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1). This book is PERFECT.
2). Disney, please make this into a movie or Disney+ show
3). Did I mention that it’s perfect?
4). So many queer Asian characters, y’all.
5). This is at the end of the acknowledgements:
2). Disney, please make this into a movie or Disney+ show
3). Did I mention that it’s perfect?
4). So many queer Asian characters, y’all.
5). This is at the end of the acknowledgements:
“And thanks to you, dear reader, for picking up this book. I hope you make your fortune and punish those who’ve wronged you.
(But like... legally)
(Please don’t stab anyone)”
The only character I enjoyed was the daughter of the...outlaw king or whatever he's called; she's the only person with a personality that's not tedious. I know Revenge is based on Count of Monte Cristo; but this book feels more loosely inspired by that show - which was good for a season. Longer than this, which is good for...a chapter or so? Especially with the generic poor little rich boy who is queer but still manages a boring romance with the huffy self-righteous female lead. Maybe magic would've improved the book and created an illusion of world building, since I failed to get any sense of Moray as a distinctive setting.
I'm still unsure of if this was a 3 or 4 star read for me. So we're just going to say its 3.5 stars for now. I kind of rushed through the ending because the book was due today, so that kind of took some of the enjoyment away from this book, BUT I loved the characters and some of the scenes (I'm mostly talking about the bridge scene here) were FANTASTIC and made me feel some things. I think Cayo was one of my favorite characters of this book. I'm assuming there is going to be at least a second one due to the #1 on this title, and I honestly can't wait because there were multiple loss ends that I really need to see tied up.
not really sure what was happening in this book buuuut it was a quick listen on audiobook and i still enjoyed it!
adventurous
fast-paced
I listened via audio book and I think I missed out on some things. I liked this story a lot though. It had a great plot, lots of twists, and a good group of characters. I’m interested in what comes next, but I’m not sure I’ll pick up the next book.
A book that was right up my alley. Strong female main character, adventure story, small underlying romance.
One thing that stood out to me was that the characters were very fluid. At one point, a character may have hung on a female, then later be affectionate with a male, and there was also one character who was using a gender neutral pronoun. What I loved about this is that it wasn't used as any kind of tool in the plot line, it was only put it as a normal part of life. I think that was really important.
The story didn't move along as quickly as I would have hoped, but it did leave me hanging, so I will pick up a sequel when it is available.
One thing that stood out to me was that the characters were very fluid. At one point, a character may have hung on a female, then later be affectionate with a male, and there was also one character who was using a gender neutral pronoun. What I loved about this is that it wasn't used as any kind of tool in the plot line, it was only put it as a normal part of life. I think that was really important.
The story didn't move along as quickly as I would have hoped, but it did leave me hanging, so I will pick up a sequel when it is available.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Disney-Hyperion for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
I personally have never read The Count of Monte Cristo before, no have I ever watched any of its adaptations, or anything really to do with the novel. I’ve heard of it because it’s supposed to be a classic, but other than that, I went in blind for this novel as far as retellings go. And for me, I feel like that works a lot better than having a preconceived notion of how I think something should go based on its source material, and I think it really worked in my favor for this one.
Without knowing the source material very well, I personally really, really enjoyed this novel and I had so much feelings for our main characters. I think the person that I felt for this most was Amaya/Silverfish especially in the beginning. I couldn’t imagine being her shoes, spending seven years at minimum on a debtor’s ship because of the money that your father supposedly owed. That mini-backstory that we got from Silverfish to the man she ended up rescuing from drowning before the real adventure begins was enough to make me really sorry for her and her mother. But then again, was it her mother that made her go on that ship as a child, or was she forced to go since there wouldn’t be any adult to run the estate? You know? Little nuances like that may or may not be explained in the novel, and when you’re first hearing about that snippet of life before Silverfish came to be, it makes you question what some adults are either willing to do, or what they have been forced to do.
Even this above example of how the two identities within Amaya are so different that they have two different thoughts on the man that she saved. Since she was so close to going home to see her mother – if she is even still alive, I don’t even know if she knows honestly – and yet gets added a whole month to her sentence for this transgression, both sides of her – Amaya and Silverfish – are fighting their decision. Amaya, the person with the most humanity, feels like at least she saved his life. That should count for something and should be worth an extension of her sentence. Silverfish – the “Water Bug” with no humanity left, who has had to fight to survive and stay alive in this tense and deplorable condition – feels like the only thing worth saving him would be if he were rich enough to buy her out of this hellhole.
