The Library of Legends by Janie Chang

3.5 out of 5 🌟Magical realism meets historical fiction

'Library of Legends' tells a real but little known story of the Chinese-Japanse war. In 1937, a group of students traveled across China flying the Japanese army while also carrying ancient tomes of the Library of Legends. The volumes, describing Chinese mythology, was a national treasury and needed to be hidden away inland China. As a part of magical realism, during that danger quest, they have unbeknown encountered mythical beings who followed the students along their journey.

'Library of Legends' is full of history mixed up with magical experiences. And Janie Chang did a great job including testimonies of the survivors alongside enhanced Chinese mythology and bringing them together on historical background. That's the best side of this title but even if I love books with a historical setting depicting factual events, I had a hard time reading this one. I enjoy Lian, one of the main characters of the book, and her story but she was the only enjoyable person in the book. Shao, her peer, was quite superficial and even if that was a part of his role, his character didn't convince me. Neither I like any of the side characters in the story. They were undeveloped and their backstories were either flat or non-existent.

Also, the writing itself was quite off. I cannot stay focus on the book and kept spacing out. Normally, I love stories about journeys as I feel traveling myself along with the characters but here that wasn't a case. The journey lacks time consistency and it's too strongly character-driven for me to enjoy the story.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher William Morrow Paperbacks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and feelings are my own.

Comments

Queens of the Resistance: Maxine Waters by Brenda Jones; Krishan Trotman

5 out of 5 👸🏾 Queen of Black Feminism 'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. They advocate for a change of the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of lower & middle-class Americans as well as undocumented ones, and climate change. This volume tells the story of Maxine Waters, who knows all about the struggles of lower-class Americans, Black Americans, women, and single parents. She faced Jim Crow laws and scrutiny of white congressmen, yet she hasn't stopped advocating for women and people of color. The biggest advantage of the series is language, pure gen Z / millennial slang and references made me smile. That whole attitude made the book more enjoyable and easier to digest. I enjoyed that piece and want to read more books of that series!! Thank you N

Queens of the Resistance: Elizabeth Warren by Brenda Jones; Krishan Trotman

5 out of 5 🧑🏼‍💼The smartest Republican among Democrats 'Queens of the Resistance' is a series of books about modern-day politicians committed to making an impact on our everyday lives. They advocate for a change of the existing administrative model to be more inclusive and welcome for every gender and skin color. These Queens are concerned about racial justice, everyday problems of lower & middle-class Americans as well as undocumented ones, and climate change. The title starts with Elizabeth Warren's parents and grandparents who lived through the Great Depression in Oklahoma as low-class citizens and their struggles in everyday life. Subsequently, the book shows Elizabeth's early life and her strifes as a single mother. As a consequence of these experiences, she'd started to dig deep into personal bankruptcy cases, she's been meeting with people and collect their stories. As a result of her studies, she changed her conservative mindset to more socially

Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrations by Leila Del Luka

4 out of 5 🌟Wonder not-yet-a-Woman, a social justice warrior Wonder Woman, as every comic character from both DC and Marvel worlds, has been recreated multiple times with a new origin story. Sometimes they are related to each other, and sometimes they built with totally different narration. 'Tempest Tossed' belongs to that second category, the plot is unlike any other iteration of Diana's beginnings. That creates a great opportunity to jump on the Wonder Woman's bandwagon even for readers who don't know DC Universe. Amazons live in Themyscira, a secret island far from civilization, unbeknown to people. Loosely based on Greek mythology, these warriors are the favorite making of the Ancient Greeks' Goddesses. Wonder Woman vel Princess Diana is a teenager, or rather a "changeling", as she's called on her island. Diana has never been outside of Themyscira and amidst the story's events, she gets to know our world and tries to make sense of it. '

What would Ula read?

Search This Blog