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rebeccazh's Reviews (2.89k)
Another fast and entertaining read. This is supposed to be a Chinese-inspired fantasy but it's very 'lite'. I enjoyed the folklore and quest parts and will probably check out the sequel.
really good tips but this author was repeating the same point for four hundred pages. this could have been 80-100 pages.
Interesting mediation on Japanese aesthetics and why traditional Japanese houses, furniture and etc are so visually appealing - I have to agree that the dark wood sets off everything beautifully. Not so sure about what he said about skin color though...
Finally finished this! This was really enjoyable and an easy read. Looking forward to the next book. I'm eager to see where Shironne's and Mikael's narratives go
This was actually kind of a reread because I'd forgotten most of what went on. I'm a big fan of Ilona Andrews works. They create really interesting worlds and very likeable heroines and there's always such high stakes in their novels. And UST, romance, comedy, drama and family drama! It was so fun.
loved this! as usual, i really liked all of ellis's chapters. she's really a very likeable main character. i some of the side characters who have the Sight (future vision) behave in such an eccentric way, mixing up past, present and future, often speaking elliptically or prophetically. i feel almost sorry for the king, who seems consumed by his gift that he behaves almost like a child. it was also nice to see another side of Grandfather.
my favorite secondary plot thread has to be the thread revolving around ellis's mother, the queen. she's a very complex character and i loved that so much. ellis remembers her as the mother who abandoned her (left her behind and went back to her country without a backward glance; never wrote a letter). carmyeon remembers her as the beautiful queen who insulted his mother. the king barely even notices her or glances at her -- one wonders why he married her. our main characters see her as this haughty/arrogant and unlikeable person, despite her beautiful appearance.
through other side characters' chapters -- julia, helton, llelas -- another side of her is revealed. she puts on a mask of haughtiness because her status is all that she has. she cares for her maids and protects them, because she has been treated like objects by powerful men. she thinks she's stupid because she can't read and she doesn't know a lot, even if her instincts tell her someone is trying to manipulate her, so she relies on her status as the queen to try to control situations or the conversation.
some of the moments in this novel that really struck me were her interactions with ellis, who is very bitter towards her (understandably so). but it really broke my heart when she revealed to her estranged daughter that she never wrote a letter because she can't read or write and she didn't dare to let anyone know; she learned how to read and write recently and all she's been doing is reading. she never thought to go back to get ellis because she is under her father's thumb. the father sounds like a real piece of work. he has one of her cousins held hostage and sends his guards to 'protect' her.
despite her standing, she's powerless and trapped. her husband, the king, doesn't notice or care about her. her father treats her like an object. she has no real allies and no real resources.
i loved the scene where she told ellis that she insulted carmyeon's mother because she saw how loved and safe the other was -- things she herself never got to experience. and so she insulted her because that was the only way she knew of dealing with how she felt, even though it was petty and stupid. these were such vulnerable confessions and i liked her very much for them. it was difficult telling all this to a daughter who wants nothing to do with her, but she's trying to mend the broken bridge between them. i was really happy that ellis thawed towards her in the end. this is someone who is trying her best despite how terrible her circumstances are.
also really loved the plot-line with llelas. ellis finally realizes llelas has feelings for her. she confronts him, and he admits that he stays away from her because he is afraid of becoming his father (he sees his worst self and his flaws in his father) and she reminds him too much of his mother. that's really powerful.
i really loved these moments. excited for the next book!
my favorite secondary plot thread has to be the thread revolving around ellis's mother, the queen. she's a very complex character and i loved that so much. ellis remembers her as the mother who abandoned her (left her behind and went back to her country without a backward glance; never wrote a letter). carmyeon remembers her as the beautiful queen who insulted his mother. the king barely even notices her or glances at her -- one wonders why he married her. our main characters see her as this haughty/arrogant and unlikeable person, despite her beautiful appearance.
through other side characters' chapters -- julia, helton, llelas -- another side of her is revealed. she puts on a mask of haughtiness because her status is all that she has. she cares for her maids and protects them, because she has been treated like objects by powerful men. she thinks she's stupid because she can't read and she doesn't know a lot, even if her instincts tell her someone is trying to manipulate her, so she relies on her status as the queen to try to control situations or the conversation.
