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tej_reads 's review for:
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night
by Amélie Wen Zhao
DID NOT FINISH: 63%
I got to chapter 22, which is where things really started to kick off but if I'm being completely honest I lost my motivation to finish this book a week ago. There were too many issues for/with me from the beginning.
By chapter two I was very much into the book and liked it, there's a rich history and the prologue laid out the background well, giving you a good foundation to read the book and understand why things were the way the are. But I also started the book on the 15th of Jan and it took me till the 16th of Feb to get to chapter 22. Somewhere in the haze (yes that is a t-swift ref) I lost my motivation to read this which is a shame, because I think I might very well like it if I could get myself to the end, however that's not going to be happening - it could be because I've been in the longest and largest slump (3 weeks) I've ever been in and that this book unfortunately is a casualty but we'll never know until I pick it up again hopefully in a few months.
I'm interested in the plot but it also feels very much like something I've seen before, which is sad because this book was highly anticipated for me.
Other things of note:
By chapter two I was very much into the book and liked it, there's a rich history and the prologue laid out the background well, giving you a good foundation to read the book and understand why things were the way the are. But I also started the book on the 15th of Jan and it took me till the 16th of Feb to get to chapter 22. Somewhere in the haze (yes that is a t-swift ref) I lost my motivation to read this which is a shame, because I think I might very well like it if I could get myself to the end, however that's not going to be happening - it could be because I've been in the longest and largest slump (3 weeks) I've ever been in and that this book unfortunately is a casualty but we'll never know until I pick it up again hopefully in a few months.
I'm interested in the plot but it also feels very much like something I've seen before, which is sad because this book was highly anticipated for me.
Other things of note:
- I do appricate the history/explanations of the magic systems but sometimes I felt that it took away from the narrative. Not when it was explained as part of educational scenes for the character but when there were slight knowledge dumps.
- There are a lot of side characters which is fine but often they were listed or mentioned in passing so it was hard for me to keep track of everyone or remember their significance when they were just plot devices for example almost everyone in the first few chapters.
- I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, or becoming invested in their journey.
- The connection between Lan and Zen felt kind of forced and superficial like yes, they're both cute but what else?
I would recommend this because I think it does YA fantasy well, all the key components were there, however I don't think it's the book for me in my current headspace.
Thank you to Amélie Wen Zhao and HarperCollins UK for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.