A very good surprise!

The performance of the narrator was a delight to listen to, and the fact that I got to hear the Chinese names and words said right is a big bonus point.

The story was interesting, the main characters captivating, and the lead's attitude against oppression just so satisfying to hear.

Overall a very good queer YA book, and I was so thrilled to find polyamory in there! Very much looking forward to the next book.

Merci. Votre vote a été pris en compte.

Vous avez donné votre avis sur cette évaluation !

Bi/poly unhinged woman piloting a mecha

I'm usually difficult with sci-fi but THIS, this was quite the ride & I want MOAR. It could be summurised as: a bi/poly unhinged woman pilots a mecha to get her revenge on the patriarchy.
It has bisexuality, polyamory, feminism, mechas, "magic", treasons, love.
Lots of chinese words but it helped get into the book and its lore. The choice of voice actress was good.
The book was so captivating I had trouble pausing to rest x) And that ending... good thing there's a second book on the way :D

Merci. Votre vote a été pris en compte.

Vous avez donné votre avis sur cette évaluation !

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

A debut novel with some punch

Well rounded characters that will surely catch your heart, a compelling world building unapologaticly rooted in mecha culture, but the writting is still green and it shows!

Merci. Votre vote a été pris en compte.

Vous avez donné votre avis sur cette évaluation !

Disappointing

I'll be honest, I stopped listening before the end. The person reading the book did a great job, but that was the only good thing about this book. I heard about it through tik tok : science fiction mixed with historical elements, feminism, polyamory...I thought this would be the book for me ! But the whole thing was very disappointing.

I liked the world building, but my problem resided with the characters and their relationships with one another. The main character could have been very interesting, but she just comes across as a "not-like-the-other-girls" type. Which is a shame, since the whole point of her character is to fight a sexist society. She hurts the other female characters close to her because they reproduce behaviors that were taught to them by an abusive society in order to survive; they never knew better. And this main character, instead of acknowledging that fact and help them free themselves, punishes them for it.

She's portrayed as a hero, a rebel against the sexist system she's being abused by, but she just comes across as a villain to me. Which could have been great ! Women don't need to always be the better person, the good feminist who helps everybody. And she's not, but we're told she IS ! And this dissonance between what we're told she is (a hero, someone who will free women, a feminist who wants to help women) and what she actually is (someone angry who wants revenge against those who hurt her, no matter their gender, a powerful woman with ambitions and strong values) is what made her so tiring 80 percent of the time. It's that show don't tell thing : you can tell me all you want who someone is, if i see that her actions, thoughts and words show me the opposite, i won't believe it.

The polyamory felt a bit rushed too, but it wasn't the worst part. It just felt a bit clumsy and awkward. As a poly bisexual woman myself, those stories are hard to find, so I appreciated the effort. It would have been better if the relationship between the two boys had taken more time to develop : it kinda felt like it happened because it needed to happen, rather than a natural progression between the two.

Anyways, I don't really understand why this book is so loved by many. It just felt like it had so much potential but was so badly executed I couldn't enjoy it.

Merci. Votre vote a été pris en compte.

Vous avez donné votre avis sur cette évaluation !

1 personne a trouvé cela utile