Okay, first of all, the story is very promising to me. It has a very unique magic system unlike anything I’ve ever imagined before. I mean, what do you mean we need to fall in love first before killing someone??? That’s very interesting. Sadly, it wasn’t executed well.

I think the only thing that made me want to keep reading was the relationship between the two princes—doomed siblings as always. But the main problem, I think, is that the writing style isn’t strong enough to convey how emotional the plot is supposed to be. For a story that uses poetry as a medium for the magic system, the writing feels too bland, boring, and repetitive, so I couldn’t really feel the emotion even though the story itself was so intense.

Also, there are quite a lot of plot holes, and the world-building feels half-finished. Then, the main character development wasn’t done well either, it felt too inconsistent sometimes.

“To serve is to live. To live is to die”

I’m really looking forward to this book. I mean, finally Fonda Lee is back with a new book since I loved her series so much.

Okay, so let’s talk about this one. I actually really loved the concept of the book, especially the way the world on their planet was created. It made me feel amazed and terrified at the same time. I mean, how can we even imagine humans living with synthetic body technology? I can’t imagine it becoming real.

As always, Fonda Lee never disappoints when it comes to character writing. Every character dynamic was written so well that it felt like we were participating in the plot she created, especially the dynamics between Isa-Kob, as well as Martim-Thea. It’s just that, somehow, when the POV changed, I felt a little less emotionally connected compared to the beginning of the book, although Thea’s part was still enough to make me sympathetic toward her. I also feel like there were many things that could have been developed more. For some reason, some parts felt rushed and less explored, while at the same time too much information was repeated. Even so, I still quite enjoyed it.

In the end, this book talks about how people with power will always become greedy and try to gain more than they already have. It’s truly a very realistic bittersweet ending, fairly calm, yet painful to remember.

“Sometimes I thought life was precious, and everything was so important; but other times I thought humans were insignificant, and nothing was worthwhile”

Finally, I finished this story. Although, I don’t fully understand 100% of the physics theories in it, the book is surprisingly easy to read and follow. It felt like I was drawn into their world, and each character was explored one by one so well that I couldn’t stop reading, even though my brain felt like it was about to explode.

At first, I thought this book would be heavily focused on science and discuss more about the laws of physics. However, it turns out that it explores human relationships much more deeply, especially the effects of the Cultural Revolution in China during that era. It discusses so many aspects of human nature and greed, which ultimately impact the safety of humanity itself.

I also really like how each character is written. Especially Ye Wenjie. A layered character like her is always fascinating to explore — what reasons could lead someone to do such unreasonable things? It’s truly a very interesting book, and I really enjoyed it. I’ll read the second book soon.

Thanks for the arc from Edelweiss

I really like this series. This book feels very personal, especially with how each short story focuses on different characters. It really shows how we value time with the people we love, and how everyone experiences grief in their own way, even if they go through similar things.

I’ll be honest, the book can feel a bit slow since there isn’t much progress in the main story. But somehow, that didn’t bother me too much. Reading it feels more like being pulled into each character’s story rather than following a big plot. And just like the line says, “I want Kazu to be happy,” I honestly felt the same—I just want Kazu to be happy too.