***first written in late 2020 and submitted to a previous Asian and Pacific Islander based LGBTQ+ organization I was involved with (I think the org is now defunct lol), that never did end up posting the following review. Long way to say, here it is on my site instead! ☺
This book predates the start of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Nickelodeon animated TV series created by both Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, by two Avatar generations (400 years ago) and focuses on the immediate trials and tribulations haranguing the newly-discovered Avatar, Kyoshi. Kyoshi’s troubled past and eventual growth into the statuesque and disciplined Avatar Kyoshi first introduced in ATLA, is detailed, as well as her growing burgeoning friendships around her.
I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I know I did when I hesitantly returned the online copy back to my local library. The book, in my opinion, is very much so written in the generic teenage melodramatic style so favored in Young Adult literature, yet the unique beauty of this particular compelling teenage coming-of-age story full of swashbuckling adventure and angst is precisely in it being set in the wondrous Asiatic world of the already established (and very universally cherished) Avatar universe. Even though some parts were a bit laggy, overall the storyline flowed pretty well and was a good and easy read until the end.
The struggles and subsequent anguish faced by the protagonist, Kyoshi, upon discovering her true identity as the Avatar, are analogous to the same heart-rending feelings of guilt and alienation felt by Aang’s pain of abandoning his people a decade ago in ATLA. The same intrigue of adventure, as well as the satisfaction of good story weaving, radiates from this book as it did visually with the TV series, and it is well worth the read. It takes you by surprise as soon as you are lulled into complacency with beautiful descriptions of the mountainous Earth Kingdom Outer Layer, or the freezing jets of sparkling Water Bended ice, and then, as if you are yourself shot with Blue lightning, you are left mouth agape, wanting to read the next Kyoshi book as soon as possible. Or maybe that’s just all me.
The love story is a fresh perspective; a tangent that I definitely had thoughts about as I was watching ATLA, was finally realized in this book, and I am… Pleased, to say the least. Heh. The new characters are interesting with lovable, quirky personalities, the historical context of the regions and the individual kingdoms are rich, and the gentle descriptions and depictions of the art and practice of the elements is always a joy to consume in any media.
I don’t think that you need extensive familiarity with more of the Avatar universe to enjoy this novel (I haven’t watched The Legend of Korra and I still thoroughly savored this novel.) Also, Fire Nation girls, am I right? ;-)
4.5/5
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