r1vana's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
After Xifeng finally becomes the Empress, her reign has only brought pain, sufferance, chaos.
Afternearly two decades, in Princess Jade’s pov, we get to see how she will conquer the now “fake” empress, not only take revenge on her mother’s place but also killing her mother figure and all the innocent women. The fake empress has been poisoning her husband little by little over the years to fake natural illness and is trying to do everything to produce a male heir and she is planning to kill Jade, the current sole heir of the empire.
With Wren and Koichi, she goes on a mission to find all relics to destroy Xifeng once and for all. HEA guarantee. Wished there was more to the epilogue.
I love jade relationship with Wren, while at first it was a rocky start, they have come to be protective and care as siblings. With Koichi, I like them together. Just wished that there were more scenes together since it felt like the chemistry was lacking. Maybe the author didn’t prioritize that; which is understandable.
And Wei’s appearance; I kinda of expected the “plot twist”.
Afternearly two decades, in Princess Jade’s pov, we get to see how she will conquer the now “fake” empress, not only take revenge on her mother’s place but also killing her mother figure and all the innocent women. The fake empress has been poisoning her husband little by little over the years to fake natural illness and is trying to do everything to produce a male heir and she is planning to kill Jade, the current sole heir of the empire.
With Wren and Koichi, she goes on a mission to find all relics to destroy Xifeng once and for all. HEA guarantee. Wished there was more to the epilogue.
I love jade relationship with Wren, while at first it was a rocky start, they have come to be protective and care as siblings. With Koichi, I like them together. Just wished that there were more scenes together since it felt like the chemistry was lacking. Maybe the author didn’t prioritize that; which is understandable.
And Wei’s appearance; I kinda of expected the “plot twist”.
Spoiler
his identity as Mang… but was not expecting him to actually kill Xifeng. It’s sad that all thoses years, he was still in love with the old Xifeng and was probably celibate…
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
le3713's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I enjoyed this book more than I expected! I read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns several years ago and remembered absolutely none of it. Nevertheless, with a brief refresher I was able jump right in to this one. I was initially uncertain whether the book would go deep enough -- I very much enjoy YA, but there were some moments where I would have liked more showing than telling. Nevertheless, I came to really care about the characters and found myself invested in the plot. I loved all the folktales that provided the backdrop to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
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