Happy Tuesday!! I hope that you have all had a fantastic start to your week. I have! I have been following a ketogenic lifestyle for a while now, lost a total of about 50lbs. I gained some back over the holidays since I went off the path of this lifestyle. But…I am not back on. Once I lose another 5lbs I’ll be my high school weight again which I haven’t been since I fell off the wagon, and before that…since before my dad passed away my senior year of high school (10 years ago). I am so happy to be getting back into this healthy lifestyle. When it warms up here I will begin running. April will be another surgery, this time to remove the screw from each hip. But…overall, I am incredibly happy that we are living such a healthy lifestyle.
Speaking of healthy lifestyle, aside from eating right I am working my brain by reading so much! I am aiming to read a total of 100 books this year and so far, so good. I am one book ahead of schedule, thanks to my discovery of audiobooks. They really are a lifesaver when I have to children running around and little free time. What is your favorite audiobook? I will be doing a post about Hoopla and Libby soon! Be sure to watch for that, especially if you do not know what these are!
Well, on to the book review…shall we?
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1)
Author: Julie C. Dao
Published: October 10th, 2017
Publisher: Philomel Books
Book Length: 363 Pages
Genre: Fantasy (YA)
Rating: ♥ ♥
Buy the book: Amazon
An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress–and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?
Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
I think that Dao’s worldbuilding was one of, if not the sole strongest aspect of her novel. The Asian influences on the world around her characters were beautifully written. The fact that this influence was even used in naming her the characters made me smile. I do love Asain culture and seeing it extended even to the characters made me happy. The imagery used to describe the surroundings in the story was vivid and I could picture the events actually occurring as the beautiful scenery surrounded me.
It is a Snow White retelling, but it does take a bit to really get into those details that really make that clear to the reader. That being said, I enjoyed her twist on the classic story.
Xifeng: Ugh…I just don’t know about her. She was beautiful and I loved how dangerous she could be but I just wanted more. I wanted to know her background a little bit more. All I know is her mother (well the woman who raised her), Guma, told her that she was meant to be Empress to Emperor Jun. I am confused why Xifeng was so obsessed with this, I understand that she respected Guma but why has this become her sole focus in life? She goes to such lengths, even giving up those she cares about simply to get into the palace. I just do not understand her reasoning behind this, I could not connect with her on a deeper level.
Wei: I don’t really have much to say about him. His jokes made me laugh at times but most of them were sexist and he was incredibly closed minded. Just not the type of character I enjoy.
There were other characters throughout the book but I really did not connect with any of them, their stories just did not interest me.
I think what hurt my opinion of this book the most was my lack of interest. The story just failed to grip me the way I hoped it would. If I am not interested in the story or invested in its characters, chances are that I will struggle to finish it. Overall it might be a great read for you but it just wasn’t for me.
Would you read this novel? Buy it or borrow it? If you have read it, what did you think?
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Aw, total bummer.
Yea, sometimes a book just doesn’t fit everyone’s tastes and that’s ok. I have read many reviews where people loved this one, it just wasn’t for me.
Sorry this one didn’t work for you! I own a copy and hope it works for me when I get around to reading it!
It might!! I hope it does