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hannahmarierobbins 's review for:

Of Mountains and Seas by Emily Renk Hawthorne
3.5
emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I think this book will have a big readership. It's a really cool mix-up of Chinese mythology and a multi-point-of-view mystery. For me, the book maths was X-Men meets Borgen but with the pacing of a crime procedural like Law and Order. There's friendship, coming of age stories, family relationships, political intrigue and the dynamics of "integration" and whether shapeshifters should be allowed to mix and live with non-powered people. At times, I found the different overlapping narratives hard to distinguish and had to relisten to a chapter near the end but I really enjoyed how the book comes together. I didn't see YA about multigenerational Chinese American characters when I was young and I think lots of people will vibe with this.