some of the moments in this novel that really struck me were her interactions with ellis, who is very bitter towards her (understandably so). but it really broke my heart when she revealed to her estranged daughter that she never wrote a letter because she can't read or write and she didn't dare to let anyone know; she learned how to read and write recently and all she's been doing is reading. she never thought to go back to get ellis because she is under her father's thumb. the father sounds like a real piece of work. he has one of her cousins held hostage and sends his guards to 'protect' her.
despite her standing, she's powerless and trapped. her husband, the king, doesn't notice or care about her. her father treats her like an object. she has no real allies and no real resources.
i loved the scene where she told ellis that she insulted carmyeon's mother because she saw how loved and safe the other was -- things she herself never got to experience. and so she insulted her because that was the only way she knew of dealing with how she felt, even though it was petty and stupid. these were such vulnerable confessions and i liked her very much for them. it was difficult telling all this to a daughter who wants nothing to do with her, but she's trying to mend the broken bridge between them. i was really happy that ellis thawed towards her in the end. this is someone who is trying her best despite how terrible her circumstances are.
also really loved the plot-line with llelas. ellis finally realizes llelas has feelings for her. she confronts him, and he admits that he stays away from her because he is afraid of becoming his father (he sees his worst self and his flaws in his father) and she reminds him too much of his mother. that's really powerful.
i really loved these moments. excited for the next book!
This was very fun to read. I went in with no expectations, having only read Emily May's review, but this is basically a book with alternative POV chapters starring Lou and Reid. Lou is running from her homicidal and fanatic mother who wants to sacrifice her in order to strike a blow at her enemies. Reid is just trying to live up to the Archbishop's expectations and to live up to his own standards. Lou is witty, mischievous, playful and irreverent. She turns everything into a joke, has no respect for authority and doesn't seem to take anything seriously. She's so funny and I loved reading her chapters! She was the sole reason why I enjoyed this book so much.
Reid is one of those very serious, loyal, bound to his moral code and law-abiding type of personality. He has anger issues, takes everything very seriously, has ideas about how everything should be and he is devoted to authority (also the Archbishop is pretty much like his foster father, boss and savior rolled into one). Sparks fly when he has to live with Lou and interact with her on a close basis. Their bickering and fighting is honestly pretty hilarious.
The worldbuilding is weird - the country is a country that's sort of like France, but not really. They also have different types of witches that's not really explained clearly.
I read the prologue and then after that devoured the entire book. Lou is so fun to read! Excited for the sequel.
Reid is one of those very serious, loyal, bound to his moral code and law-abiding type of personality. He has anger issues, takes everything very seriously, has ideas about how everything should be and he is devoted to authority (also the Archbishop is pretty much like his foster father, boss and savior rolled into one). Sparks fly when he has to live with Lou and interact with her on a close basis. Their bickering and fighting is honestly pretty hilarious.
The worldbuilding is weird - the country is a country that's sort of like France, but not really. They also have different types of witches that's not really explained clearly.
I read the prologue and then after that devoured the entire book. Lou is so fun to read! Excited for the sequel.
![残次品 [Can Ci Pin] by priest](https://cdn.thestorygraph.com/av4hhxujmb325m8h25pdunu94g26)
My short review is: priest is awesome.
My longer review: In this book, humans are living in a futuristic planet where everyone is part of a mental/neural network called Eden. People have given up their privacy and freedom so that Eden monitors people's slightest physiological and emotional status, making changes to ensure that people live well and happily. The average lifespan is now at least a few hundred years. There is AI everywhere and pretty much everything is automated, convenient and easy. Nearly anything can be done with technology - some of it includes creating virtual models of people who have passed so you can still interact with them in a very limited sense; recording memories like videos, travelling through space, gestating (?) infants outside of the womb... Eden sounds idyllic.
