Once again, Stacey Lee has blown me away in terms of representation of Chinese characters in historical settings. I especially appreciated that our protagonist was half-Chinese and the glimpses we got at the complications therein.
Unfortunately, I think Titanic books just aren't for me. In terms of my reading tastes, this was fine, but nothing special. I enjoyed meeting the characters and I liked Valora's spunky attitude, but I wasn't invested in what she was interested in accomplishing, what the fashion designer was interested in accomplishing, what her brother was interested in accomplishing, or even in any of their character arcs, which seemed a little basic. The romance was simple but nice, I suppose, but I also wasn't invested in it.
What did I like? That the fashion designer was canonically a lesbian and also a fashion designer. That there were several Chinese characters represented, as well as characters from other ethnicity and that we got to see how these characters existed on the Titanic and the inequities they faced.
And that's about it. Overall, this was fine, but not very compelling for me.
Unfortunately, I think Titanic books just aren't for me. In terms of my reading tastes, this was fine, but nothing special. I enjoyed meeting the characters and I liked Valora's spunky attitude, but I wasn't invested in what she was interested in accomplishing, what the fashion designer was interested in accomplishing, what her brother was interested in accomplishing, or even in any of their character arcs, which seemed a little basic. The romance was simple but nice, I suppose, but I also wasn't invested in it.
What did I like? That the fashion designer was canonically a lesbian and also a fashion designer. That there were several Chinese characters represented, as well as characters from other ethnicity and that we got to see how these characters existed on the Titanic and the inequities they faced.
And that's about it. Overall, this was fine, but not very compelling for me.