Dee's Reviews > The Bird and the Blade

OUCH. :D (Best kind of ouch.)

My common complaints with YA - of wanting more depth and exploration in the worldbuilding, of feeling it's too quick and slick - were balanced out here by Bannen's delicate and deft and twisty character and plot work, giving big emotional pull. Things come together so nicely (by which I mean: painfully and ineluctably) and it's both delicate and immersive in a very satisfying way.

I will note that having read so much stuff about Mongols now, I had a number of moments of, "But that's not right." However, Bannen's author note covers off so much great history-and-deviation, and also the setting here is well post-Genghis, and an ongoing element is how far the Empire has strayed from their roots (which... yes, was a thing).