#thehandtheeyeandtheheart

[shadyworldxx]

The Hand, The Eye and The Heart - Review

  The world itself is exactly what we can expect from a story like this one. It is a powerful empire set in the past with misogynist rules and a lack of fresh ideas and thoughts. It is without a doubt full of adventure and danger. Its atmosphere is perfect for the story and I quite liked the elements of it that helped put together the story.   The plot! It was amazing and I was not expecting to like it so much! It was good, not phenomenal or something I'll be raving about for days but it was interesting. A plot I already knew from Mulan but with a twist of its own. It is the Mulan story the LGBT+ community has been waiting for. The story I've needed and didn't even know. I feel seen and represented within this Universe that is fantasy. Our main character is a non-binary bisexual. Her love interest is pansexual.   Zhi is non-binary. He\She is not female or male. He\She is something else. Before this book, I had never understood what that meant exactly and how someone could simply not be male or female. This book definitely opened my eyes. Seeing Zhi's struggle to understand who he\she is and where he\she fits made me realize what that was like. I had never read a book with a non-binary character before and I'm glad I read this one.   Wu Jiang almost forgot about him. At first, I was expecting and liking his attentions towards Zhi (kind of reminds me of Tamlin from ACOTAR now that I think of it) and I wanted nothing but to see her fall for him. But as I read on I started to feel a little irritated with it and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. And then I knew. He was courting her without trying to get to know her. They didn't share a single conversation or intimate moment. I try to dismiss it because it was a book and maybe they would share something later on or he would show knowledge of her possessed only by observing. But then Zhi realized that he saw 'her' as nothing more than a fantasy, an object so precious and rare he had to have it. And I knew.   I liked how the characters connected with each other and how each one was very much its own self and how they were not similar between them... sometimes an author will be so used to a certain type of characters or more focused on their role in the story that character's personality will lack. But not in this book! I loved the characters! Normally when I read a book, the most important aspect for me are the characters and this book definitely made me happy on that front!   There aren't a lot of ships in this book, I'm used to being tons of ships in fantasy books! Romance doesn't take a very central role in the story and that was refreshing to read (although I do love me some romance). I think that the ships we got are well constructed and believable. First we get Zhi and Wu Jiang (after he finds out Zhi's not a boy) which at first seems cute but in reality, he sees Zhi as no more than a trophy, a wife and a mythical being he needs to have. And then we have Yang Jie and Zhi... which is a whole other story! I mean... wow, I was NOT expecting that! Amazing! And throughout the whole book not once do they make a big deal of people liking same-sex people. Like no one bothered if a boy liked a boy or a girl liked a girl. Fantastic! This is the type of society I want to live in... this is what I hope for the future.   I want to give it 5 stars but it wasn't a 5 stars read. I want to give it 5 stars for the characters and the relationships, not the plot itself. It was good I loved it, but the 'human' aspect of the story is what drew me. So I ended up giving it like 4.5\4.75 stars out of 5. Pretty good I would say!   For me, the strongest point was without a doubt the characters and all the LGBT+ representation. I like the way this story gives power to women. The world itself is against it and puts women in a position of subordinates but the story defies that role. We have a woman emperor. A woman legend. A woman warrior. Woman power.   The weakest point for me was the end... I feel that it was a little rushed and that we could've had a few more chapters to see it end properly and in its own time. It was good nonetheless but a little too fast!   I totally recommend this book! I was not expecting to like it so much but more than that what really hooked me was how Zhi's non-binary gender was explained and how it opened my eyes and made me realize what it really was.

[walkerbooksya]

#HappyPubDay to ‘The Hand, The Eye & The Heart’ by Zoë Marriott. A beautiful LGBTQ+ retelling of the ancient Mulan myth. Order yours now!

[vijolcenne]

Emotional Influences in Perception and Attention #❤️ #👁 The Hand • the Eye & the Heart • The greatest battle is to be who you are... #corazon #eye #hearthstone #heartwitheye #thehandtheeyeandtheheart #heartseye #dailypractice (presso EyeHeart) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2RiGAcIaAK/?igshid=1inoh1kl1ymvl

[thewitchestheycouldntburn-blog]

Someone pleeeease tell me I’m not insane. . This is my TBR for the #mythtakereadathon (a two week readathon 🤦‍♀️). I want to read all the books on this pile and I couldn’t decide which ones to focus on, so I’m going to try to rush through them all. Also, some of them are library books, so they sort of need including too... . The Hand, The Eye & The Heart - The book of the month - Asian influences The Children of Jocasta - Mythology retelling The Blue Salt Road - Animal on the cover Gumiho/Wicked Fox - Host recommendation - Written by a POC Tangleweed and Brine - Written by a woman The Kingdom of Copper - Green on the cover - Over 400 pages . Whilst there are six on here, a couple of them are shorter, so I have my fingers crossed I’ll be okay! There are also a lot that overlap, so I know which books are my priorities and which I’ll be able to get away with not finishing. . I’ll be taking advantage of the collaboration with the #basicallyreadathon too - while I won’t be reading a book that’s been on my TBR forever, I’ll definitely be trying to read as much as I can! . At #yalc on Friday, I got my copy of The Hand, The Eye & The Heart signed. Zoe Marriott’s talk was so interesting (more to come on that later) and OF COURSE I told her that it was the #mythtakereads book of the month in August - she was so excited! . . . . #books #bookpile #toberead #bookstagram #tbr #book #reading #booksofinstagram #thehandtheeyeandtheheart #thechildrenofjocasta #thebluesaltroad #wickedfox #tangleweedandbrine #thekingdomofcopper #bookish #booklover #reader #bookblogger #bookblogging #mythologyretelling https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gZAZrgvHw/?igshid=by2j8dh38mdy

