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At first I found this book to be slow, and worried that I wouldn't be able to get into it, especially as the two points of views evened out, so that the point of view isn't jumping between Past and Present. But once we are well settled into the present the plot takes off. The fact this story only takes place over the course of a week or two is very evident, Sim's writing makes it evident how much pressure our protagonists are under. Which makes the story even more intriguing.
The world is well built and intriguing, It feels like all of the fun of court intrigue with none of the boring parts. But what made this world so refreshing was the representation that came seamlessly into the story. This world skews away from the heteronormative fantasy world's I quite often come across in fantasy fiction. Towards the new and interesting worlds I hope to find in the future.
The world is well built and intriguing, It feels like all of the fun of court intrigue with none of the boring parts. But what made this world so refreshing was the representation that came seamlessly into the story.
Spoiler
The two that come to mind first and foremost is the option Cayo is given to marry one a son instead of the daughter, and the description of the curly haired non-binary dealer that Amaya run's into in the Vice District.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very fun. Could have used some more explanation in some places and told a sum more than it showed.
I do love the Count of Monte Cristo and this was a fun retelling that managed to not feel derivative.
Dialogue could use so work.
Not looking forward to the
inevitable love triangle of the best book, particularly when we got the barest hint that Cayo might lean aroace. That would be a nice way to settle the love triangle I guess. Also, Roth came out of nowhere. There was no satisfying build up to that he was just suddenly THERE with all the answers.
I do love the Count of Monte Cristo and this was a fun retelling that managed to not feel derivative.
Dialogue could use so work.
inevitable love triangle of the best book, particularly when we got the barest hint that Cayo might lean aroace. That would be a nice way to settle the love triangle I guess. Also, Roth came out of nowhere. There was no satisfying build up to that he was just suddenly THERE with all the answers.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, it's not as though the Count of Monte Cristo is, you know, realistic as stories go so I don't think that's my main critique. I think I just wanted the main characters to be having a little more fun than they were actually having.
If you're going to get absolute revenge, it should be FUN. And then you rethink and realize It's not as fulfilling as you thought it was going to be etc. I wanted more of "I thought this would feel better" and less outside manipulation into forcing our heroine's hands. I think, overall, it was the lack of agency that frustrated me so much, especially with the gender swap. Don't make Edmund Dantes a girl and then give her less power over her life.
I still want to know what happens, though. This might be one of those books where, once the plot of the original starts to run out, the story gets more interesting (as opposed to Austen retellings which inevitably get less interesting if they go on past the books.)
If you're going to get absolute revenge, it should be FUN. And then you rethink and realize It's not as fulfilling as you thought it was going to be etc. I wanted more of "I thought this would feel better" and less outside manipulation into forcing our heroine's hands. I think, overall, it was the lack of agency that frustrated me so much, especially with the gender swap. Don't make Edmund Dantes a girl and then give her less power over her life.
I still want to know what happens, though. This might be one of those books where, once the plot of the original starts to run out, the story gets more interesting (as opposed to Austen retellings which inevitably get less interesting if they go on past the books.)
Is 2021 my year to finally knock down my TBR? Not sure but I'm loving each and every adventure that I'm going on right now. Especially when pirates are involved. Enter Scavenge the Stars. In it, you will meet Amaya, who goes by Silverfish. She spends her days diving for pearls and patiently waits for her day of freedom from 'The Brackish' and it's cruel captain.
It doesn't help that she ends up rescuing a drowning stranger right when she could and taste her freedom either. Yet, she still does the deed that gets her more time on the ship and under the captains scrutiny. Enter Boon. Now he was an interesting character because he was dressed in fancy clothes but told people he didn't have any money. Then goes to Amaya and says that she could earn riches and other stuff if, and only if, she helps him on a mission.
A mission of secrecy and revenge.
Me? Well I was already hooked from the first two seconds so I'm down for secrets and revenge. Lots and lots of revenge please.
These two, Boon and Amaya, made me smile. I just think they were both equally great in their little partnership. From their little mission, Amaya ends up meeting Cayo and honestly girl - I felt what you were going through. It's hard to want revenge on someone and then start to develop those pesky little feelings. Damn heartstrings were being pulled and I was there for it all.
Besides falling in love, and all kinds of love by all the diversity and representation beautifully thrown my way, the conflict and double crossing was way too fun for me as well. I just feel like anything that has revenge, mystery, or any kind of darkness to it - I'm in. It's like an immediate thing too because I will get sucked in and never want the book to end.
Unfortunately, for me, the book ended and now I'm super pumped for the second book to come into my life. So whenever that wants to happen, I will welcome it with open arms. Seriously. Open freaking arms.
