lisa (fc hollywood's version)'s Reviews > Her Radiant Curse

Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me with this e-ARC in exchange of my honest review.

The thing about Elizabeth Lim's writing is that it's incredibly whimsical and immersive. I might now like her plot or her characters, but her world will always get me. This book is no difference: I love the setting of the world and of the story. The story's exposition got me invested in Channi's journey, who I really liked at the beginning. Everything down to the 30% mark was a five-star to me.

But as the story progresses, I must confess: I couldn't care less about Vanna and the "sisterly bond", which is the driving point of the plot. I was bored with the endless actions that felt very repeated at some point, and frustrated with Channi's decisions.

See, I think this is more of a "me-not-you" thing because I have been noticing recently that I empathize less and less with the protagonist of YA Fantasy. Maybe it's because of my age (lol) or my taste shifting towards "adult" fiction, but I am increasingly annoyed towards the "righteous hero mentality". I will not detail the events because of spoilers, but Channi "betrayed" people who have risked their lives helping her for the sake of her sister, who, I must say, did nothing to save Channi from the abuse and insults.

Nevertheless, this book got a 4-stars from me because of the last three chapters. It was beautifully heartwrenching, and it really got me to appreaciate the character of Raikama more (Six Crimson Cranes). Overall, if you like Lim's previous works, you would like this one too.

Bottom-line: I still think that Channi is a very well-constructed character: she's strong, stubborn, and brave while still being humane/soft in certain moments; it's just her actions that sometimes exaperate me (her every decision is based around her sister, who I dislike).