Things I Liked:
I thought the setting and the history of Xia was absolutely beautiful. The Chinese lore and stories about the other kingdoms were gorgeous and very well-written. I also thought that the very last parts of the ending were pretty exciting.
Things I Didn't Like:
That being said, I didn't much like the story before it got to the ending. It seemed almost like a series of random events that felt disconnected. I was not drawn into the characters of the story because it seemed more like weird experiences followed by even weirder experiences. I just couldn't get interested in either the story or the characters. The only person I really liked was Li Rong. Part of the problem might be me, because I started reading this and put it aside for a pretty long time and then picked it up again later. I also found the ending, while exciting, was just the strangest part of all.
Read-alikes:
It felt a bit like Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison Goodman
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
not a lot
mrg-factor: XX
some situations and innuendo
v-factor: ->->->
they fight a lot with swords and daggers
Overall rating: **
What is your all-time favorite setting from a book? (Place, time, fantasy location, whatever!)
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