Your point about expectations shaping reaction to this book is a great one. I was introduced to it as 'a 3way romance with mecha fighting monsters' and I ended up not connecting to the romance (neither boy was interesting to me at all) and having trouble following the action, while the patriarchy stuff actually gave it more depth than I expected it felt a bit anvilicious. Wu Zetian was the best part because I went in going 'Oh hey, it's Katniss Everdeen* -- oh no wait this lady just wants bloody revenge!!' -- but I didn't feel like the plot lived up to the possibilities.
I can see coming at it with different expectations and taking different things from it.
*I like 90 percent adore Katniss Everdeen and think she gets a bit of a bad rap because other writers have tried to create this character type anx brought a lot less nuance to it; also there's like 10 percent of Katniss being passive and mopey and letting the plot happen around her that I don't love.
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Date: 2022-03-31 08:10 pm (UTC)I can see coming at it with different expectations and taking different things from it.
*I like 90 percent adore Katniss Everdeen and think she gets a bit of a bad rap because other writers have tried to create this character type anx brought a lot less nuance to it; also there's like 10 percent of Katniss being passive and mopey and letting the plot happen around her that I don't love.