Title: The Girl King
Author: Mimi Yu
Page Count: 432
Series: Unknown
Publishing Date/Publisher: January 8, 2019 by Bloomsbury YA
Format: eBook
Review: This book falls in the category of well-written with a decent plot, but not as good as I wanted it to be. I should have loved this book. It is a tale of two sisters battling it out for a throne, which in this case means a lot of political intrigue and ancient magic. However, I just could not make myself feel invested in the story or the characters. Though I liked it for the most part, there are a couple things that I found to be problematic.
First, the characters and setting were not nearly as developed as the plot. Although we get some glimpses of the motivation that drives the two sisters, I did not feel like I really got to know either of them beyond a superficial level. This is especially true with the character of Minyi. Although she seemed to have had the greatest character arc, it all still felt very shallow to me and her naivety was annoying rather than endearing.
Second, Lu’s romance was poorly constructed. It did not feel authentic and I personally prefer a slow build over instant love. I think the author attempted to do this by making the characters initially at odds (for a very short period of time), but it just fell flat.
It is unlikely that I will continue reading if this book turns into a series (it most likely will), but there are some positive attributes that made this an enjoyable read. Although I would have liked more from this story, it nevertheless featured strong female leads and closed with some pretty awesome magic.
Reader: Bekah
Rating:
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