It doesn't help that she ends up rescuing a drowning stranger right when she could and taste her freedom either. Yet, she still does the deed that gets her more time on the ship and under the captains scrutiny. Enter Boon. Now he was an interesting character because he was dressed in fancy clothes but told people he didn't have any money. Then goes to Amaya and says that she could earn riches and other stuff if, and only if, she helps him on a mission.
A mission of secrecy and revenge.
Me? Well I was already hooked from the first two seconds so I'm down for secrets and revenge. Lots and lots of revenge please.
These two, Boon and Amaya, made me smile. I just think they were both equally great in their little partnership. From their little mission, Amaya ends up meeting Cayo and honestly girl - I felt what you were going through. It's hard to want revenge on someone and then start to develop those pesky little feelings. Damn heartstrings were being pulled and I was there for it all.
Besides falling in love, and all kinds of love by all the diversity and representation beautifully thrown my way, the conflict and double crossing was way too fun for me as well. I just feel like anything that has revenge, mystery, or any kind of darkness to it - I'm in. It's like an immediate thing too because I will get sucked in and never want the book to end.
Unfortunately, for me, the book ended and now I'm super pumped for the second book to come into my life. So whenever that wants to happen, I will welcome it with open arms. Seriously. Open freaking arms.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was just ok to me. It was touted as a gender-swapping Count of Monte Cristo story which I could see but was ok. It was a pretty typical YA and I knew the "twist" when it was first introduced. It's good for a light, quick read.
“The rules of Scatterjack are very simple: five cards to a hand, two cards to trade, and a knife up your sleeve if the game goes sour.” - THE INS AND OUTS OF TABLE BETTING
I loved this story, with its glittering riches intertwined with violent slums, it was everything you can ask for in a fantasy novel. Illustrating a lethal game of politics and a story filled with monsters and saints, I highly recommend this to anyone looking to be whisked away into a mysterious land filled with mysterious characters. I did find the connections between some of the characters a little tenuous at times and wasn’t as awestruck as I would’ve liked at the plot revelations, but Sim easily gets a 4 star review from me.
I loved this story, with its glittering riches intertwined with violent slums, it was everything you can ask for in a fantasy novel. Illustrating a lethal game of politics and a story filled with monsters and saints, I highly recommend this to anyone looking to be whisked away into a mysterious land filled with mysterious characters. I did find the connections between some of the characters a little tenuous at times and wasn’t as awestruck as I would’ve liked at the plot revelations, but Sim easily gets a 4 star review from me.
Can someone please explain to me why this book is rated so low? Because here's what I've gleaned:
1) The reader who rated low is tired of the tropes in the book. Ok, I get that. I mean, I disagree because I either enjoy the tropes or they don't bother me one way or another. But, as someone who also rates low for that reason, I understand.
2) Lack of worldbuilding. This is a retelling of The Count of Monte Christo. What makes it fantasy is that the countries, the religion, etc. are made up. There's really no magic to speak of. Neither of the MCs weilds magic. None of the villains do. Nobody (thus far - I have finished the book, but... sequel).
In my opinion, Sim paints a pretty clear picture of what the landscape is like - both geographical and political. So I don't understand that complaint against the book.
1) The reader who rated low is tired of the tropes in the book. Ok, I get that. I mean, I disagree because I either enjoy the tropes or they don't bother me one way or another. But, as someone who also rates low for that reason, I understand.
2) Lack of worldbuilding. This is a retelling of The Count of Monte Christo. What makes it fantasy is that the countries, the religion, etc. are made up. There's really no magic to speak of. Neither of the MCs weilds magic. None of the villains do. Nobody (thus far - I have finished the book, but... sequel).
In my opinion, Sim paints a pretty clear picture of what the landscape is like - both geographical and political. So I don't understand that complaint against the book.
...I'm so absolutely disappointed and gutted. There WILL be spoilers. Be forewarned. I'm about to rant like no other.
I LOVE the Count of Monte Cristo. It's one of my favorite books (which is saying something because I don't typically like classics). I was named after a character in a modern day (for the 90s) retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo (If Tomorrow Comes by Sydney Sheldon). This book has been central to my life and my love of literature.
This is NOT the Count of Monte Cristo.
Or, rather, it is, as long as you start the book with the Count in jail and she doesn't know why she's there or who is to blame for her misfortunes and gets sucked into SOMEONE ELSE'S revenge plot and also, she's maybe in love with the Mercedes character stand-in, but there's also a Haydee stand-in. So who knows? It may be a love triangle. Also, did we mention the kindly abbé character, a character who is minor and who DIES in the original is now turned into a major villain character? And he's in league with the others the Countess needs to get revenge on? And also, Mercedes' sister is somehow the grandfather stand-in. And the plotters are responsible for child labor and a deadly disease and a counterfeiting scheme. And the Countess' money isn't actually real.
Does your head hurt yet?
If this had not been promoted as a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, it would have been a perfectly passable YA adventure tale. The story itself wasn't bad if it's divorced from that idea. But it was and it isn't, so I'm upset about it now.
