soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2020-06-08 10:52 am
sophia_sol) wrote2020-06-08 10:52 am
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee
Back to working my way through the Hugos because oh no I have too many books to read before voting time. This is a nominee for the YA category (technically not a Hugo, but voted for on the same ballot), though it's really a middle grade book not YA.
Min is a 12 year old fox spirit from a backwater planet who discovers that her brother has disappeared from the Space Force in mysterious circumstances, and runs away to find him, using her fox magic to help her along the way. Futuristic science fiction using Korean mythology as a basis is GREAT and I love that part of things, as well as the casual normalcy of queerness in this world.
But I'm not super into the book as a whole. I nearly didn't even finish it. It's a decent adventure story, but a) quest adventures aren't my favourite genre, and b) I am way too old to be reading stories about preteens saving the day, Min is TOO YOUNG to have this kind of responsibility, I just spent way too much time worried about her! And then on the flip side, Min's magic abilities are so powerful that it's actually kind of boring to me, she succeeds at every magic thing she tries to do and is apparently more powerful than any other fox she knows.
Anyway I'm glad this book exists for the adventure-loving preteens out there but I'm not the right audience for this particular book.
Min is a 12 year old fox spirit from a backwater planet who discovers that her brother has disappeared from the Space Force in mysterious circumstances, and runs away to find him, using her fox magic to help her along the way. Futuristic science fiction using Korean mythology as a basis is GREAT and I love that part of things, as well as the casual normalcy of queerness in this world.
But I'm not super into the book as a whole. I nearly didn't even finish it. It's a decent adventure story, but a) quest adventures aren't my favourite genre, and b) I am way too old to be reading stories about preteens saving the day, Min is TOO YOUNG to have this kind of responsibility, I just spent way too much time worried about her! And then on the flip side, Min's magic abilities are so powerful that it's actually kind of boring to me, she succeeds at every magic thing she tries to do and is apparently more powerful than any other fox she knows.
Anyway I'm glad this book exists for the adventure-loving preteens out there but I'm not the right audience for this particular book.