And maybe both sides of her are right.
Oh, Cayo. My poor, sweet Cayo. The things that you’ve had to go through in order to gain your father’s trust, even if it’s not at the level you want it to be yet. The addictions that you had to learn to live without, and the life that you had to leave behind, no matter how tempting it was and how much you wanted to go back to it. The love you have for your sister, and how close it seems you are. The stress that you have to deal with in your life.
My poor Cayo. I was so proud of him. I just wanted him to get out from under his father’s imposing shadow, and live the life that I knew he could. Without that harsh voice in the back of your mind telling you that you’re a screw up to the Moreno family. Oh, Cayo.
Clearly I had feelings throughout this book, and I’m dying to see how Sim ends this series. I don’t want it to end though, so can we just keep them going forever? Mini side quests? Something?
I personally have never read The Count of Monte Cristo before, no have I ever watched any of its adaptations, or anything really to do with the novel. I’ve heard of it because it’s supposed to be a classic, but other than that, I went in blind for this novel as far as retellings go. And for me, I feel like that works a lot better than having a preconceived notion of how I think something should go based on its source material, and I think it really worked in my favor for this one.
Without knowing the source material very well, I personally really, really enjoyed this novel and I had so much feelings for our main characters. I think the person that I felt for this most was Amaya/Silverfish especially in the beginning. I couldn’t imagine being her shoes, spending seven years at minimum on a debtor’s ship because of the money that your father supposedly owed. That mini-backstory that we got from Silverfish to the man she ended up rescuing from drowning before the real adventure begins was enough to make me really sorry for her and her mother. But then again, was it her mother that made her go on that ship as a child, or was she forced to go since there wouldn’t be any adult to run the estate? You know? Little nuances like that may or may not be explained in the novel, and when you’re first hearing about that snippet of life before Silverfish came to be, it makes you question what some adults are either willing to do, or what they have been forced to do.
Even this above example of how the two identities within Amaya are so different that they have two different thoughts on the man that she saved. Since she was so close to going home to see her mother – if she is even still alive, I don’t even know if she knows honestly – and yet gets added a whole month to her sentence for this transgression, both sides of her – Amaya and Silverfish – are fighting their decision. Amaya, the person with the most humanity, feels like at least she saved his life. That should count for something and should be worth an extension of her sentence. Silverfish – the “Water Bug” with no humanity left, who has had to fight to survive and stay alive in this tense and deplorable condition – feels like the only thing worth saving him would be if he were rich enough to buy her out of this hellhole.
And maybe both sides of her are right.
Oh, Cayo. My poor, sweet Cayo. The things that you’ve had to go through in order to gain your father’s trust, even if it’s not at the level you want it to be yet. The addictions that you had to learn to live without, and the life that you had to leave behind, no matter how tempting it was and how much you wanted to go back to it. The love you have for your sister, and how close it seems you are. The stress that you have to deal with in your life.
My poor Cayo. I was so proud of him. I just wanted him to get out from under his father’s imposing shadow, and live the life that I knew he could. Without that harsh voice in the back of your mind telling you that you’re a screw up to the Moreno family. Oh, Cayo.
Clearly I had feelings throughout this book, and I’m dying to see how Sim ends this series. I don’t want it to end though, so can we just keep them going forever? Mini side quests? Something?
To inherit the skies, you must scavenge the stars.
- Rehanese proverb
This retelling of A Count of Monte Cristo turned out to be quite a fun read. Amaya/Silverfish remained a strong character and her motivations remained rather stable throughout the story. Cayo’s persistence to look out for his sister kept me interested in his character and I am relieved the story didn’t fully operate around a romance between him and Amaya. This was a story of justice and revenge. However, I felt like I needed more information on the ash fever to understand its deadliness and widespread impact, but that may be left to the next book as the story continues.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
- Rehanese proverb
This retelling of A Count of Monte Cristo turned out to be quite a fun read. Amaya/Silverfish remained a strong character and her motivations remained rather stable throughout the story. Cayo’s persistence to look out for his sister kept me interested in his character and I am relieved the story didn’t fully operate around a romance between him and Amaya. This was a story of justice and revenge. However, I felt like I needed more information on the ash fever to understand its deadliness and widespread impact, but that may be left to the next book as the story continues.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.