Scan barcode
roninsb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
katsdaysarebooked's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sofie_loefberg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
5.0
hila_tz's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gemjoys's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
frogge01's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
allieeilla's review
dark
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? Yes
4.75
mi__ela's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
Which goes to show that the gods don’t determine fate. People do. Powerful people.
Once again.... what the fuck? I did NOT enjoy this at all 😭
The plot is nonexistent, the characters were always performing mundane tasks and having conversations, and the political aspects were soooo repetitive.
Despite the title, 90% of the book is talking about what to do, setting up stakes and tension but never amounting to anything. I kept waiting for something to happened and nothing did. WHERE IS THE WAR? Not in Kekon for sure. But even when the said 'jade war' happened on another continent, we still don't get anything other than some mentions here and there and more political talk, and more sitting around.
Fonda Lee created this complex world, with intricate political ties between these countries.... and then... focused on every small detail that made this book feel like it was dragging on and on and on. Most of these infos are not even useful AND are repeated MULTIPLE times throughout the story. I understand explaining what happened in the previous book, but why are you explaining to me AGAIN something that happened a couple of chapters back?????
Fonda Lee disregarded completely the rule "show, don't tell." I found myself turned off by the paragraph dumps she utilized between parts of dialogue to be sure we understood what everyone was feeling every time.
The multiple POVs hindered the immersion in the story so much. Every time something interesting happened, I would get thrown into the POV of someone else, days or weeks AFTER the event. The reactions of some characters weren't even shown, even when it was in relation to them, which pissed me off the most.
For some reason Fonda Lee LOVES time skips, and yet that does not reflect in the characters' development. They don't evolve, and apart from Anden and Shae, I didn't see any development in the other characters.
Anden remains my favorite character and I hope he gets to meet Cory again and be happy. My baby deserves it 🥹
Shae is my wife btw.. women in mafia are so hot aha 🫣