Comments | calico_reaction: Lo, Malinda: Huntress

calico_reaction

Lo, Malinda: Huntress

Aug 24, 2011 07:53

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blog: reviews, fiction: young adult, malinda lo, fiction: fantasy, ratings: it's a gamble, fiction: authors of color

Comments 8

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calico_reaction August 24 2011, 21:17:42 UTC

Thanks for the link to your review! I'll give it a look! Glad I'm not the only one. :)

deepseasiren August 24 2011, 20:04:12 UTC

That cover art is absolutely divine. As an Asian woman I want to be a warrior woman too! ;)

calico_reaction August 24 2011, 21:17:55 UTC

It is an absolutely fabulous cover. :)

ardys_the_ghoul August 25 2011, 02:47:46 UTC

It's been a few years since I've looked at the I Ching, so I can't help you there, although I'm pretty sure I still have a copy of it around here somewhere.

anonymous September 5 2011, 22:21:34 UTC

The prophecy element of the romance was a problem for me as well. Although I felt that Lo created some strong, believable motivation for the attraction between the girls (the typical people who go on quests together get close through common experience and time spent learning about each other trope) this genuine connection felt undermined by the inevitability suggested by the prophecy. I'm not a fan of the whole idea of destined romance now (although teen me was pretty solidly behind that idea).

Otherwise I was a pretty big fan of lots of things about this book, until the second quest where Kaede has to travel out on her own. That just felt tacked on.

calico_reaction September 6 2011, 00:04:10 UTC

There are definitely romance tropes that make me cringe now but my inner teen drools over. I have to beat her in the head with a feminist stick when that happens. ;)

You're right that the second quest did feel rather tacked on. I kept expecting a betrayal by the Xi Queen too, but we really never got one.

comrade_cat September 9 2011, 06:57:54 UTC

I didn't like Huntress as much as I loved Ash, but I did enjoy it a great deal. I don't think the pieces of the adventure hung together as much as in Ash, but I thought the journey through the wood on the way to Taninli was very well done.

In a way it was a little odd Kaede was able to complete her quest for the Xi (if it were Mandarin, it would be pronounced pretty much like Sidhe, which I thought was a really neat blending) Queen so easily, but then I thought that underlay how the Xi Queen was avoiding responsibility, and had to take it after Kaede was done.

And it is totally a fabulous cover.

calico_reaction September 9 2011, 16:30:15 UTC

Good points about the Queen's responsibility. :)