Started: 13/08/20
Finished: 17/08/20
Spoilers: No
I’m so pleasantly surprised by this book. I thought I would enjoy it purely for the Chinese inspired setting, as I’ve been devouring East-Asian fantasy lately, but this book is so much more than just a rich, cultural setting.
But also, the title and cover art are stunning. I swear, Asian inspired fantasies have the BEST covers going right now. Fight me on it.
Characters
So often when I read YA fantasy, my issue is with the heroine herself, cause YA heroines are just the worst sometimes. But I felt zero of my usual frustrations when it came to Hesina and I was actually rooting for her from the start. I wanted her to find the truth, find courage, find love, find whatever she needed in order to make it through this story unscathed.
Another thing I enjoyed a lot about Hesina was how, even though she fancied the pants off of Akira (and let’s be real, who wouldn’t) she didn’t spend her every waking minute thinking about him. She thinks about the things a queen would think about. She’s sensible, mature, though a little naive at first, she grows throughout the story and becomes a stronger character for everything that happens to her.
I loved Akira. Even though he isn’t seen that much really, I still kind of loved him. He was a totally mystery for so long, and even after finishing, I still don’t know that much about him, but I don’t care, cause I still love him. Somehow his character just hooked me, and I’d be flipping through pages, scanning to see when Akira was mentioned again.
Though there is a romance in this story, it doesn’t overwhelm the main story arc. It sits on the back-burner for a lot of the story, which only made me want it to happen more. This is how romance in YA should be written. Subtle and slow-burn and not shoved down our throats. I was willing something more to happened between Hesina and Akira.
Hesina, Akira, Lilian, Caiyan, and Sanjing are all fairly young characters, but I found myself ageing them up to their mid to late twenties in my head because they read so maturely. (Maybe because that’s my age and, tonally, they felt more like peers than a bunch of kids 10 years younger than me.)
In my head, for instance, I was quietly imagining hottie actor Kim Sung-Kyu as Akria, even though he’s too old to be Akira, it just felt right in my head to age the characters up. And I didn’t mind picturing Kim Sung-Kyu for the entire book. That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. ;)
The maturity of their ‘voices’ felt more relatable to someone of my age than I think it would to someone who is actually a young adult. It was really refreshing.
Plot
So it’s no secret that I haven’t read much YA fantasy recently. The genre has become a little stale to me. Everything feels samey, or melodramatic, or unoriginal.
This book, however, may just be the perfect cure to any YA slump. Not only is the world totally different to 90% of YA fantasies out there, and not only do the characters actually feel mature enough to think before acting, but the plot itself feels very smart. The level of politics in this book is on a whole ‘nother level. And, boy, I love me some politics.
The court intrigue is so well done, that Hesina genuinely felt like a young queen trying to find her feet, and not a spoilt YA heroine who feels like the world owes her something, like so many I’ve read before. The way she navigates the secrets, lies and games of politicking with her ministers was an utterly refreshing plotline, and I’m so glad it was explored in such detail.
Plot-twists abound! And they’re so well done. I can think of at least three plot-twists (though I think there’s more) and I didn’t guess a single one of them. They hit me completely out of nowhere, but didn’t feel forced for dramatic effect, but rather plausible revelations and situations.
For a 400 pages book, there’s so much meat to this plot. If we’re not focused on the trial of who murdered her father, the king, then we’re dealing with the social prejudices within Hesina’s city regarding sooths, all the while a war is brewing just beyond their borders. All of these things are explored in detail. There’s so much scheming and political intrigue that there’s literally no time for romance, which makes total sense!
Setting
The world-building in this book though… *chef’s kiss* It’s just divine. There’s so much to sink your teeth into. If you want East-Asian inspired fantasy, there’s literally no reason you wouldn’t like this book. The Chinese culture oozes through the pages in such a subtle, natural way, that makes the world so digestable and incredibly visual.
Every time I put this book down, I just wanted to pick it back up again. Normally when I feel this way it’s to return to characters, or a storyline, but in this wonderful case, it was to return to this rich, detailed world. Genuinely one of my new favourite fantasy worlds. It has so much to offer, so much more to be discovered. This feels like a world that has so many secrets to be discovered. I can’t remember the last time a fantasy setting had me this excited.
Writing Style
So returning to how maturely the characters read, that has everything to do with the writing. Though this is marketed as a YA book, but I think it has a broader appeal than that. This book could easily be enjoyed by adults/more mature readers due to the sheer focus on politics and the attention to detail regarding the world-building.
I never once felt like the author was writing down to her audience. Nothing felt simplified or obvious due to it’s younger readership. The writing is clever and mysterious and it makes you work to figure out the twists, whatever age you are.
In terms of readability, it’s a very clean and easy read. No difficult prose, but just enough to be vividly descriptive and bring the world to life. A fast read, very well paced, with something interesting happening near constantly.
I’ve also got to comment on the wonderful use of Chinese language in the book. Peppered throughout the book are Chinese words, be it clothes, furniture, weapons, or social practices, it all helps immensely to make this world what it is. It adds so much culture and a sense of tradition to, not only the world and characters, but the writing itself. Every time I came across a word I didn’t recognise, I’d google it to find out what the clothes or furniture looked like. And as all the Chinese words were in italics, it really helped set those words apart from the others, and made them something special. I loved it.
Final Impression
On finishing, I immediately took to the internet to see if a sequel was forthcoming. I want one. I need one. This has quite easily become one of my favourite YA books.
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