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapter 31 - Epilogue #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapter 31 - Epilogue "It is a struggle to put down." #ThTEandTHReadalong @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapters 12 – 14 Chapters 15 – 17 Chapters 18 – 19 Chapters 20 – 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapters 25 – 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30

Chapter 31:

So I can’t really talk about the story part without spoilers, instead I will say that I thought gender identity conversation was good.

BTW, the cliffhanger…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapter 29 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapter 29 has SPOILERS... #ThTEandTHReadalong @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapters 12 – 14 Chapters 15 – 17 Chapters 18 – 19 Chapters 20 – 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapters 25 – 27 Chapter 28

Chapter 29:

Taking a step back and leaving my emotional self on the other side of the room (she still wants to rage about things) – this is a really good chapter.

Zhi works through things and as…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 25 - 27 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 25 - 27 #ThTEandTHReadalong Oh Zhi what did you get into? @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapters 12 – 14 Chapters 15 – 17 Chapters 18 – 19 Chapters 20 – 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24

Chapter 25:

Oh Zhi what did you get into?

Also I’m still not ok…

  But we are going to but that aside to talk about Zoë’s underground / cave obsession. Should there be a concern here? The Name of the Blade series had and…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 20 - 22 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 20 - 22 #ThTEandTHReadalong Well now this is a pickle isn't it. @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapters 12 – 14 Chapters 15 – 17 Chapters 18 – 19

Chapter 20:

Where is Yang Jie? He’s not appeared for a while and I miss him.

  Chapter 21:

Well now this is a pickle isn’t it.

  Chapter 22:

Ugh, ok so there is a telling moment in this chapter. It’s when Shu Yuen gets dismissed. For each time Wu Jiang does…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 15 - 17 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 15 - 17, Just 💔#ThTEandTHReadalong @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapters 12 – 14

Chapter 15:

Just 💔

  Chapter 16:

Dear Zoë, I am most displeased about Yang Jie. My emotions are not to be toyed with…Actually I suppose they are. That’s what authors do.

Ok, I will let Yang Jie alone for know. I fully reserve the right to heul about this some more.

  Let’s talk story.…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 12 - 14 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 12 - 14 "Hmmm. Much hmmmm..." #ThTEandTHReadalong @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11

Chapter 12:

Didn’t I tell you?!!!

  Chapter 13:

I should be concerned that I am happy with the outcome of this chapter? What does that say about me?

  The last 2 chapters have set up the next big turning point in the story. The training is done, Zhi has proved themselves, now it is onward into… Well…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapter 11 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapter 11 #ThTEandTHReadalong The swordplay is written so elegantly. @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Chapter 11:

The opening of this chapter was a bit like a pissing match of male ego. There could be context, we don’t know. What we do know is that Zhi ends up a pawn in the power play.

  The rest of the chapter is beautiful. The swordplay is written so elegantly. You can see the movements, it’s cinematic and a…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapter 10 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chptr 10 #ThTEandTHReadalong We are introduced to Wu Jiang aka Golden Boy @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8 Chapter 9

Chapter 10:

Three months have passed and oooooh so many things.

  I am really hopeful re Yang Jie. All signs indicate that he is a good friend. There are little hints that there are secrets we are still to find out but I don’t see anything that means he’ll be disloyal to Zhi.

Captain Lu is still awful.

  We are now…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapter 9 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapter 9: Emergency insert for outrage!!! #ThTEandTHReadalong @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6 Chapters 7 – 8

Chapter 9:

Emergency insert for outrage!!! Chapter isn’t finished, but I’m not even through Captain Lu’s speech and I LOATHE that man. That vile, despicable, disgusting- *swearing has been censored* If he ends up dead I will not feel bad. Dear Zoë Marriott please do not make him be someone I have to feel bad about because he is vile…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 7 - 8 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 7 - 8 #ThTEandTHReadalong "Oh Zhi...." @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapters 4 – 6

Chapter 7:

Oh Zhi….

I’m Liking Yang Jie. And my assumption is that Captain Lu is going to make regular appearance to infuriate me.

  Chapter 8:

The fun begins… This is a chapter of inadvertent missteps and their consequences.

Zhi is in the spotlight. Captain Lu is none too pleased and I am back to questioning training methods. *mini spoiler…

[lunaslittlelibrary]

The Hand, The Eye and the Heart read along: Chapters 4 - 6 #ThTEandTHReadalong

Chapters 4-6: #ThTEandTHReadalong Oh I did not see that coming... @ZMarriott @WalkerBooksYA

Previous: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4:

Oh I did not see that coming. Did you?

Side note: I have tea.

  Chapter 5

I like this, very much. Yes let this be how it goes….

  Chapter 6

This is good. Isn’t this good? Who else is super happy about this twist for Zhi joining the army?

Admittedly there is a part of me that wanted to see (read) the conversation between Zhi’s parents because all the…