✨ 5 / 5 ✨



I read this as the group book for the ATLA readathon ✌🏽



Yun defended the world, and Rangi defended him, but as far as Kyoshi was concerned, her own sacred ground was marked by the limits where her friends stood. “This is what I need to keep safe above all else.”



I still didn’t know how to rate this before writing the review. My heart was telling me I had a 5⭐️ feeling but my brain was telling me this was more of a 4⭐️ objectively. But then my review got super long and solidified my 5

✨ 5 / 5 ✨I read this as the group book for the ATLA readathon ✌🏽I still didn’t know how to rate this before writing the review. My heart was telling me I had a 5⭐️ feeling but my brain was telling me this was more of a 4⭐️ objectively. But then my review got super long and solidified my 5 star feeling. This is not a perfect book by any means but I can’t deny this book made me the happiest I’d been in a whileDo I think you should read this is you’ve never seen Avatar? Probably not. It’s never clearly explained what the Avatar actually is and I don’t know if the dynamics between the four nations and the politics of the Earth Kingdom would make as much sense.But if you’re an Avatar fan? This should be right up your alley! The book definitely has he ATLA vibe while being a bit darker to appeal to a YA audience (in the same vein as Legend of Korra).I really enjoyed the plot. It was easy to follow and provided opportunities for some fun travelling on bison back (yes, hello, nostalgia is calling). I think it keeps the subtlety of ATLA in terms of levels of villainy/the different nations while introducing us to some pirates and brigands. I love that this time around it’s not so clear cut who the Avatar actually is and it’s not easy for Kyoshi to accept and grow into her role.I really loved the antagonist and the conflict at the heart of this book but I have to say that the main confrontation we look forward to was a bit underwhelming. We do get some very intriguing revelations at the end of the book though.I love Kyoshi with my whole heart and she might be my favourite Avatar? She is used to downsize herself, try to blend in, be normal, be anything but special. She hasn’t had the easiest life, having to grow up on her own, abandoned by her parents, ignored but the townsfolk and bullied by their children. She despises her birth parents and is travelling the world with murder on her mind. She is an angry and vengeful Avatar and it makes so much sense as to how she ended up being the utilitarian icon we know from the show. I love and will protect my favourite tall lady with my life.It’s always interesting to see which element the Avatar struggles with the most and even more so when it turned out Kyoshi struggles to control her own element. She is an extremely powerful bender but it’s hard for her to focus her power on a small scale. Moving the whole seafloor? Yeah, sure. Moving a pebble? Eh, not so much.We also get to know why she has fans and where the makeup comes from! And it makes so much sense! I think F.C. Yee did a great job at taking all the key elements we know about Kyoshi and make them meaningful and give you that “duh, it couldn’t be any other way” feeling.I also loved loved loved the different relationship dynamics she had in this book. While she resents her biological parents, she has found a father in Kelsang, an air nomad and previous companion of the Avatar. I loved him so much and their relationship was so precious.“Hi, I’m the Avatar and I’m a bit in love with my best friends.” - Kyoshi, at some point probably. We love a bi/pan icon.Rangi & Kyoshi make my heart so soft, I ship it and I love it. They had amazing interactions and you can see how much they care about each other. We don’t really see a build-up because they’ve been friends for a long time so the feelings have been there for a long while.Rangi is fiercely loyal and they have the best dynamic of “we’re both idiots who rush into danger, we hate that but we still support each other”. I know that the next book is probably gonna give major angst and I can’t wait to suffer. Aha.(also there was this one moment where they were training together and?? my heart gave a little leap. I love them so much.)My main gripe (well, gripe is a strong wrong) with the book was the side characters. Kyoshi joins a group of four people and I only feel like two of them stand out to me. Lek was such an interesting character to me due to his feelings towards Kyoshi’s parents and the resentment she has towards them. That led them to have a very interesting dynamic. Then Lao Ge was probably one of the most intriguing characters of the Avatar universe. I can’t wait to see more of him and glean more information about him. I liked Kirima but she was definitely stronger in the second half of the book. Lastly, I didn’t dislike Wong but I didn’t feel like I knew him as a character.The bending in this book was so different from what we see in the show! It is way more precise and delicate and I would love to see it animated because it seems so cool and unique.I have to admit I was on the lookout for references to the original show(s) in this and I’m happy to report there are a few including two mentions of cabbages and what I think are hints to the existence of the White Lotus.Overall this was super fun, hit me right in the feel and made me so happy and excited to read more of it.You can also find me on Youtube