Reviews

I found the beginning of this book hard to get through; left it too long between reading 2 and 3 and forgot a bunch of stuff.

But once I got back into it I enjoyed this one just as much as the previous two.

I just hope the story can be wrapped up satisfyingly in book 4

asselie's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Honestly this book was heartbreaking, I loved every page of it. I wish I could erase my memory and experience it again.

pmjnewton's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Really enjoyed the Wall of Storms, and parts of this one but the Cookery Contest almost drove me crazy. It’s still an amazing world Liu has created, but at times he seems to go down lengthy and unnecessary rabbit holes. I’m hoping he is setting up the last book in this one, rather as I felt he did in the first book as a set up for the second

samjames1871's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

sandra_broadwill's review against another edition

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3.5

This took a surprising turn, and was much slower paced than the previous two books. I'm so befuddled as to why we spent so much time wrapped up in a Food Network-style restaurant competition instead of the politics of court and war. While the food competition was entertaining on its own, it felt like a cozy fantasy novel trying to disguise itself behind an epic fantasy novel. When the stakes of the wider world were so high, I was impatient to get back to the action. I think if the food thing has been a separate novella I would have been enamored by it, but the fact that it took up *so much* of the plot here was a bit frustrating. Nonetheless, excited to tackle the final book of the series next and hope it returns to the quality of the first two books.

ghostscissoring's review

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the highs (cooking competition) were so so high and the lows

(volyu’s betrayal)

were so so low and yet somehow every important moment - high and low and everything in between - feels so earned because nothing comes easy to anyone. every advantage, every invention, every battle won is won because a bunch of people worked hard as fuck to pull it off, not knowing if they would die in the process but believing that it was worth the risk.

the slow reveal of jia's machinations and her absolute refusal/inability to trust anyone...the increasing tensions between unredeemed dara and dara proper...thera's long journey and gradual understanding of the ukyu culture and peoples...zomi's attempts to overhaul the education system without acknowledging/addressing the people who will be effected by it....every character, every storyline is so distinct and yet the themes and questions that arise for each are so connected to all the others because that is what life is! a series of connections! an ever-expanding web of people, history, culture, language, family, tragedy, innovation, life!

ian_ramos's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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