Rachel

It's late, but I wanted to review this before bed.

I was looking for a book to listen to at work. (So long as I get my job done, I can listen to whatever I want). This has been on my “to-read” list for quite some time. I recently rewatched the film and decided to give the book a chance.

The book completely destroyed the movie. (Not a surprise. Most books are better than their films). I was surprised to find out the movie only covers the first half of the story. There is an entire second half I knew nothing about. This was rather exciting. I was drawn in with the familiar and was carried on a second adventure.

The book was original and delightful. It was at times difficult to follow all the character names, but I loved the originality. I'd like to pick up the physical copy of this book and re-read it.

Update: bumping down a star. The more I think about the book, the more it infuriates me. And tempted to bump down to 2 stars. This book was a mess and her actions towards Liwei were very disappointing. He deserved better. Wenzhi was toxic. Actually they were all terrible for each other. She should have ended up with the sea realm prince. Or someone from a different realm altogether.


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What a wild ride.

I knew it would be hard to follow up Daughter of the Moon Goddess, but this mostly met my expectations.

First, it was great to journey back to the Celestial Kingdom, the Southern Sea and the rest of the immortal realm. It was nice to see familiar characters as well as meet a few new ones.

Now to unpack all the rest. (Apologies in advance for any misspellings)

The first 100 pages or so I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. Xingyin was making some foolish decisions and felt like a different character than the girl in book 1. The introduction of Houyi felt sloppy and rushed. And the introduction of Tao (was that even his name) felt completely unnecessary. The character was introduced as this important thief that even then Celestial Empress was aware of. Yet after his brief bit he fades into complete obscurity. The sole purpose was to bring the sister back into the writing.

Now the sister, what was the point of her introduction? To show that a mortal life is a good one? I thought she'd have a bigger part, like taking over for Liewi so that he and Xingyin could live a wonderful life together. Instead she's also a subtle background character that could have been removed entirely.

Xingyin and Leiwi's defiance of their celestial majesties. It was good to see these two together again defying the odds, but Xingyin's hesitancy for Leiwi felt lacking. Yes he broke her heart but I hoped that year between books would have led to some change.

But that made sense when her heart also belonged to another. Though I never liked Whenzi, he had a freedom to him that Leiwi did not. At least that's how the author portrays it. But in reality they are both trapped by the same issue. Either way, if Xingyin ended up with either man she would be a future empress. Which had me frustrated because Leiwi seemed like the better choice.

But the thing that stood out about everything was the stark difference of priorities for Leiwi and Whenzi. When it came down to it Leiwi put his duties and kindom first and Whenzi put Xingyin above all else. Still, I didn't like Whenzi after all he did to her in Book 1. Lying to her, emprisoning her. Yet her slow forgiveness of all of that.

The emotional rollercoaster of the love triangle was a lot and I was getting frustrated at Xingyin as she let her indecision reign.

But the Celestial Empress was wiser than we gave her credit for. Though I had hoped for a showdown between her and Xingyin where the empress says “Yes, you are worthy to take my place and marry my son.” Then all becomes clear as to why Xingyin was hesitant. But turns out it wasn't the empress at all. It was Xingyin's own indecision.

While the indecision and love triangle play centerfold, we also have the touching reuinion of Chang'e and Houyi. The relationship between father and daughter. And we find some semblance of peace for some characters.

Now to the main point of conflict. I did not like the big bag guy, General Wu. Not that you're supposed to, but the whole character arc itself was meh. It felt a bit like a Disney villian, whereas the conflict in book 1 was more on par with a Pixar tale where the main character must grow and learn a lesson.

Don't get me wrong, it was still good and the ending was.. an ending. It was sad and a fitting conclusion. But again, I felt a bit dissatisfied. As it progressed I thought “Really? Death? Eliminating the choice to pick at all?” That felt like a cheap way to end the conflict. I thought the elimination of one would lead the others to be closer. But in the end the pain persisted and we got a relatively good ending.

BUT did we get a good ending? Because yes they will have time in the mortal world together, but once the next immortal elixer is taken and the other ascends into the sky, isn't there the same issue where that character will once again take on the role of emperor and Xingyin will feel trapped in the empress role?

Overall I guess there was no way to win with either way. And I guess that' the point of story. That even life there are no winners. We just trod on through our decisions an the decisions of the world around us. Though I wish the two characters found their way back to one another, it would have been impossible after all that occurred.

How to rate.... I wouldn't call this book Horror. I'd call it Fiction with elements of fantasy and horror.

The book starts with adults, with memories of their childhood told through flashbacks. This made it easier to connect the adult to the children. That is a part I struggled with during the 1990s movie/mini series.

I loved the variety of characters and how they dealt with different issues. Beverley has an abusive father, Eddie has an overbearing mother, Bill deals with the guilt of his dead brother, Ben deals with obesity, Mike deals with racism, and Stanley deals with hatred towards Jews. Even the secondary and third characters have such complex backgrounds. I love how Mr. King mentions a character in the beginning, then ties back his character later on in the story. It may be a minor appearance, but essential to create the “small town” feel.

The horror is more gore and unknown. Yes, IT is scary, but the town bully, and Bev's father are much more frightening than the monster. They are monsters based in reality. Much more frightening.

IT, the novel, does a fantastic job recreating childhood emotions and desires. The desire to have fun. The fear or doing something wrong. Having people expect you to act one way or another. Now the controversial topic about Beverley. Mr. King has even expressed regret over this scene. The entire book emphasizes how she's just out to have fun with friends for the summer. Then her effort to save them from the monster, she crossed the line from child to adult. I knew it was coming, but didn't expect how it happened. One after the other? I found that a bit repulsive.

tldr; not as scary as I thought. More a reflection of childhood and standing up to your childhood monsters/demons.

Part was a 2, part was a 4. I'll settle on 3 stars.

It still jumps around a lot, but now we have the basis for some of the characters. I really liked the character who cheats death, but don't see how he tied in with the rest of the story. The girl and her brother were interesting but the ending was lackluster. There's potential. It could either really improve our fall flat on its face. I'll try one or two more volumes. They're quicker reads than books.

DNF at 25%. Sorry. I tried. I really did.

Unfortunately I think the audiobook narrator had a lot to do with my low rating. She read this like one would read a fairy tale to a young child. For a short book, that would have been fine. For this book it made it drag.

The pacing was also an issue. It was both exceptionally fast AND exceptionally slow. Each scene was incredibly short. I wanted more context or substance to a page. Just as I would get drawn in, the scene would end and the MC would be somewhere else. At the same time the pacing was crazy slow. Wandering around the castle and the grounds. Yes, seems like it was beautiful. The descriptions were lush and enchanting. But even reflecting on what I had read, it felt like so much was spent on scenery and that could have been condensed dramatically.

I have no real opinion on Rose and Thorn. They seemed ok as characters.

This may have been more enjoyable in an ebook format where one could read at their own pace and jump ahead at the highly descriptive areas.