dinipandareads's reviews
1808 reviews

Special thanks to HarperCollins for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! 3.5 stars rounded up.

TL;DR: A Language of Dragons took me on a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions. This fantasy world where humans and dragons co-exist had a fascinating premise and overall, I think the author executed it well. This has a little something for everyone—an in-depth exploration of linguistics and the power of language, political intrigue and subterfuge, romance, and dragons, and I think its comparison to Babel and The Hunger Games (or any other dystopian YA) is apt. Despite being a historical fantasy, it explores evergreen themes of social inequality, redemption, forgiveness, and justice, among others. The main struggle I had was dealing with the wildly negative feelings our protagonist, Viv, brought out in me as she's one of the most flawed and unempathetic YA characters I've ever read. Upon reflection, I appreciated what the author did with Viv and how it made her eventual growth more satisfying—even if I didn't reach that level of acceptance while reading, lol. If you're affected by unlikeable protagonists then you might not enjoy this but if you can have patience, I think you'll come to appreciate Viv too! Overall, this was a very solid debut and I can't wait to see where Williamson takes the story next!

The world-building was very interesting. This fantasy is set in an alternate post-WWI world where dragons and humans live together. In Britain, a fragile Peace Agreement allows humans and dragons to co-exist peacefully but humans are divided into strict social classes, and dragons have become “fourth class” citizens to be feared and abhorred. This dystopian Britain is a result of greed and an unmatched hunger for power that has corrupted the ruling class and resulted in a burgeoning rebellion that leads to civil war. We're gradually introduced to various elements of the world and I think it's set up brilliantly. I enjoyed learning about the various regional and familial spoken dragon dialects, but especially about Koinamens, the unknowable language of dragons that Viv spends most of the book trying to decode. You can tell how passionate the author is about linguistics and the power of language as it shines through in the writing and Viv's character who is a polyglot. This does read similarly to Babel but again, it's very clearly written for a YA audience with its simplified language, and I think that will be appreciated by all readers. The author also does a great job of exploring the heavy but important themes of social inequality, the class system and oppression, morality, forgiveness, redemption, and justice.

Once the action kicks off, tensions steadily rise as Viv finds herself placed in Bletchley Hall "fighting" for her family's survival. Might you have to suspend your disbelief that it's down to criminal teenagers (albeit with brilliant minds) who are set to save the country from war? I don't feel like it was too much of a stretch considering how eagerly the Prime Minister exploited whomever she could for personal gain. I will say that although tensions are high, it doesn't necessarily feel like we're entrenched in civil war due to Bletchley Park's "isolation" and what we do hear is through minor radio reports and news clippings interspersed in chapters. It would've also been great to get a better understanding of the PM's motive because yes, she's greedy, power-hungry, and wants full control but... To what end? The pacing also could've been better but I think that's in part due to the many pages of internal monologuing and teenage angst we're subjected to being in Viv's head. All of the explosive action that takes place towards the end is crammed into about 15% of the book and for being over 400 pages long, I think it could've been moved up to better set things up for the next book. That said, the tension was enough to propel the story forward and keep me eagerly turning the pages to find out what comes next.

When it came to the characters and the relationships, much of it was told rather than shown, which made some of the interactions and larger “shocking” events fall slightly flat as I didn’t feel the emotions needed for it to have hit harder. This most affected how I felt about the romance, which had its cute and sweet moments, but in my opinion, the depth of their feelings for each other was unbalanced with what we see of their interactions on-page. It's also very much *not* enemies-to-lovers although if you stretch the idea based on how Viv acts for most of the story, you can take it that way. 🤷🏻‍♀️

This leads me to our main character and... my very mixed thoughts about her throughout the read. To be fair, the author does pre-warn us that Viv is a very flawed character so you don't go in completely unaware. Did that warning help how I felt about her? Not particularly, lol. Viv Featherswallow is... someone who would do anything for her family and to maintain her comfortable status quo as part of the Second Class. She has done truly unforgivable things to hurt the people she claims to love and care for most in the world, and despite the guilt she suffers, she knows she'd do it again if it meant keeping her family safe and her worldview intact. She is naive to a fault, self-centred with a superiority complex, an insufferable kiss-ass, and a coward. She has made and continued to choose to make selfish decisions regardless of the impact on others, and it's fair to say that I found her wholly unlikeable and completely unempathetic for close to 90% of the book. She does eventually begin trying to make amends and essentially be a less selfish and more forgiving version of herself, which was satisfying to see.

