Again, this post is coming to you late. But this time I have a good excuse! I DID, in fact, remember I had to write this whilst I was reading the book... however, I was running out of time. I only had a few hours left with the book before I had to return it to the library so all I had time for was to read it and then leave. See? I didn't forget this time! It's all the library's fault!!! ... *Coughs* Okay, so it was a pathetic excuse... DON'T JUDGE ME! *Ahem* Anyway, without further ado, on to the review-ish thing.
So this next book I am coming to you today with is called Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society by Adeline Yen Mah. Let's see... I enjoyed the book. I thought it was a unique mixture of the tale of Cinderella with events that happened in WWII. Mah's writing style is a bit simple but considering the massive amounts of historical facts displayed throughout the entire book, I don't fault her. I love this book for showing me the Chinese side to the war. When I was in school, I only used to learn what happened on the American side or the Japanese but never the Chinese. It was a very educational to see how they suffered during that time period. In short, as an educational tool, this book was phenomenal. However, when it came to the fantasy-based storyline and the characters, the story fell a little flat. I suppose the main purpose of this book was to talk about WWII and the Chinese's involvement in it but if that was all it was supposed to do, I don't see why Mah had to try to weave in some fantasy elements which was only two scenes to be perfectly honest with you.
The characters all felt the same. There was no personality distinctions besides one being a great martial artist, one being really smart, and another being brave. The main character, Ye Xian (or CC), was really nothing special. All she did was cry or run away from home and ask stupid questions. Yeah... she annoyed me a little. The other characters all spoke in the same "voice" so there was no way to tell them apart unless the book stated so. I did like Marat because he knew a lot of languages and we all know how much I love that! Anyway, besides Marat (and that's because I'm jealous of his abilities), all the characters were bland, dull, and just plain... boring. Nothing made me connect with them. In fact, whenever the novel didn't inform the reader about what happened during WWII, I was really bored with the story.
Like I said, it was a good book. However, halfway through, you just wish it was over already. I'm not saying it was a bad book or anything, I just expected a little more. And since this was supposed to have some fantasy elements, I was really hoping for some intense magic. All I got was a book scene that shows the past... yay. All-in-all, if you want to learn more about WWII and the involvement of the Chinese then check this book out. If not then... well, that's up to you.
Once again, want to see a more detailed review? Go to my GoodReads account. The link should be somewhere in the sidebar. The next book I talk about is going to be a good one. Want to know how I know that already? Because it's going to be a sequel to a book I already read and let me tell you, the first book was AMAZING!!! I cannot wait to get started on that one! So look forward to it!
Till next entry! See ya!
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