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peculiarb 's review for:
Songs of Insurrection
by J.C. Kang
Actual rating: 3.5
'Songs of Insurrection' by JC Kang was a fun read.
I found Kang's story to be captivating. The beginning was a bit slow as the alternating POVs and settings were a bit confusing but once I got my bearings, the book really sucked me in. The first character we meet is Kaiya, a princess who longs to master the ancient art of song magic and escape her suitors. She's a quietly rebellious character, who is deeply kind, repeatedly risking her life to help those around her. At sixteen, her insecurities are stark in the text, but that only lends authenticity to her character.
Next we meet Tian and Jie, two members of a legendary team of spies. Always operating from the shadows, they set out to uncover the rebellious plot being hatches against the kingdom. Tian is Kaiya's exiled childhood friend, who's distance from the palace weighs on him. While he's excellent with numbers and discerning patterns, his personality isn't expanded much beyond that so I hope that's a feature in the sequel. Jie is a half elf who will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe. Though she gets less chapters than the others, I found her to be a dynamic character that really pushed the story along. I found Kang's background characters to be equally as compelling. My favourite example were Kaiya's guards who appear as little more than strawmen around her but actually have a personality when away from her, the first f which we see in Jie's chapter.
The world was also particularly fascinating. Heavily influenced by DnD, the story is set in an East Asian inspired setting, with particular attention to every ethnicity involved. Particularly, Kang places great emphasis on royal protocol. He describes many aspects in minute detail, as it governs Kaiya's every move. While it was confusing to keep track of everything at first (I'll admit, I'm not used to this much court detail in my fantasy books), I was grateful when it became a pretty big plot point.
As far as the plot, I enjoyed it, though not as much as Kang's characters. The beginning is a big slow, but it picks up quickly with a fast pace that doesn't let up before the end. I enjoyed knowing the whole story through the different POVs, and it made everything easier to follow (especially given how clueless Kaiya's is at first).
All in all, a good book. I will likely be picking up the sequel as the ending left me very curious.
'Songs of Insurrection' by JC Kang was a fun read.
I found Kang's story to be captivating. The beginning was a bit slow as the alternating POVs and settings were a bit confusing but once I got my bearings, the book really sucked me in. The first character we meet is Kaiya, a princess who longs to master the ancient art of song magic and escape her suitors. She's a quietly rebellious character, who is deeply kind, repeatedly risking her life to help those around her. At sixteen, her insecurities are stark in the text, but that only lends authenticity to her character.
Next we meet Tian and Jie, two members of a legendary team of spies. Always operating from the shadows, they set out to uncover the rebellious plot being hatches against the kingdom. Tian is Kaiya's exiled childhood friend, who's distance from the palace weighs on him. While he's excellent with numbers and discerning patterns, his personality isn't expanded much beyond that so I hope that's a feature in the sequel. Jie is a half elf who will do whatever it takes to keep the country safe. Though she gets less chapters than the others, I found her to be a dynamic character that really pushed the story along. I found Kang's background characters to be equally as compelling. My favourite example were Kaiya's guards who appear as little more than strawmen around her but actually have a personality when away from her, the first f which we see in Jie's chapter.
The world was also particularly fascinating. Heavily influenced by DnD, the story is set in an East Asian inspired setting, with particular attention to every ethnicity involved. Particularly, Kang places great emphasis on royal protocol. He describes many aspects in minute detail, as it governs Kaiya's every move. While it was confusing to keep track of everything at first (I'll admit, I'm not used to this much court detail in my fantasy books), I was grateful when it became a pretty big plot point.
As far as the plot, I enjoyed it, though not as much as Kang's characters. The beginning is a big slow, but it picks up quickly with a fast pace that doesn't let up before the end. I enjoyed knowing the whole story through the different POVs, and it made everything easier to follow (especially given how clueless Kaiya's is at first).
All in all, a good book. I will likely be picking up the sequel as the ending left me very curious.