I was incredibly excited for this one, but unfortunately I found it was a little too messy and underdeveloped in key areas. The quest/save-the-prince plot was simple and straightforward enough, but the characters, worldbuilding, prose, and attempted romantic mystery element all fell extremely flat for me.

I appreciated the normalization of queer relationships and the elements of Korean culture and history present in the book. At the same time, though, the Korean-influenced elements were often jarring. Korean words and their English counterparts would be used interchangeably, and I couldn't quite shake the feeling that this was just a weakly-researched historical fiction book with magic and a couple of name changes. (Disclaimer: I am Korean, speak the language, and have studied Korean history, so my reading experience could have been affected by my preexisting knowledge.)

Additionally, the magic felt slapdash and strange. It took me until the 75% mark to get a decent grasp of the various elements introduced here—elemental magic, time magic, gods?, zodiac beads, soul stealing, black water... It was just too much. I still don't really understand Mirae's powers beyond the time shifting ability. I really thought quite a few of these magic systems were unnecessary or could have been condensed in some way. This was probably my largest issue with this book as a whole: too many ideas and not enough context or justification for any of them. The awkward pacing of reveals also made it so that key magical elements were introduced way late into the book, which made things even more of a jumble. Not everything needs to be a dramatic reveal; clarity > intrigue.

I think I might have just come in with high expectations, hence my strong disappointment. I love seeing my culture represented in secondary world fantasy, so I hope this book finds its readers elsewhere, but it just wasn't for me.

This book blew me away. Jeong is one to watch for and this book proves as such. The blend of fantasy and history was interesting two fold.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

And Break the Pretty Kings by Lena Jeong is a Korean-inspired YA fantasy set during ancient times. The story revolves around Mirae, who is about to become the empress of her kingdom. She's been training and is able to use various magical powers. However, everything goes wrong, when her brother is taken and an old enemy appears. Can Mirae save her brother and her kingdom?

Here is an exciting excerpt from Chapter 1:

"Summoning fire was easy. Mirae had been studying the manipulation of the four elements her whole life. Scorching the woman in front of her, however, was something she hadn’t managed even once in the past three months.
Nevertheless, Mirae raised a hand to the heavens as if pulling fire from the sun. A small, white-hot orb appeared in her palm before its sharp heat could blister her skin, Mirae lobbed it with all her strength at her opponent."

Overall, And Break the Pretty Kings is an #ownvoices YA fantasy that will appeal to fans of Kat Cho's Wicked Fox or Avatar: The Last Airbender. One highlight of this book is the use of Korean mythology. I don't often see YA fantasy books based on Korean mythology, so it was great to read this one. Another highlight of this book is the beautiful imagery,. In particular, I adored the descriptions of fabric and jewelry in the book. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of YA fantasy in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in June!

There was just enough of the plot and story to keep me interested but not enough to get me really immersed into the story. There was some twists which kept things intriguing.

This was such a great read! I absolutely loved this story and characters which is why I flew through this book. The plot was exciting and full of twists and turns. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.

This was a little slow to hook me at the beginning, but once it got going, it really got going. My only question is, will there be another book, because...man...that ending! Don't go into this book expecting a satisfying ending because just as the action is really starting, the book is over! But what a ride it is, and I have hope that there will be more and I'll be able to find out what happens next!

this is....fine? like it's not bad! it's not showstopping either. it's fine! it's very standard ya world building (read: not as much as the author thinks there is) and stock characters.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children’s for the opportunity to read rage and review this book which is out June 20,2023

I could not connect with the story. I did not like it. It dragged and made no sense in some places

And Break the Pretty Kings has a lot of potential, with its headstrong protagonist, high-stakes plot, and complex world building. Unfortunately, there is simply so much going on in the book, from the characters' backstories to the country's history to the ever-changing plot and predictions and multitude of attempted plot twists that the main emotion I experienced while reading was confusion. I don't know what to say, besides that a more heavy-handed developmental editor might have been able to draw out the gem of the story that's clearly at the heart of this, but that didn't happen.

Jeong gives a good attempt at world building, but the way the information is imparted isn't always clear. There are times the protagonist alludes to things about history or politics or religion that are just hints of what's going on, but it's not until later in the novel that a full explanation is given, leaving readers to kind of guess and fill in the blanks in the meantime. And then there's the fact that things keep changing. Some of this, I believe, is because the protagonist is supposed to be wrong about some things. So, for instance, she starts the novel talking about the apparently obvious gods-given destiny of her family to "unite the peninsula," and it isn't until later readers get a fuller picture that this might be wrong and maybe not even ordained by the gods. (But maybe it IS ordained by the gods. As I said, it's not clear!)