But there is a group of people, whom the novel refers to as 'imperfect' (the title), who are sort of 'brain dead'. They're not able to connect and be affected by Eden. They're considered the rejects of society and are pushed to the fringes of the galaxy, to the eighth galaxy, where they're ignored and treated as substandard. The novel follows two characters, Lu Bixing, and Lin Jingheng, who are both revolutionaries. They want to bring down the administrators of Eden and bring equality to the people of the eighth galaxy.
There are a lot of big questions about the future of humanity, freedom, equality, morality. She writes quite differently from Western authors about technology - quite a lot of the utopia/dystopia novels I've read have an anxiety about where technology is going, whether we are really in control of it, individuality, privacy, sensationalism, mind control in the form of mass media and mass entertainment... But priest's focus is less on technology and more about freedom and morality. Are we all free if one group is more free than another?
I have to reread this at some point - probably once the English translation finishes - because my Chinese is not up to scratch enough to understand the finer details of the debate within the book. I had to read with a dictionary, which was so tedious that I ditched the dictionary about halfway through and ended up skimming quite a bit because I couldn't understand, lol. But oh man I loved reading Priest's writing again! She is so funny. She's also well-versed in western novels and quotes George Orwell and name drops various other western classics at some point.
I also have to rave about her characters. I find that Chinese novels tend to write characters with very clear and strong motivations. It's completely clear to me how their circumstances, their past and their personality have shaped their motivations, attitudes and goals. Main characters undergo quite a lot of change and growth. There are very few villains who are villainous for the sake of it.
I read somewhere that she's a psychology major, which I think explains a lot about her understanding of people.
Lu Bixing is a very idealistic and big-hearted person. He hopes to build a school and bring education to the eighth galaxy, which is basically like wanting to bring education to the slums. The people themselves don't even want it. He's very upbeat and he's basically described to be like a puppy - never disheartened, always optimistic, and even if he did meet any obstacles, he's able to shake it off pretty quickly. Lin Jingheng is his opposite. Introverted, aloof, keep things close to the chest, analytical.
While it was interesting watching the way they interacted, I think where priest's writing really shines is when disaster strikes. About 60% into the novel (both characters are now in a relationship with each other), Lin Jingheng's ship is blown up and he is presumed dead. Lu Bixing and Lin Jingheng's reactions to the event showed very clearly how much they've changed. Lbx falls into a years-long depression; the description of it was visceral and accurate. He describes everyday as similar to walking on a tightrope. He has to make sure he doesn't lose his mind, lose hope and lose his soul while still maintaining his balance. It was quite painful to see how the optimistic, talkative and upbeat Lbx become withdrawn, quiet and even suicidal at times. I read The Body Keeps Score recently, and kept thinking about it when I was reading this.
Meanwhile Ljh who has always shown a very blasé attitude towards living - 'if I live, that's fine, if I die, that's fine too, I won't fight particularly hard to stay alive' - struggled very hard against difficult circumstances and a very sick and failing body to live.
It was even better after they reunited, because sixteen years had passed, and they'd both become very different people. There was this whole new, tenuous and painful period where they were trying to get used to each other again, with Ljh realizing that the person he'd immortalised in his mind and fought to live for was no longer that person, and he now had to bend over backwards to treat Lbx like glass. On the other hand, Lbx was struggling with being in the present moment where Ljh is alive, rather than being frozen in the traumatic past where Ljh is dead and Lbx is hopeless, helpless and reckless. It culminated into one of the most honest and vulnerable fights I saw a couple have in a Chinese novel. Usually, they don't talk about how they feel. They just kind of imply things. It was super cathartic and quite refreshing to read that.
This is not even mentioning the plethora of side characters and the plot twists. There were some really thrilling plot developments. My heart was in my throat, reading this.
I'm just heart eyes over this novel. It was so good.
My longer review: In this book, humans are living in a futuristic planet where everyone is part of a mental/neural network called Eden. People have given up their privacy and freedom so that Eden monitors people's slightest physiological and emotional status, making changes to ensure that people live well and happily. The average lifespan is now at least a few hundred years. There is AI everywhere and pretty much everything is automated, convenient and easy. Nearly anything can be done with technology - some of it includes creating virtual models of people who have passed so you can still interact with them in a very limited sense; recording memories like videos, travelling through space, gestating (?) infants outside of the womb... Eden sounds idyllic.