However, it was only after I finished reading and had time to process my reading experience that I came to significantly appreciate how Williamson chose to write Viv's character. Viv is human and a teenage human at that. She makes infuriatingly naive decisions and frustratingly avoidable mistakes, and sometimes repeats them! But does that truly make her a bad person? Even if it was irritating to read, Viv's flip-flopping felt true to her because she's not going to suddenly be 100% on board with the rebellion after fighting so hard to keep her blinders on. Does this make me dislike her any less? Not really, no, but I can see what the author was trying to do with Viv's character and I'm keen to see what she will be like in the next book and where the story goes from here.

TL;DR: I'm so glad that I finally read my first book by Zen Cho. I've heard many great things about Cho's work and even though this was well outside my comfort zone with all the paranormal activity (ghosts, possessions, etc.), I'm so glad I gave it a chance because I ended up loving it! There was so much to appreciate in Black Water Sister from the strong characters and themes to the simmering rage thrumming through these pages. On a more personal level, the sociocultural elements and parts of Jess's story were so relatable as they are also part of my experience, which made the story more impactful for me as a reader. I would highly recommend this if you are looking for speculative fiction with non-Western roots, a flawed yet relatable main character, and a thrilling story about revenge, forgiveness, family, and belonging.

The story is told through Jess's perspective. She was a flawed and well-meaning main character whose POV I enjoyed reading. On a personal level, there was so much about her arc that I related to and that I empathised with. It's not just that she returned to live in her home country for the first time as an adult, but it was also the relatability of her experience as an Asian daughter who wants to live a life where she honours her true self while also still being filial to the parents she has a complex relationship with. Filial piety is a core part of Asian culture and it's something that most, if not all, Asian children are raised to understand and abide by whether they grow up in their home country or as part of the diaspora elsewhere. Seeing Jess try to balance being a closeted gay woman, a long-distance relationship, and keeping her parents happy, all while trying to find a job and find her place in this new home and with her family, made her a very relatable empathetic character.

As messed up as some of her relationships with her family were, I thoroughly enjoyed her interactions with all of them. I especially loved that the author wove in the unique vernacular and bits of Malay in the dialogue, which made the character interactions all the more realistic! Out of all the characters we meet, Ah Ma stood out the most next to Jess and even the god, and I had quite a love/hate relationship with her. 🤣 Honestly though, some of her commentary did have me laughing out loud because I could so easily picture this sour-faced and crabby grandmotherly ghost whining about how everyone is a disappointment. The author does an overall fantastic job of weaving Malaysia's geographic and sociopolitical context into the story and it helped bring the story to life. It was easy to picture the streets of Penang with the overly familiar sweltering heat and humidity, the temples, the bustling crowds, and all the food stalls and restaurants full of delicious treats.

Surprisingly, I also enjoyed the paranormal aspect of this story which is not something I expected to say! 😂 I'm The Ultimate Chicken™️ and I was fully braced for the worst but while certain descriptions of the god were chilling, the fear didn't keep me up at night. Southeast Asians are an extremely superstitious bunch and whether you truly believe it or not, we have a healthy dose of fear and respect for spirits, so we don't mess around when it comes to the 'unknown'. I probably would've just let myself die had I found myself in Jess' shoes (seriously 🤣) so I truly admired her bravery and even the way she sassed Ah Ma and certain spirits. Her tenacity, even in the face of her fear and confusion as she unwillingly gets sucked into a world of vengeful spirits and wrathful gods that she had no idea existed, was amazing so it wasn't difficult to root for her to find a way out.

Overall, this was such an interesting and entertaining read. I was captivated by the story and once I put it down I could not wait to get back to it again! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

LUNAR BOY GOT ME IN MY FEELS. 😭 brb, crying.

But seriously, there were so many reasons to love Lunar Boy. The story was so well-written and it goes without saying that the art was nuanced and stunning. It's a fantastic graphic novel that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend for readers young, old and everything in between. If you're looking for a diverse and inclusive story with wonderful Indonesian and positive LGBTQIA+ rep that explores themes of identity, belonging coming-of-age, grief, and family, then I would highly recommend checking out Lunar Boy. And I mean, if you're just looking for a fantastic story period you should definitely check out this graphic novel!

Indu's character is clearly written with so much heart. Change can be a scary experience for anyone and his sense of fear and confusion was so well depicted in his story. Ngl, I teared up several times while reading this book cos Jes & Cin had my emotions in a bit of a chokehold, lol. I absolutely loved the inclusion of Indonesian as it made the story feel more authentic but also all the references to Indonesian culture and queer history that I didn't know about before but was glad to learn more about through this story.

