Book 38
Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received a copy from Netgalley (thank you) which in no way influenced my review. When I had requested this I hadn't realized it was the second book but the first one seemed interesting so I read that and was underwhelmed. That continues with this. I will say I liked the protagonist here much better than I did Min.
Sebin is a thirteen year old non-binary tiger shifter and like the previous book draws from Korean folklore. I liked Sebin. They are very serious about their desire to be in the Space Force and honor their clan which is cold and aggressive to not put too fine a point on it. Their dreams get in a twist when their Uncle Hwan (from book one) has been disgraced and is on the run.
There is nothing Sebin can do about that and tries to take joy in their acceptance into the force. Things go immediately awry once onboard when the ship is under attack by their uncle. Sebin's loyalties are immediately tested and it doesn't help that they grew up with a mistrust of gumihos like Min.
This takes place in basically one day so there is a good time clock set on the action. The ending, however felt a wee bit too easy.
I did have issues with this book though and it's entirely that it IS middle-grade. I would have had less troubles if Sebin had been 18 not 13. I know it won't entire the minds of the middle grade reader but the thirteen year old mind isn't anywhere near close to an adult one or even an eighteen year old one. Judgement centers aren't fully developed yet and even if they were there is still a lack of experience to inform decision making.
And that's where I run into issues. Some of i t could have been handled with a simple sentence of two and having Sebin joining the ship the Haetae after they had some training. Instead, Sebin and Jee the computer-hacking new cadet they are brought on board with are given NO training. Let that sink in for a minute. I think even kids would be sitting there wondering what kind of military starship group of soldiers is going to take in untrained thirteen year olds and then throw them immediately into a mission that could be dangerous. It makes no sense. It's cruel even.
If you can get passed the idea that the officers in this organization are happy to take on kids with zero training and use them as cannon fodder then you'll probably enjoy the rest of it.
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