But there is a group of people, whom the novel refers to as 'imperfect' (the title), who are sort of 'brain dead'. They're not able to connect and be affected by Eden. They're considered the rejects of society and are pushed to the fringes of the galaxy, to the eighth galaxy, where they're ignored and treated as substandard. The novel follows two characters, Lu Bixing, and Lin Jingheng, who are both revolutionaries. They want to bring down the administrators of Eden and bring equality to the people of the eighth galaxy.
There are a lot of big questions about the future of humanity, freedom, equality, morality. She writes quite differently from Western authors about technology - quite a lot of the utopia/dystopia novels I've read have an anxiety about where technology is going, whether we are really in control of it, individuality, privacy, sensationalism, mind control in the form of mass media and mass entertainment... But priest's focus is less on technology and more about freedom and morality. Are we all free if one group is more free than another?
I have to reread this at some point - probably once the English translation finishes - because my Chinese is not up to scratch enough to understand the finer details of the debate within the book. I had to read with a dictionary, which was so tedious that I ditched the dictionary about halfway through and ended up skimming quite a bit because I couldn't understand, lol. But oh man I loved reading Priest's writing again! She is so funny. She's also well-versed in western novels and quotes George Orwell and name drops various other western classics at some point.
I also have to rave about her characters. I find that Chinese novels tend to write characters with very clear and strong motivations. It's completely clear to me how their circumstances, their past and their personality have shaped their motivations, attitudes and goals. Main characters undergo quite a lot of change and growth. There are very few villains who are villainous for the sake of it.
I read somewhere that she's a psychology major, which I think explains a lot about her understanding of people.
Lu Bixing is a very idealistic and big-hearted person. He hopes to build a school and bring education to the eighth galaxy, which is basically like wanting to bring education to the slums. The people themselves don't even want it. He's very upbeat and he's basically described to be like a puppy - never disheartened, always optimistic, and even if he did meet any obstacles, he's able to shake it off pretty quickly. Lin Jingheng is his opposite. Introverted, aloof, keep things close to the chest, analytical.
While it was interesting watching the way they interacted, I think where priest's writing really shines is when disaster strikes. About 60% into the novel (both characters are now in a relationship with each other), Lin Jingheng's ship is blown up and he is presumed dead. Lu Bixing and Lin Jingheng's reactions to the event showed very clearly how much they've changed. Lbx falls into a years-long depression; the description of it was visceral and accurate. He describes everyday as similar to walking on a tightrope. He has to make sure he doesn't lose his mind, lose hope and lose his soul while still maintaining his balance. It was quite painful to see how the optimistic, talkative and upbeat Lbx become withdrawn, quiet and even suicidal at times. I read The Body Keeps Score recently, and kept thinking about it when I was reading this.
Meanwhile Ljh who has always shown a very blasé attitude towards living - 'if I live, that's fine, if I die, that's fine too, I won't fight particularly hard to stay alive' - struggled very hard against difficult circumstances and a very sick and failing body to live.
It was even better after they reunited, because sixteen years had passed, and they'd both become very different people. There was this whole new, tenuous and painful period where they were trying to get used to each other again, with Ljh realizing that the person he'd immortalised in his mind and fought to live for was no longer that person, and he now had to bend over backwards to treat Lbx like glass. On the other hand, Lbx was struggling with being in the present moment where Ljh is alive, rather than being frozen in the traumatic past where Ljh is dead and Lbx is hopeless, helpless and reckless. It culminated into one of the most honest and vulnerable fights I saw a couple have in a Chinese novel. Usually, they don't talk about how they feel. They just kind of imply things. It was super cathartic and quite refreshing to read that.
This is not even mentioning the plethora of side characters and the plot twists. There were some really thrilling plot developments. My heart was in my throat, reading this.
I'm just heart eyes over this novel. It was so good.
