I've seen this series recommended so many times on the internet, but have never picked it up. This post has definitely intrigued me and now I find myself needing to read this series desperately!
AFTG is certainly not for everyone and it took me a book or two to really get into it but if you like TRC there is a good chance you’d enjoy AFTG. It is dark and fucked up but I think it depends on what triggers you specifically and how you handle that kind of content. I grew up on high fantasy classics and those do not hold back so a lot of the stuff in these books are so-so for me…ALL was way harder bc that book makes you feel suicidal whereas I think this one just hurts your heart (not that ALL doesn’t also do that). Also most of the worst of it comes in books 2, 3 and now 4. I will say some of TSC feels reminiscent of ALL in a weird way… Book one is brutal in its own way but not nearly as bad as 2&3. I think it just depends on your comfort zone and what you’re looking for! It’s been such a comfort to me personally and even with all the violence I do strongly believe the heart of this series is full of goodness and life. But if you want an asian mafia book that isn’t quite as dark (still kinda dark tho) I highly recommend The Green Bone Saga!!
This series has entered my radar many times, but I have to be honest: I’m kind of scared to get into it. I’m close to The Raven Cycle and I’ve found that AFTG has a lot of overlap with TRC in terms of fandom and readership, which is surprising as TRC isn’t nearly as gritty or dark. Sometimes, I get the feeling that AFTG is what some readers wanted TRC to be (not in terms of story or magic, of course, but tone and characters), which also plays into the fanfic sphere and how fandoms portray certain characters VS how the authors do, etc.
Anyway, this is to say: I’ve been seeing the AFTG books pop up on my screen so many times, and I’m curious to check them out, but not brave enough to do so. I don’t know if it’s the darkness that scares me (just to put things in context, I could not finish reading A Little Life even if I was, well, really loving it), or if it’s something else. But a beautiful bind-up edition is going to come out in Italian soon, so I have to admit I’m at least a bit tempted.
I've seen this series recommended so many times on the internet, but have never picked it up. This post has definitely intrigued me and now I find myself needing to read this series desperately!
AFTG is certainly not for everyone and it took me a book or two to really get into it but if you like TRC there is a good chance you’d enjoy AFTG. It is dark and fucked up but I think it depends on what triggers you specifically and how you handle that kind of content. I grew up on high fantasy classics and those do not hold back so a lot of the stuff in these books are so-so for me…ALL was way harder bc that book makes you feel suicidal whereas I think this one just hurts your heart (not that ALL doesn’t also do that). Also most of the worst of it comes in books 2, 3 and now 4. I will say some of TSC feels reminiscent of ALL in a weird way… Book one is brutal in its own way but not nearly as bad as 2&3. I think it just depends on your comfort zone and what you’re looking for! It’s been such a comfort to me personally and even with all the violence I do strongly believe the heart of this series is full of goodness and life. But if you want an asian mafia book that isn’t quite as dark (still kinda dark tho) I highly recommend The Green Bone Saga!!
This series has entered my radar many times, but I have to be honest: I’m kind of scared to get into it. I’m close to The Raven Cycle and I’ve found that AFTG has a lot of overlap with TRC in terms of fandom and readership, which is surprising as TRC isn’t nearly as gritty or dark. Sometimes, I get the feeling that AFTG is what some readers wanted TRC to be (not in terms of story or magic, of course, but tone and characters), which also plays into the fanfic sphere and how fandoms portray certain characters VS how the authors do, etc.
Anyway, this is to say: I’ve been seeing the AFTG books pop up on my screen so many times, and I’m curious to check them out, but not brave enough to do so. I don’t know if it’s the darkness that scares me (just to put things in context, I could not finish reading A Little Life even if I was, well, really loving it), or if it’s something else. But a beautiful bind-up edition is going to come out in Italian soon, so I have to admit I’m at least a bit tempted.