Rating: ★★★☆☆
I read this book as a buddy read with the Dragons and Tea Book Club. As such my review with be in the format of journal entries, similar to the review I did for Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge. Thank you to Melanie and Amy for hosting this buddy read! (Warning: SPOILERS ahead!)
Monday, May 13
I'm really intrigued by this world! I want to know more about the magic and customs. It's a really interesting blend of traditional mythology/fantasy/magic, and then science fiction with all the different planets. It's really just the best of both worlds.
Here are some more specific comments:
I am interested in the gender fluid society that is kind of hinted at. At two different points Min talks about gender choices: "Most foxes choose to be female, like Mom and all my aunties, because it is traditional. Manshik had insisted on being male, though, because he wanted to be like Jun, and no one in the family hassled him about it" and "This particular badge also had a small symbol next to the name that let me know they should be addressed neutrally, as neither female nor male." What I love about this is how nonchalant it is. It's not "accepting" per se, because it's not seen as out of the ordinary in the first place. The society in this respect is actually pretty idealized, and I like how it can be seen as "no big deal". I think this is something important for middle grade kids to be reading. On one hand, I want to learn more about this aspect of Min's society, and on the other I want the book to remain lax about it because it should be seen as normal and not something that has to be overexplained. Either way the author continues, I think I will be satisfied with this specific area of the world-building.
Talking characters: I like Min a lot. Since we are early in the book I haven't yet ranked her up in my favorite middle grade female protags, but she could very well get up there. I think she's cunning, and smart, and a bit of a troublemaker. She's always looking for ways to manipulate people to her advantage. Okay, that sounds bad, but really it just made me respect her. I don't understand all the decisions she makes, like not even leaving a note for her family and leaving without warning for a space mission even though she's never even been on ship before, but hey she's thirteen so I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing at that age. The one thing I think is missing from her character is friendship/banter with other characters. As of now, there aren't any other characters that she's on her mission with, so we don't get to see her interactions with people other than security guards and drunken gamblers. I hope we get to see her interact with some characters/friends closer to her age soon and watch this part of her character develop.
I have a couple critiques, but as this is a middle grade book, I am not going to factor these into my final rating of the book as I would a YA/adult fantasy. These are just small pet peeves.
First, while I'm intrigued by fox magic, I think it's a bit too flawless. Min says, "Fox magic was handy that way, if sometimes unpredictable--once you envisioned what you needed, it covered all the details." This just seems a little bit like a plot/world-building convenience, so it annoys me to read how everything just works out perfectly because that's what needs to happen in order for the plot to work out in the end.
While I'm loving the plot so far, the writing is juvenile (yes, I realize this is a middle grade book, refer to the comment above). I don't expect it to be super amazing writing, but when you get telling-not-showing phrases like "The enormity of the task before me was overwhelming", it's bad enough to make even a middle grade reader notice.
Wow that was a really long comment, but I want to be thorough! I think this is going to be a good one, and I'm excited to be reading it with y'all!
Tuesday, May 14
Things just keep getting weirder! Every time I think the author has mixed in so many different elements - space adventures, mythology, magic factions - she adds in another layer of it.
We are quickly introduced to Jang, a ghost (whaaaaat), and just as quickly Min accepts a deal with him so she can stay aboard his ship and try to find out more about her brother.
Overall, I'm kind of confused on how Min expected to find out where Jun was just from being on his former ship, but again I'm not 13 so maybe that's reasonable middle school logic? I am appreciating how Min is showing her young age; I think a common middle grade novel mistake is making characters too mature for their stated age. We definitely see some of Min's immaturity, like "filing away" curse words for future use, and I think it adds more fun to the story.
I can't get too sucked into the space mission part of the story. The mythology/magic side is much more intriguing to me. The way that space travel is described ("we swerved past a moon")... I just don't buy it.
Also - and I'd love some other opinions on this - I kind of feel like Min is reinforcing the anti-Fox stereotypes? Like at first it was harmless magic she was using: a little bit of shape shifting, making herself look older, etc. But now... she's actually using it to improve others' opinions of her. I know she thinks she has no other choice, since she's desperate to find her brother and if she's found out to not be Jang she'll be arrested, but if every Fox acted like her I would distrust them too. In the beginning when the fox prejudice is introduced, it was introduced as "everyone thinks foxes only use their powers to manipulate/fool people but that's not true", but now she's actively being untrustworthy and using her Fox powers to do so. "'Just curious,' I said, shrugging and throwing a little Charm Sujin's way to make them believe me." Like what?! It just makes Min seem hypocritical and like she doesn't have a sense of integrity, since she chastised everyone for thinking foxes are untrustworthy, and then uses her powers to show that she is untrustworthy. I hope this is resolved by the end of the story.
So, I don't know where I am with this book currently. I like the world, the mix of genres, and the magic system. But the characters (Min, mainly) are starting to bug me.
Wednesday, May 15
The plot is finally thickening! I'm really having fun with the story. The pace is picking up, and I feel like more things are happening than in the last couple chapters. I get more of the "ooh, what happens next!" feeling.
So, I'm liking the general plot, but I think that's all the positive I really have to say? This book just doesn't stand out to me. There isn't a "wow" factor.
A small voice in my head suggested that I stop relying on my magic to solve problems for me, because at some point all of this was going to catch up to me in a bad way.
Girl this is what I have been saying!! I wish Min could be shown using her own characteristics - the wit, strength, and charm (nonmagical) that we know she has. Stop all the magic use!!
The repitition: yes, we know Min is trying to find her brother. Yes, we know Min hates chores and had to do a lot of them at home. No need to tell us every other page.
Also, does anyone know what time period this takes place in? I thought it would be future because of all the space stuff, but then they were talking about the 1480's.