As a TCK myself, Indu's experience arriving in New Earth really made me feel seen because as someone who only returned to Indonesia as an adult to live here for the first time, the struggles he experienced with the language and cultural differences were thins that I also faced. Despite a rocky beginning on New Earth, Indu finds a beautiful community of people who are warm, welcoming, and accepting. The Bhinneka Community Center folk were so wonderful and I felt such a healing energy from them. The community makes a beautiful family and it was so heartwarming to see.

Overall, Lunar Boy is easily one of my favourite reads of 2024 and although I don't re-read much, this is a graphic novel that I can definitely see myself returning to on the regular. 💜 Please read it!

I don’t quite know where to begin with my thoughts on this because my reading experience swung rapidly between total absorption to mild boredom and confusion throughout. All I know is that by the end, I was fully invested in these characters, the “solving of the mystery”, and most importantly, the romance. This might be another instance of “I loved this but can’t properly explain why” and maybe that’s okay because this book is a bit hard to describe! 

 

There’s political subterfuge, diplomatic manoeuvering, reconnaissance missions, assassination attempts, and a tension-filled romance overflowing with angst and mutual pining (and oh, the pining… *chef’s kiss!*) and all of it is set against the backdrop of a richly imagined world. I loved learning about the cultural customs, the way royalty is revered, and how important the Khalayar are in running this country beyond caring for and serving the royals. Queerness is normalized in this society and two other things I loved were how women held the highest positions of power and the interesting concept of ‘body-fathers’. Women have the right to decide if the man they fathered children with can claim the child as theirs and be part of their life in a bigger way. I also liked how open this society was to sexual exploration and relationships. Sex isn’t taboo or looked down upon and women didn’t have to be married to have children—it felt empowering! 

 

This is also a world where magic exists although it plays a surprisingly minor role in a book that’s named after an individual’s ability to taste material elements when they touch it. I thought this was unique and wanted to learn more and see it used more as the story continued. For the most part, I liked what we got of the world building but as a whole, I desperately wanted more! Much of what we learn is in scattered patches through various info dumps about random aspects—economics, trade ports, shipping, etc.—that admittedly felt a bit tedious to read at times. Ngl, as keen as Evemer was about listening to Kadou harp on about the value of their currency, I was more keen on watching how enraptured Evemer became and how this was essentially step one on their way to falling in love, lol. 😂 I think the biggest issue I had with the world-building is that the author introduces most of it as if we should already be familiar with it. It was a little frustrating at first and initially, my inability to properly grasp this world almost led me to DNF for now. I’m very glad that I pushed through though because I ended up loving it! 

 

The further we go into the story, the more the plot feels like an afterthought. Yes, there was a very loose plot but as the interpersonal relationships grew more complex and the romance bloomed, it simply existed to push the narrative along. I’m notoriously bad at guessing whodunit but the author set this up in a way that was very obvious and required little second guessing. I was suspicious from the first and that suspicion never wavered until the satisfying last where justice is served (albeit, again, almost like an afterthought). Still, it wasn’t bad but it could’ve been better! 

 

What made this most enjoyable to me were the characters and their relationships. It was easy to tell how passionate the author was about these characters and how much they cared for them. The story is told through two perspectives but there are a host of supporting characters that play just as important a role in enriching the story. The side characters I loved most were Eozena and very surprisingly, Tadek. I couldn’t stand him at first but the guy grew on me and several times he had me wickedly cackling with this unrelenting flirtatious banter! 🤣 I loved him and I’d honestly love to read more about him. Commander Eozena was this highly respected and mildly terrifying badass and I adored her! She has such a great almost motherly relationship with Kadou but her scheming and fierceness are also legendary. Of course, my favourites overall were Prince Kadou and Evemer. 

 

While I have to say that initially, Kadou wasn’t particularly likeable, I knew almost immediately that I would love Evemer. That said, both of them are so well characterized with well-developed arcs and they felt like real people! Prince Kadou was a full-on hot mess at the start but the more we learn about him and the immense weight of responsibility that he puts on his shoulders, the easier it is to empathize with him. He has debilitating anxiety which he identifies as cowardice and although that view doesn’t get directly challenged for most of the story, Evemer does address it in the end. I think the author did a great job representing his anxiety—it was so sharply depicted that whenever he’d get an attack, I eventually started to feel anxious myself. 😅 Kadou seemed flighty, restless, and directionless but that slowly changed the more time he spent in Evemer's ever-steady and grounding presence. Evemer was Kadou's opposite in almost every way and no one takes his role as khalayar more seriously than he does. He is this grumpy, judgemental, immovable rule follower on the surface but he slowly lets down his defences the more he's around the prince and the other khalayar, which reveals his inner cinnamon roll energy that was adorable. He just wants to be seen, valued and cherished for who he is, much in the same way that Kadou needs someone to be that pillar of strength while also telling it to him straight.

