When the Sea Turned to Silver
Pinmei lives in a peaceful village far away in the mountains with her grandmother and her friend, Yishan. One day, the peace is destroyed when the evil emperor comes and kidnaps her grandmother, who the emperor calls the "storyteller". Pinmei, along with Yishan, must embark on a perilous journey to the Luminous Stone, which may be the only key to save Pinmei's grandmother. However, the friends run into problems as they realize the emperor is more dangerous than initially thought.
I've read Grace Lin's books before but When the Sea Turned to Silver is probably one of my favorites. I felt that the amount of detail the author used really helped to illustrate a dramatic and heartwarming adventure between two friends. What I enjoyed most about this story was that Pinmei was written to have told many folktales to other characters, folktales that seemed almost unnecessary or random. However, in the end, readers can see how all of these folktales weave together to help create the ultimate ending.
Another thing I liked about this story was Pinmei's development over the course of her adventure. In the beginning, Pinmei is portrayed as someone who was shy around strangers. Readers can see the difficulty Pinmei went through when she first told a story in front of someone other than her grandmother and Yishan. However, after facing many trials, Pinmei becomes much braver and there is one scene where she stands up against greedy lords to save an abused servant. I enjoyed seeing how Pinmei was able to evolve throughout the story.
When the Sea Turned to Silver also touched onto some serious topics such as rulers abusing the amount of power they wield or tyrannical leaders mistreating their citizens. This could be seen many times throughout the story as the main antagonist, the emperor, often uses his power to hurt and kill others. While that does seem somewhat dark, I think that it helped balance out the humorous and fictional areas of the story.
There were so many aspects about When the Sea Turned to Silver that I liked and I could even write out a whole list. I think that this book was a good example of how the author was able to base the story somewhere with non-Western culture but still make it entertaining for everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fictional books with a traditional twist to go along with it.
I've read Grace Lin's books before but When the Sea Turned to Silver is probably one of my favorites. I felt that the amount of detail the author used really helped to illustrate a dramatic and heartwarming adventure between two friends. What I enjoyed most about this story was that Pinmei was written to have told many folktales to other characters, folktales that seemed almost unnecessary or random. However, in the end, readers can see how all of these folktales weave together to help create the ultimate ending.
Another thing I liked about this story was Pinmei's development over the course of her adventure. In the beginning, Pinmei is portrayed as someone who was shy around strangers. Readers can see the difficulty Pinmei went through when she first told a story in front of someone other than her grandmother and Yishan. However, after facing many trials, Pinmei becomes much braver and there is one scene where she stands up against greedy lords to save an abused servant. I enjoyed seeing how Pinmei was able to evolve throughout the story.
When the Sea Turned to Silver also touched onto some serious topics such as rulers abusing the amount of power they wield or tyrannical leaders mistreating their citizens. This could be seen many times throughout the story as the main antagonist, the emperor, often uses his power to hurt and kill others. While that does seem somewhat dark, I think that it helped balance out the humorous and fictional areas of the story.
There were so many aspects about When the Sea Turned to Silver that I liked and I could even write out a whole list. I think that this book was a good example of how the author was able to base the story somewhere with non-Western culture but still make it entertaining for everyone. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fictional books with a traditional twist to go along with it.
Sarah Guo
I think this is a really good review since it touches on many different aspects of the book. One point that I found particularly interesting was that the folktales, while seemingly unnecessary, weaved together to make the story more cohesive and have a better ending. I think this is a really good observation that not everyone would notice. I also liked that you pointed out some of the more serious topics of the book, as well as how they affected the plot and tone of the story. Overall, this is a really great review. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat review! I’ve been looking for more books to read, and When the Sea Turned to Silver sounds like one I would be interested in reading. Lin’s book sounds like a great combination of humour and adventure, two aspects I look for in books. Your review made it easy to understand the basic plot of the story, but without spoiling any of it. The folktales piece sounds interesting as well, especially since some of the books I’ve read recently have lacked twists and been extremely boring because of it.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you start off right with the summary and not an awkward introduction. I saw the first few sentences of your post as I was scrolling through the blog, and that was enough to make me want to read the rest. I like the idea of a story that has other folktales or stories inside of it, and I especially like when a lot of details from throughout a book culminate in a satisfying ending. Lastly, I like the way you connect this book to real world problems.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review - I will definitely read When the Sea Turned to Silver! Like people before me have said, this book sounds like it has a lot of interweaving of storylines, which always gives me chills. (Echo, anyone?) Again, I will definitely read this in the near future!
ReplyDeleteYES GOOOOO ECHO. ECHO WILL REIGN FOREVER!
DeleteAnyways, Sarah, thanks for the recommendation! Like Elan, I am very interested in interweaving stories (like Lovely War by Julie Berry) and I liked your concise summary. Grace Lin is one of my favorites and I will be sure to check this one out. Your review was easy on the eyes and kept them there, rather than tempting the reader to skip to the bottom! I'll be anxiously awaiting your next post!
I really enjoyed this review! It sounds like I would enjoy the book even more! I thought you did a great job concisely summarized with no spoilers and giving your opinions that are backed up. This sounds like a really interesting book and I will put this on my "to read" list. Thanks!
ReplyDelete