Eryca Liskovec
I read about 50% and skimmed until the end. I would have classified this as a DNF but I put in too much time not to count this, and I figure my other DNFs this year add up to a whole book.
I love Sue Lynn Tan’s writing style and vibe, and the book itself is gorgeous. I almost still want to display it on my shelf despite how much I actually disliked it. The FMC is good at everything except being a good person, and you’re constantly made to feel bad for disliking her bc she had a truly hard life from living in poverty and being abused by her step aunt. Despite her origins of poverty, thievery, and fake fortune telling, she manages to steal her way into a ball, have two powerful men instantly obsessed with her, including the Prince, talk her way into being a favored guest in the palace, and win an unwinnable tournament against the best general in the kingdom. She is angry all the time, which again, I can’t judge her for based on her life circumstances, except it’s not a righteous anger, for when the prince threatens to wipe out an entire family line bc they plotted against him for his cruel taxes and policies (things that also affected her in the beginning of the book), she doesn’t seem to care or empathize about that. I wanted to like this so badly, but I truly just don’t want to read about any of these characters anymore.
I read about 50% and skimmed until the end. I would have classified this as a DNF but I put in too much time not to count this, and I figure my other DNFs this year add up to a whole book.
I love Sue Lynn Tan’s writing style and vibe, and the book itself is gorgeous. I almost still want to display it on my shelf despite how much I actually disliked it. The FMC is good at everything except being a good person, and you’re constantly made to feel bad for disliking her bc she had a truly hard life from living in poverty and being abused by her step aunt. Despite her origins of poverty, thievery, and fake fortune telling, she manages to steal her way into a ball, have two powerful men instantly obsessed with her, including the Prince, talk her way into being a favored guest in the palace, and win an unwinnable tournament against the best general in the kingdom. She is angry all the time, which again, I can’t judge her for based on her life circumstances, except it’s not a righteous anger, for when the prince threatens to wipe out an entire family line bc they plotted against him for his cruel taxes and policies (things that also affected her in the beginning of the book), she doesn’t seem to care or empathize about that. I wanted to like this so badly, but I truly just don’t want to read about any of these characters anymore.