Both of them needed to learn that vulnerability, asking for help, and imperfections are not weaknesses, but also that they are both deserving of the love that they need and want. It was meltingly sweet to see Kadou and Evemer learn to accept that from each other. If you love a romance that's angsty, mutually pine for each other and deeply yearn for the other's affection and attention, then look no further than Kadou and Evemer. My gosh, the yearning was so intense from both ends that it had me feeling like my heart was about to jump out of my chest and I was going to faint. It was honestly so good! 😂 The sexual tension was *chef's kiss!* and this was one of the slowest yet the most satisfying slow burns I've read in a while. It was undoubtedly worth every moment of angst leading up to their getting together and ugh, I could read about their adorable flirting and banter for ages!

Overall, I'm not sure if I properly explained what made me love this book as much as I did but apparently, I still wrote an essay-length review about it, lol. This needed time to grow on me and I'm so glad that I gave it a chance to because I know Evemer and Kadou will live in my head rent free for a while to come. Plus, I'm also happy that I can finally tick this off my TBR!

I'm not sure I know where to begin with this review... Maybe let's start by saying that the Ghibli movie is one of my all-time favourites. It's comforting and familiar and I rewatch it (along with the other Ghibli's) several times a year. I'm so glad that I knew in advance how different the book would be because that also helped me manage my expectations. Howl's Moving Castle fits perfectly under the category of <b>"I loved this book but I can't begin to tell you why"</b>. Many elements normally would not have worked for me but I found myself enjoying it regardless. Diana Wynne Jones sweeps you along for the ride before you even know it and what a ride it was! 

 

If you were to look up the definition of whimsical I'm convinced that this title would top the list of examples. I read this with Becky and as we were reflecting on our thoughts, I mentioned that it felt like a hodgepodge of whimsical magical elements that worked wonders for this story. Honestly, if it had been any <i>less</i> whimsical, I think it would have fallen flat. The world-building is slightly erratic, the plot only clearly makes itself known towards the end, the romance is close to non-existent, and while the characters were the pillars of the story, they felt slightly underdeveloped. That said, this chaotic jumble paired with the slightly over-the-top magical whimsy created a fun adventure-filled story that moved at a rapid clip and made for easy entertaining reading. 

 

As much as I tried not to, I couldn't help but compare the book to the movie and while I think I still prefer the movie, I appreciated the differences in both. I loved the insight we get into the characters and their relationships that we don't get in the movie—they're more flawed but also more human. Sophie was a fantastic protagonist. In the movie, you see how the curse pushed her to stop being so careful all the time but it's even more pronounced in the book! She was a hilariously particular and slightly curmudgeonly little old lady with a young, vibrant spirit which I found quite endearing. I also loved seeing Sophie as a sister and that we got to explore her complicated family relationship as the oldest daughter. It was a delight to discover that her two younger sisters are just as willful, cheeky and sharp as her! 

 

I also loved how Sophie whips the castle and its inhabitants into shape and the wonderful found family she makes with Calcifer, Michael, and Howl. These three are as central to the plot as Sophie is and I loved that we do get to learn more about each in the book. Calcifer is much more terrifying but Michael is just as sweet and soft, although older than in the movie. Howl is even more of a dramatic man-child but instead of being irritating, I found it quite hilarious! The scene where he catches a cold is just so stereotypical, but not inaccurate, a portrayal of a man getting sick. 🤣 Howl is such a peculiar character enshrouded in total mystery and despite finding it difficult to describe him, he has such a presence that you can simply say "That's just so Howl" and it makes sense, lol. I would've liked for his backstory to have been explored in more detail, especially how he ended up in this magical world when he's originally from Wales, but he's just as mysterious and slithery in the book as he is in the movie. I also have to point out how glad I am that the movie made Calcifer and Turnip Head less terrifying because they were truly demonic in the book, lol. 

 

The romance itself was very low-key and if I hadn't known that there was a romance, I wouldn't have seen it coming at all! It's very... subtle and I guess, "very Howl" because of the way he came about it. I did like how Michael's statement about what would happen when Howl truly fell in love came true—again, it was very subtle but when you look back on the changes, apparent and very sweet! 

 

Overall, this made for an interesting reading experience. I'm glad that it didn't end up being a flop for me despite how much I love the movie and how different the book is. I'm happy that I finally read it :)