I’m pretty sure I read a manga with the same premise as this novel several years ago and it worked better as a one-shot without giving the reader a chance to look too closely at anything, because the further this novel dug the worse my impression got.

In the end, I just can’t get behind Robbie manipulating Elena and his I’m-a-sheltered-K-pop-star-so-I-don’t-understand-emotions excuse made me glad he (fictionally) lives on the other side of the planet from me.

Also, I can’t get over how cringey it is to claim that your fictional (totally-not-BTS) characters are friends with real K-idols.

 

While wandering and collecting stories, Cleric Chih travels through the Riverlands, a wild place where many martial artists become legends, and finds themselves a participant in the story instead of just a listener. 

This is the third book in the Singing Hills Cycle – in which the books can be read in any order – and combines the feeling of a world heavy with stories from The Empress of Salt and Fortune and the sense of excitement from The Tiger Came Down the Mountain. This time around Chih has several traveling companions and it’s interesting to see why different characters favor different stories, and the group dynamic is fun with some entertaining banter. 

This novella is a wonderful, brisk read at only 100 pages long, and is perfect for fans of The Monk & Robot series and wuxia fans. 

Harry and Asher are people who do bad things (killing people) with good intentions. They’re both a little damaged, but their interactions are hilarious.