I'm having technical issues about the way fox magic works. I won't get into all the details here, but there are just some contradictions about how Charm works. Example: the fingerprints bit?
The expression in his eyes wasn't sympathy, exactly - I doubted that a tiger felt sympathy often, if ever...
Wow if we want to talk about hypocritical! ^^^ Min you can't be upset about everyone stereotyping Foxes and then do the same thing to another magical faction! This made me so mad. Min's character is definitely getting worse for me. I'm really hoping the author did this on purpose and that Min learns some kind of lesson about judging people too quickly based on their race.
That's all for me, despite my minor complaints I am excited to keep reading!
Thursday, May 16
I really do feel much more appeased by these last few chapters - things are happening! I'm having fun reading through Min's adventures. I was really happy to see Sujin and Haneul rally behind Min, and we are getting so close to finding Jun!
I don't have any specific comments about this section. It's fast-paced, and most of my earlier comments still stand at this point.
We are far enough through that I feel like I can make some overall comments about the book. The biggest thing I've noticed is how few mini-adventures there are. Mini-adventures are an essential part of a good middle grade fantasy book. A major selling point about middle grade books is that there's always one main mission (ex.: finding and returning Zeus's lightning bolt) and then a bunch of fun little adventures along the way (ex.: confronting Medusa, fighting monsters on the St. Louis arch, meeting Aphrodite and Ares and dealing with their shenanigans) and those just don't exist in this story. There's one main plot, finding Jun, and that's pretty much it. It's just a very slow crawl towards that one goal. There's a little bit of space cadet stuff, like that one attack on the battle cruiser, but overall the book is really lacking in side stories and adventures.
I was feeling a 2 or 3 star for this book based on the last section and I think I'm at a solid 3-star at this point. I really hope the end is twisty and exciting!
Friday, May 17
Jun's a ghost :o I didn't think about this as a possibility until a few pages before it was revealed, and then when it happened I was like "I knew it all along!" Haha. That twist definitely brought more depth to Min's character which she needed.
As the ghosts tried to assault me with images of pox-ridden humans and corpses piled high, Jun created a spiritual shield around me, countering with memories of our life together on Jinju, from watching for falling stars late at night to playing tag around the house.
I love the sibling love here! More middle grade fantasy needs sibling love and teamwork. It is just so pure, and although it's kind of a plot convenience, I really love that Jun and Min get to stay together and have all the adventures they planned even though Jun is literally dead. While before this section I would've said this is really good as a standalone and shouldn't have a sequel, I'd now be interested in a sequel because Jun as a ghost adds a new dimension to the cast of characters. And a sequel was kind of set up with Min and Jun receiving a joint job offer sooooo we'll see?
I like what they did at the very end, with Min and Jun deciding to travel the Thousand Worlds together, but overall the confrontation on the Fourth World did not satisfy me. I don't know if things just didn't click for me, or if it was really just kind of boring and predictable, but I wasn't a huge fan of the plot from 29-35 (with the exception of Jun being a ghost).
But, FINALLY we get to see Min transform into an animal! This whole time I've been wondering why her go-to is only ever other humans or inanimate objects. Like, some of the situations she was in, it would have been very helpful to just become a fly and buzz outta there, but she never did. Instead she'd turn into some end table or the captain of the whole freakin' ship. I got the idea that maybe there was a rule against turning into other living species, but apparently not. I liked hawk-Min, and I wish she had been transformed into lots of different animals based on her different predicaments throughout the novel!
I never could get into the friendships here. I think they were just written poorly. With all the lies and betrayals, it never really felt like Min should be friends with Haneul and Sujin (or vice-versa). Just comparing to other well-written middle grade fantasy, I think this book was severely lacking in the area of friendships.
I scowled. Haneul might be all right, but I didn't trust Sujin anymore.
On today's episode of Min Is A Hypocrite~
She spends all this time fooling Sujin and Haneul, and then they pretty much forgive her right away, and then AS SOON as Min hears something that sorta maybe kinda sounds like Sujin being untrustworthy, she's done with him and doesn't trust him anymore. There were a lot of twists with who betrays whom and who trusts whom, and honestly it was just a lot to keep track of. But, for this one, I think Min should've just taken it as what she deserved and moved on.
Now that we're at the very end, I'm going to follow up on a comment I mentioned after yesterday's readings. I mentioned the lack of "mini-adventures" along the way of Min's quest, and I realized that it's not that they don't exist at all, it's just that they are cut off before they even become memorable. We had Nari's parlor, the deal with Byung-Ho, sneaking into Hwan's office, and everything is just cut short before we can appreciate the atmosphere, get a real developed plot point, or really get to know the related characters. For example, I so wish we got more of Byung-Ho! I thought his little interaction with Jang/Min after he woke up in the infirmary was sweet, but I was expecting more later on.
Plot conveniences: Ugh, why! First of all, Jang just flies off to go haunt some random mercenaries that aren't even the people that killed him, because now that everyone knows Min's true identity, he's not necessary for the plot any more. Then, he just comes back at the exact right moment to help Min out of a sticky situation! I really thought that it was Jun transformed with fox magic into Jang or something. But no, it really was just a plot convenience.
That's all for me! This book comes in at 3 stars on my shelves. Probably a little lower than a full three stars, but percentage stars are too complicated for me. The book was fine, but I wasn't wowed or impressed with either characters or plots. There were also several small details that bothered me which in an adult or YA novel would've made this 2 stars, but since it's middle grade I don't focus on those factors as much in my final rating. The book definitely gets brownie points for its recognition of non-binary characters, and the fact that it deals with racial prejudice, important topics for middle grade kids to read about.
I don't know if I'd recommend to people unless they really loved middle grade mythology retellings (that seems like an oddly specific genre, but there's definitely an audience for it).
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