Amaya, our Countess, is supposed to be this rugged, rough and tumble heroine. And she just isn't. She's naive. She continues to go along with plans she doesn't know about or understand without really questioning anything or finding out why Boon wants revenge on the same people she does other than "he's Landless! Cool!" and moving on. At two different points, she finds out information (that turns out to be a red herring once) and just kind of sulks and pouts around while she "figures it out". The Count is shrewd and clever. He has a CLEAR plan for his revenge and knows exactly who his targets are and what needs to happen to get his justice. He isn't an unknowing pawn in someone else's scheme because he was too gullible and drunk on revenge plans to care what the plan is. The character HINGES on this cunning. Without it, it was a let down.
Cayo is forgettable. He kisses pretty much every character he interacts with (to my knowledge) that isn't related to him. He wants to dispel this idea that he's a "drunken playboy" without really doing anything to change that idea. He's likable, but not really anything special, love interest-wise.
Other issues I have are that the author does this thing where she describes people as having "typically Rehanese" features or features from the other Empire (Sun, but I can't remember the adjective for it now) or "Kharian" features and then DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHAT THOSE FEATURES ARE. There is really no sense that ANY of these empires look any different than the others or how the characters can tell them apart. They just can because she says so. EVERY character is vaguely brown/mixed. One (VERY minor) character is described as "black". I don't understand this world where EVERYONE is so mixed, but retains enough indescribable features to stand out. As a biracial person, the more I saw of this, the less I was here for it. It was a poorly done attempt at "representation".
Edit: I've seen SO MANY reviews praising the diversity for having "brown" people. Just saying someone is "brown" is not good representation. It's vague and only serves for the author to look woke. The choices she's making have NO bearing on the characters whatsoever. They could be purple and still be the same. She didn't discuss their culture, how it has affected them, nothing that is of any importance to this aspect. It's a copout and I'm disappointed.
Additionally, many of the characters are written as openly flirting with both men and women. It's like the author doesn't want to commit to a character's sexuality one way or the other. Cayo kisses both girls and boys in the book, but Amaya flirts with and is flirted with by both and reacts the same regardless of which one is flirting with her. There is also a (VERY minor) non-binary character who I only know is non-binary because the author made a point of saying they were wearing a certain pin, and in this universe, that means they use "they" pronouns. This was very arbitrary. The character has no bearing on the plot and just comes across as the author trying to score representation points because "I included someone who uses they pronouns!" There are two female characters in a relationship, but they don't do anything more than hug, so if you're looking for LGBT+ representation, this isn't the book.
If you are looking for a serviceable adventure story, the plot was at least partially entertaining. Enough that I would read book two with eyes WIDE open that it is NOT the retelling I was promised. But it is as much a "retelling" of The Count of Monte Cristo as Guardians of the Galaxy is a "retelling" of Star Wars. Yes, they have similar elements, but that doesn't make them equitable.
Thanks for coming to my TED rant.
Popsugar Reading Prompt: A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins (Wrath in the form of murder and revenge)
I LOVE the Count of Monte Cristo. It's one of my favorite books (which is saying something because I don't typically like classics). I was named after a character in a modern day (for the 90s) retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo (If Tomorrow Comes by Sydney Sheldon). This book has been central to my life and my love of literature.
This is NOT the Count of Monte Cristo.
Or, rather, it is, as long as you start the book with the Count in jail and she doesn't know why she's there or who is to blame for her misfortunes and gets sucked into SOMEONE ELSE'S revenge plot and also, she's maybe in love with the Mercedes character stand-in, but there's also a Haydee stand-in. So who knows? It may be a love triangle. Also, did we mention the kindly abbé character, a character who is minor and who DIES in the original is now turned into a major villain character? And he's in league with the others the Countess needs to get revenge on? And also, Mercedes' sister is somehow the grandfather stand-in. And the plotters are responsible for child labor and a deadly disease and a counterfeiting scheme. And the Countess' money isn't actually real.
Does your head hurt yet?
If this had not been promoted as a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, it would have been a perfectly passable YA adventure tale. The story itself wasn't bad if it's divorced from that idea. But it was and it isn't, so I'm upset about it now.
Amaya, our Countess, is supposed to be this rugged, rough and tumble heroine. And she just isn't. She's naive. She continues to go along with plans she doesn't know about or understand without really questioning anything or finding out why Boon wants revenge on the same people she does other than "he's Landless! Cool!" and moving on. At two different points, she finds out information (that turns out to be a red herring once) and just kind of sulks and pouts around while she "figures it out". The Count is shrewd and clever. He has a CLEAR plan for his revenge and knows exactly who his targets are and what needs to happen to get his justice. He isn't an unknowing pawn in someone else's scheme because he was too gullible and drunk on revenge plans to care what the plan is. The character HINGES on this cunning. Without it, it was a let down.
