascinated by the Eight Kingdoms and I could tell Chupeco put a ton of thought into these lands, the people, and the magic system. This book was a bit contained to just a few cities and villages, but I'm expecting Tea to travel a lot more moving forward. I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang or The Young Elites by Marie Lu; these books all have the fascinating theme of following the gradual corruption of the main character. And be prepared for really lush descriptions of clothing and other parts of the setting because there's a lot of that as well. I have friends who enjoyed this entire series so I'm really excited to continue it!
I was fascinated by the Eight Kingdoms and I could tell Chupeco put a ton of thought into these lands, the people, and the magic system. This book was a bit contained to just a few cities and villages, but I'm expecting Tea to travel a lot more moving forward. I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang or The Young Elites by Marie Lu; these books all have the fascinating theme of following the gradual corruption of the main character. And be prepared for really lush descriptions of clothing and other parts of the setting because there's a lot of that as well. I have friends who enjoyed this entire series so I'm really excited to continue it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Transphobia
measishouldbebooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Memoirs of a Geisha, but with Rune Magic and Necromancy. Rin Chupeco has created a beautiful and intricate world with an interesting magic system. Tea was a great character, and this story explores both who she is now and how she came to be that person. I’m excited to delve more into this world and learn more about how Tea came to be the Exiled Dark Asha.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
taglharp's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
WTF?? I need the sequel. Now.
Summary of things I liked:
‣ The worldbuilding — especially the dresses and the culture (JBC I was going "Hello Asia, I'm so happy to see so much of you" all the way through). But I also enjoyed the magic system!! There's also a lot of world politics and history that had a good amount of detail.
‣ The minor duelling — or, well, sparring. Listen I'm a sucker for any hint of military fantasy even though this is not a military fantasy.
‣ The family fluff — Fox & Tea's sibling relationship is to die for!! I'm used to squealing about more complex dynamics, but the simplicity of their relationship was so cute. I also really enjoyed the found family trope in this one - but lbr, is there anyone who doesn't like found family?
‣ Lihk & Zoya's characters — was this really published in 2017? Anyway, if you know you know. They were treat.
‣ THE FOOD DESCRIPTIONS. I was only hungry, like, all the time reading this book.
Summary of things I disliked:
‣ The beginning of the book — specifically the first 20%. Boring as all hell and quite hard to get through. Descriptions upon descriptions to the point that it was honestly disorienting. I'm a character-first kind of reader & they were almost all buried beneath the amount of worldly descriptions.
‣ The italicized interludes — alright, so I'm biased. You can pin this on my shallow dislike of lengthy italicized flashbacks (or in this case, flash-forwards) but I also didn't care at all for future (present day?) Tea. Each time they came in, I was like: Why do I care lmao. The Unknown Bard POV doesn't really help either, if anything it further isolates me from her character. Though I do understand its narrative purpose.
‣ The possible love triangle — spare me!! Not impressed!!!
‣ THE NAME DROP AT THE END?? I swear I would've been more intrigued if it was kept secret.
Summary of things that were "eh, okay, I guess":
‣ The characters — admittedly, I'm suuuuper picky about this. Still, I thought the characters in this book were rather bland and left something to be desired. The execution of their narratives lacked a lens that could've explored any depth and complexity they potentially had - and I could see quite a few characters that had this. But since this is a plot-driven story, I understand why we didn't delve much. So this is more of a preferential kind of thing (well, this entire review is, obviously, but this especially).
Spicy things I have to say:
‣ The world of the asha are a lot more interesting than that of the grisha. No, you cannot change my mind. Come for me!! (jk, don't - but hey! if you like grishaverse, you may like this!!)
Summary of things I liked:
‣ The worldbuilding — especially the dresses and the culture (JBC I was going "Hello Asia, I'm so happy to see so much of you" all the way through). But I also enjoyed the magic system!! There's also a lot of world politics and history that had a good amount of detail.
‣ The minor duelling — or, well, sparring. Listen I'm a sucker for any hint of military fantasy even though this is not a military fantasy.
‣ The family fluff — Fox & Tea's sibling relationship is to die for!! I'm used to squealing about more complex dynamics, but the simplicity of their relationship was so cute. I also really enjoyed the found family trope in this one - but lbr, is there anyone who doesn't like found family?
‣ Lihk & Zoya's characters — was this really published in 2017? Anyway, if you know you know. They were treat.
‣ THE FOOD DESCRIPTIONS. I was only hungry, like, all the time reading this book.
Summary of things I disliked:
‣ The beginning of the book — specifically the first 20%. Boring as all hell and quite hard to get through. Descriptions upon descriptions to the point that it was honestly disorienting. I'm a character-first kind of reader & they were almost all buried beneath the amount of worldly descriptions.
‣ The italicized interludes — alright, so I'm biased. You can pin this on my shallow dislike of lengthy italicized flashbacks (or in this case, flash-forwards) but I also didn't care at all for future (present day?) Tea. Each time they came in, I was like: Why do I care lmao. The Unknown Bard POV doesn't really help either, if anything it further isolates me from her character. Though I do understand its narrative purpose.
‣ The possible love triangle — spare me!! Not impressed!!!
‣ THE NAME DROP AT THE END?? I swear I would've been more intrigued if it was kept secret.
Summary of things that were "eh, okay, I guess":
‣ The characters — admittedly, I'm suuuuper picky about this. Still, I thought the characters in this book were rather bland and left something to be desired. The execution of their narratives lacked a lens that could've explored any depth and complexity they potentially had - and I could see quite a few characters that had this. But since this is a plot-driven story, I understand why we didn't delve much. So this is more of a preferential kind of thing (well, this entire review is, obviously, but this especially).
Spicy things I have to say:
‣ The world of the asha are a lot more interesting than that of the grisha. No, you cannot change my mind. Come for me!! (jk, don't - but hey! if you like grishaverse, you may like this!!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Sexism
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