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sunbirdbooks's review
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, and War
keddy4306's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Torture, Pregnancy, and War
vespix's review
4.25
The translation wasn't the clearest at times. Luckily I had a fan translation at hand too, and decided to reread the first part in it after the flashback sequence. Interesting intrigue, great characters. I had a lot of fun.
Content Warnings
Minor: Ableism, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail
aromarrie's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
to think…i would have not touched this story for an even longer time if it wasn’t for a beautiful fanart i saw on tiktok….this was amazing :’)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Torture, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, and War
mal_eficent's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a surprising stand out from all the danmei I've read so far. I'm shallow enough that the cover put me off and I was a little worried that, like many Western historical romances, it would dive off into the deep end of historical anachronism.
Instead this was a beautifully written novel with a slowly building political set up (involving murder mysteries and ageing Emperors), and two wonderfully repressed leads who have lived horrible lives and are surprised to find love at the end. If you're a fan of political history dramas that verge slightly on the dramatic (think Tudors or Empresses in the Palace, not Reign) this will scratch that same itch. Golden Terrace has all the tension, and soft moments of romance, and court drama you could want– and historical bureaucracy that I love but understand might make parts of this feel a little dry and slow. Although Volume 1 is a lot of set up I have full faith that Cang Wu Bin Bai will deliver the pay off in Volume 2, and even if reading long descriptions of family history to set up why two people hate each other sounds like a dull time to you there's more than enough soft, romantic moments to make it worth it. I promise.
If you're new to danmei or historical Chinese novels, I'd recommend this as a good starting point. As someone who has watched a handful of historical dramas and read even less Chinese fiction, there was enough description and explanation of historical context that I didn't feel lost or confused at any point. I assume the footnotes added to each chapter are only found in the English translation and even those only added more context to specific phrases or historical facts. You could read the whole thing and not have to read the glossary or footnotes at all and I think it would still make sense. I do wish it had included a list of characters as well as a glossary, or some kind of timeline of the setting without relationship spoilers, as it was a little hard to keep track, but by the end I'd figured out who everyone was.
Unfortunately the series is a little hard to get in the UK not direct from the distributor (<a href="https://itascabooks.com/collections/vendors?q=Peach%20Flower%20House">Itasca</a>. Volumes are currently being reprinted (expected April 2023 - <a href="https://twitter.com/PFH_Blossom/status/1617937904193372175?s=20">tweet</a>), and I got mine by setting up restock alerts at Blackwells and Book depository and keeping an eye on Amazon (to my shame). However, Amazon EU might not be stocking them anymore due to the paper not meeting EU regulations (<a href="https://twitter.com/PFH_Blossom/status/1610697574704463886?s=20">tweet</a>). If you can track them down without spending an eye watering amount on printing, I really do recommend it!
Instead this was a beautifully written novel with a slowly building political set up (involving murder mysteries and ageing Emperors), and two wonderfully repressed leads who have lived horrible lives and are surprised to find love at the end. If you're a fan of political history dramas that verge slightly on the dramatic (think Tudors or Empresses in the Palace, not Reign) this will scratch that same itch. Golden Terrace has all the tension, and soft moments of romance, and court drama you could want– and historical bureaucracy that I love but understand might make parts of this feel a little dry and slow. Although Volume 1 is a lot of set up I have full faith that Cang Wu Bin Bai will deliver the pay off in Volume 2, and even if reading long descriptions of family history to set up why two people hate each other sounds like a dull time to you there's more than enough soft, romantic moments to make it worth it. I promise.
If you're new to danmei or historical Chinese novels, I'd recommend this as a good starting point. As someone who has watched a handful of historical dramas and read even less Chinese fiction, there was enough description and explanation of historical context that I didn't feel lost or confused at any point. I assume the footnotes added to each chapter are only found in the English translation and even those only added more context to specific phrases or historical facts. You could read the whole thing and not have to read the glossary or footnotes at all and I think it would still make sense. I do wish it had included a list of characters as well as a glossary, or some kind of timeline of the setting without relationship spoilers, as it was a little hard to keep track, but by the end I'd figured out who everyone was.
Unfortunately the series is a little hard to get in the UK not direct from the distributor (<a href="https://itascabooks.com/collections/vendors?q=Peach%20Flower%20House">Itasca</a>. Volumes are currently being reprinted (expected April 2023 - <a href="https://twitter.com/PFH_Blossom/status/1617937904193372175?s=20">tweet</a>), and I got mine by setting up restock alerts at Blackwells and Book depository and keeping an eye on Amazon (to my shame). However, Amazon EU might not be stocking them anymore due to the paper not meeting EU regulations (<a href="https://twitter.com/PFH_Blossom/status/1610697574704463886?s=20">tweet</a>). If you can track them down without spending an eye watering amount on printing, I really do recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Death of parent
Moderate: Murder and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, and War
smg's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Torture, Blood, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
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