Reviews

The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang

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illusie's review against another edition

3.0

I really had to get used to how the word "they" was used in this book. I learned "they" is actually the gender neutral word for a person. In this world children are gender neutral until at a certain age they decide what they want to be. The characters are interesting, but the story didn't grab me. I thought it was okay, hence the 3 star rating.

gigireadswithkiki's review

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Messy family dynamics, criticism of settler colonialism, lush world-building, a well-thoughtout interplay between magic and science (and the classism involved within), this book felt like it has it all.

I loved Neon Yang’s interpretation of gender politics within this first story in the Tensorate series, setting the tone for the rest of the series. The magic system, while reminding me of Avatar the Last Airbender, also felt so completely unique and ethereal.

The only thing that didn’t completely sell me was the writing, which was a little too overly-flowery at times; but once you get used to the style, this story sucks you in and doesn’t let go.

catherinefenquist's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

luanndie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“The saying goes, ‘The black tides of heaven direct the courses of human lives.’ To which a wise teacher said, ‘But as with all waters, one can swim against the tide.”

Disfruté mucho de la historia. Lo que más me gustó fue:
-La sociedad que presenta donde las personas pueden escoger con que género se sienten más identificadas en el momento que ellas decidan.
-El tono de la historia mezclando la realidad con la fantasía de una forma que me recordó a She who became the sun.
- La evolución de los personajes y los giros de la trama que no dejaban de sorprenderme.
- El estilo narrativo más centrado en la parte emocional y estudio de personajes que en la acción en sí.
- Los saltos temporales. Si bien es cierto que se pierde un poco de la continuidad de la historia, creo que ayudan a que la narración sea más ágil y a mantener al lector interesado.

En cuanto a lo negativo, creo que hubiera agradecido un poco más de explicación del tema político el cual, más allá de unas nociones básicas, no termino de entender muy bien. Además, creo que la historia quiere reflejar un mensaje que se me escapa y pase toda la novela con la sensación de no estar pillando algo importante, pero eso es más defecto mío que de la obra.

shadesofwind's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.0

miraclesnow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

(This will be a comparison as my previous novel of Neon’s that I read was a 2 stars. No spoilers, but keep this in mind)

A very refreshing journey back into Neon Yang’s creative worlds. I’m already much more impressed with their writing in this novel vs Genesis of Misery. It looks like they’ve always had issues with not writing enough characterization for any other characters for me to connect to any but the main ones but it’s excusable for a short story such as this. However, they also have a lot of action scenes and it’s all still fairly unintelligible. Between this previous work and their newer one I don’t see any notable improvements in writing, or maybe even a decline in quality in the newer work. I’m not an expert but I know the character work in this story kept me much more engaged and the short length didn’t hurt it as much as Genesis of Misery was worsened with its length. Def continuing and trying to keep an open mind.