The author also attempts to add some suspense and plot twists, but to me it just makes everything more crazy and confusing. One gets the idea there's a love interest. But wait, maybe it's another guy. Or possibly a third guy. And there there . . . isn't actually a romance in the book at all. Just hints that the protagonist will have a love interest in her future. One of three guys, maybe. The same thing happens with the villain. One guy's the villain, then he's not? Or maybe he is? This stuff didn't really "keep me on my toes" or keep me engaged; it just seemed wild because something I and the protagonist believed was true changed page by page. There wasn't enough build-up between the changes.

Finally, I'm not sure about the magic. There's a whole magic system developed, which seems fine overall. The weird part is that the protagonist is supposed to have legendary, unparalleled magic, the type of powers predicted by the gods to be the great salvation or the great downfall of a nation, something no one has seen before that everyone should fear! The reality is a letdown. the protagonist only uses the power a handful of times, and it's not really a *magic* or an action, in some sense. There's no way to predict what using her power will result it. It's an interesting idea, but not really impressive in the way the author seems to have intended.

The book is fine. I think a lot of people will love it. I was largely confused and not really invested. The ending strongly implies there will be a sequel, though I haven't seen any information about that yet. I, for one, will not be reading it.

There is way too much going on with this one. I was so confused because of the time jumps. It made it feel all over the place. I was only able to make it through 30% and gave it up. I wish I could have been into it because you don't come across any Korean inspired stories anymore. At least in the YA world.

tl;dr
High action and big plot points propel the story forward in a book packed with magic and Korean lore. No romance(?), and supporting cast don't receive much attention.

Thoughts
There's a lot going on in this one. We've got politics, warring nations, prophecies, magic, mysterious histories, backstabbing, Korean mythology, and a variation on time travel that promises things are going to get a lot more complicated in the future. The time travel in particular makes the story feel like the first episode in a long and sprawling epic. Mirae is a confident lead with power to spare, and dedication to her loved ones. She refuses to compromise, a point that I (and the other characters) love and hate in equal measure. She also has a lot to learn, as the myriad of plot twists and big reveals show that her life and her world aren't as cut and dry as she was raised to believe. I appreciated the moments where the narrative slows down a bit to let her sort through these revelations, because the rest of the story moves fast. And yet for all the things packed in here, there is - weirdly - no romance. That's not a dealbreaker for me by any means, and I wouldn't even call it weird except for the fact that the narrative seems to imply there SHOULD be a romance. A handful of characters look like romantic candidates until they don't. The main character might have a lover in the future, or maybe she doesn't. It's a strange bit of non-committal writing for a book that otherwise seems incredibly confident in its choices. Aside from that, expect a book filled with magical lore, action, and many many twisty twists in the plot.

4.25/5 stars! This fantasy retelling of Three Kingdoms of Korea really incorporates Korean fables and was an interesting read. The world-building in this story was phenomenal and I found myself being pulled into the adventure and fantasy. A really enjoyable read and I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Such a refreshing fantasy with a no-nonsense lead and brilliant worldbuilding. Looking forward to what Lena Jeong does next!

I wanted to enjoy this one but I found the plot, story, and characterizations hard to follow and not really resonate the best for me at times.

I made it 56% through this book and realized it most certainly not for me.

I've been watching a lot of cdramas and I was so excited to grab ahold of this Asian fantasy! It promised a lot of time-hopping and a girl trying to rescue her brother. No romance but that's not a bad thing per-se.

But man, I would have liked SOMETHING in this book to make it more than boring.

The daughter of a current monarch is going to be part of a ceremony in which one of three gods will bestow upon her a power. Also, bear in mind, there is a prophecy that a girl will be the one to save them all from a evil deceiver that they locked away years and years ago.

The ceremony goes wrong, the eldest brother gets kidnapped by the neighboring kingdom and the evil has escaped.

This book is absolutely messy. You have no idea what he clear plot or motivations for the characters are. There is world-building but itself is confusing where you don't quite understand why there is a war going on between the two kingdoms - and why does it really matter?

There is a lot going on without any real depth or time spent with the characters. The princess also has commoner friends who show up as plot devices to help the princess sneak into the neighboring kingdom.

Oh and that time jumping? It only has happened twice so far. Whomp whomp.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.