Cayo is forgettable. He kisses pretty much every character he interacts with (to my knowledge) that isn't related to him. He wants to dispel this idea that he's a "drunken playboy" without really doing anything to change that idea. He's likable, but not really anything special, love interest-wise.
Other issues I have are that the author does this thing where she describes people as having "typically Rehanese" features or features from the other Empire (Sun, but I can't remember the adjective for it now) or "Kharian" features and then DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHAT THOSE FEATURES ARE. There is really no sense that ANY of these empires look any different than the others or how the characters can tell them apart. They just can because she says so. EVERY character is vaguely brown/mixed. One (VERY minor) character is described as "black". I don't understand this world where EVERYONE is so mixed, but retains enough indescribable features to stand out. As a biracial person, the more I saw of this, the less I was here for it. It was a poorly done attempt at "representation".
Edit: I've seen SO MANY reviews praising the diversity for having "brown" people. Just saying someone is "brown" is not good representation. It's vague and only serves for the author to look woke. The choices she's making have NO bearing on the characters whatsoever. They could be purple and still be the same. She didn't discuss their culture, how it has affected them, nothing that is of any importance to this aspect. It's a copout and I'm disappointed.
Additionally, many of the characters are written as openly flirting with both men and women. It's like the author doesn't want to commit to a character's sexuality one way or the other. Cayo kisses both girls and boys in the book, but Amaya flirts with and is flirted with by both and reacts the same regardless of which one is flirting with her. There is also a (VERY minor) non-binary character who I only know is non-binary because the author made a point of saying they were wearing a certain pin, and in this universe, that means they use "they" pronouns. This was very arbitrary. The character has no bearing on the plot and just comes across as the author trying to score representation points because "I included someone who uses they pronouns!" There are two female characters in a relationship, but they don't do anything more than hug, so if you're looking for LGBT+ representation, this isn't the book.
If you are looking for a serviceable adventure story, the plot was at least partially entertaining. Enough that I would read book two with eyes WIDE open that it is NOT the retelling I was promised. But it is as much a "retelling" of The Count of Monte Cristo as Guardians of the Galaxy is a "retelling" of Star Wars. Yes, they have similar elements, but that doesn't make them equitable.
Thanks for coming to my TED rant.
Popsugar Reading Prompt: A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins (Wrath in the form of murder and revenge)
Unexpectedly rescued from her life aboard a debtor's ship, Amara dedicaes her life to vengeance against the man who put her there.
In the city state of Moray, children bear their parent's debts. Amara has been working for years to pay off her father's. An impulsive act of kindness brings her the chance for vengeance.
In Moray, Cayo, the son of the city's leading merchent, is caught in a web as he tries desperately to find a cure for his ill sister. His path keeps intersecting with the mysterious Countess Yamaa, and as he struggles to bring down the evil infecting his city she might be his only hope.
I'll admit, I don't know the original Count of Monte Cristo, other than the general knowledge of it everyone has. This story doesn't need any knowledge of the original to enjoy; it's a fabulous read all on its own.
The first few chapters are temporally uneven; they're not happening when you think they're happening. After a while they even out, though ocasionally the same event will happen from both points of view.
I liked the characters in this. i'll be honest, the double dealing was hard to follow, but the rest of it was very good and I really enjoyed it. It also manages to have some great social commentary:
*They had all been ravaged by the generation that came before them, told to feast on scraps and enjoy it.*
I did wonder if no one was surprised that a seventeen year old girl was on her own - surely she should have had guardians? But maybe that's not considered necessary in their culture.
All in all, a great read, and I hope to get to read the next part when it comes out.
In the city state of Moray, children bear their parent's debts. Amara has been working for years to pay off her father's. An impulsive act of kindness brings her the chance for vengeance.
In Moray, Cayo, the son of the city's leading merchent, is caught in a web as he tries desperately to find a cure for his ill sister. His path keeps intersecting with the mysterious Countess Yamaa, and as he struggles to bring down the evil infecting his city she might be his only hope.
I'll admit, I don't know the original Count of Monte Cristo, other than the general knowledge of it everyone has. This story doesn't need any knowledge of the original to enjoy; it's a fabulous read all on its own.
The first few chapters are temporally uneven; they're not happening when you think they're happening. After a while they even out, though ocasionally the same event will happen from both points of view.
I liked the characters in this. i'll be honest, the double dealing was hard to follow, but the rest of it was very good and I really enjoyed it. It also manages to have some great social commentary:
*They had all been ravaged by the generation that came before them, told to feast on scraps and enjoy it.*
I did wonder if no one was surprised that a seventeen year old girl was on her own - surely she should have had guardians? But maybe that's not considered necessary in their culture.
All in all, a great read, and I hope to get to read the next part when it comes out.