I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Just a few things to point out before I begin the review:
1. This book is part of a series and I have not read the other books, therefore i am judging this book as a single work.
2. I don't really read books like this, so I read it with as much of an objective eye as possible.
3. On the book I got, it says "ADVANCE UNCORRECTED PROOF: Please do not quote for publication without checking against the finishing book". Therefore I won't quote from the book nor will I assume that the book I've read is 100% the finished version.
Honestly I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started it. However, overtime I was drawn in with curiosity, in particular the tidbits of Chinese culture throughout the text, with lines from poems, parables and sayings that flavor this book in a culture I haven't read much about. The book is set in the underworld of Shanghai and Hong Kong, and even though there's not much description of this world beyond character description, it does add a nice flavor of danger to the story.
The story itself works, the protagonist is essentially trying to redeem herself and regain her family. There's a character arc here that works well, in the beginning she is a lot (I assume) like herself in the previous novel, but throughout the book she begins to change as the events conspire.
The book also works well as a standalone, with references to the events prior to the book littered throughout show more to keep you in the loop. I am surprised there's not a "Sequel to the novel...." anywhere on the book, either. The ending is satisfying, so if you end up taking this journey and read this book I don't think anyone will be disappointed by what they discover.
One thing that bothered me was that the main villain, Wang, came across as so cheesy that it really ruined that element of the book for me. This was a bad guy fresh out of comic books, laughing with every line he says and contradicting himself with his "I taught you to have no compassion! Yet I'm glad it didn't work!" nonsense.
Overall, I did end up enjoying this book and i hope that this book finds more readers. I read from one review that the book was like "a Chinese/romance/gangster/B movie", and I think that's an apt description, but a Chinese Romance gangster B movie" that I think works well or is at least enjoyable. show less
Just a few things to point out before I begin the review:
1. This book is part of a series and I have not read the other books, therefore i am judging this book as a single work.
2. I don't really read books like this, so I read it with as much of an objective eye as possible.
3. On the book I got, it says "ADVANCE UNCORRECTED PROOF: Please do not quote for publication without checking against the finishing book". Therefore I won't quote from the book nor will I assume that the book I've read is 100% the finished version.
Honestly I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started it. However, overtime I was drawn in with curiosity, in particular the tidbits of Chinese culture throughout the text, with lines from poems, parables and sayings that flavor this book in a culture I haven't read much about. The book is set in the underworld of Shanghai and Hong Kong, and even though there's not much description of this world beyond character description, it does add a nice flavor of danger to the story.
The story itself works, the protagonist is essentially trying to redeem herself and regain her family. There's a character arc here that works well, in the beginning she is a lot (I assume) like herself in the previous novel, but throughout the book she begins to change as the events conspire.
The book also works well as a standalone, with references to the events prior to the book littered throughout show more to keep you in the loop. I am surprised there's not a "Sequel to the novel...." anywhere on the book, either. The ending is satisfying, so if you end up taking this journey and read this book I don't think anyone will be disappointed by what they discover.
One thing that bothered me was that the main villain, Wang, came across as so cheesy that it really ruined that element of the book for me. This was a bad guy fresh out of comic books, laughing with every line he says and contradicting himself with his "I taught you to have no compassion! Yet I'm glad it didn't work!" nonsense.
Overall, I did end up enjoying this book and i hope that this book finds more readers. I read from one review that the book was like "a Chinese/romance/gangster/B movie", and I think that's an apt description, but a Chinese Romance gangster B movie" that I think works well or is at least enjoyable. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.