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A review by abby_ace_of_books
The Floating World by Axie Oh
4.25
This book gave major Legend of Zelda vibes and I'm here for it.
The Floating World has been on my TBR ever since I saw the cover, and I was so excited to get an ARC of it that I read it almost immediately. It's a YA fantasy novel that takes place in one of my favorite settings: under and over worlds. There were admittedly a lot of other tropes that I found in this book that I adored as well, and if I wouldn't have been busy with schoolwork, I would've read this in less than a day.
Ren is a performer with a theater troupe, but she has a secret: she has magic. Sunho is a soldier, but he doesn't remember anything about his life besides his brother's name and that a demon lives inside him. After Sunho is hired as a mercenary to find Ren, their paths cross and their journeys become intertwined. The storytelling is extremely fast-paced, and while I called pretty much all of the plot twists, I never wanted to put the book down. My only complaint is that some of the plot points felt a bit convenient (characters just happening to show up at the perfect moment or saying something for the sake of advancing the plot), but that's understandable in YA. The ending engages with yet another one of my favorite tropes (though I can't say what for spoiler reasons), so I'm already excited for book two.
The characters are all incredibly loveable as well. Ren is such an engaging main character to follow because of her compassion and also her unique background and skills as a performer. I appreciated how her performer background helped her in a lot of unexpected scenarios. I loved Sunho because he's just a dozen of my favorite tropes tied together into one character, and his personality really complements Ren. I'm hoping Yurhee and Tag get more of a role in the second book because there were some early found family vibes. Jaeil is the only character I don't love, but he just feels a little too much like Chaol from Throne of Glass for my liking.
The Floating World is a the first book YA fantasy duology perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and Legend of Zelda.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
4.25/5
The Floating World has been on my TBR ever since I saw the cover, and I was so excited to get an ARC of it that I read it almost immediately. It's a YA fantasy novel that takes place in one of my favorite settings: under and over worlds. There were admittedly a lot of other tropes that I found in this book that I adored as well, and if I wouldn't have been busy with schoolwork, I would've read this in less than a day.
Ren is a performer with a theater troupe, but she has a secret: she has magic. Sunho is a soldier, but he doesn't remember anything about his life besides his brother's name and that a demon lives inside him. After Sunho is hired as a mercenary to find Ren, their paths cross and their journeys become intertwined. The storytelling is extremely fast-paced, and while I called pretty much all of the plot twists, I never wanted to put the book down. My only complaint is that some of the plot points felt a bit convenient (characters just happening to show up at the perfect moment or saying something for the sake of advancing the plot), but that's understandable in YA. The ending engages with yet another one of my favorite tropes (though I can't say what for spoiler reasons), so I'm already excited for book two.
The characters are all incredibly loveable as well. Ren is such an engaging main character to follow because of her compassion and also her unique background and skills as a performer. I appreciated how her performer background helped her in a lot of unexpected scenarios. I loved Sunho because he's just a dozen of my favorite tropes tied together into one character, and his personality really complements Ren. I'm hoping Yurhee and Tag get more of a role in the second book because there were some early found family vibes. Jaeil is the only character I don't love, but he just feels a little too much like Chaol from Throne of Glass for my liking.
The Floating World is a the first book YA fantasy duology perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and Legend of Zelda.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
4.25/5