This book was a bit of a roller coaster. It started off really strong, but then slowed right down and became bogged down. Then, near the end, the pace picked up again. While the story interested me while I was reading, I had a hard time finding the desire to pick the book up. I am glad that this was a buddy read, as it motivated me to continue. I think if it had been a bit more condensed and some of the characters more fleshed out it would have caught my attention more. I love the mythology that this story is based on, and I absolutely love Xingyin as a character. She was fantastic and her decisions tended to make sense in terms of her desires to free her mother (maybe not so much when it came to Prince Liwei). I really liked Wenzhi, Shuxiao, and the court that resides by the Eastern Sea. I thought that the adventure there was one of the best parts of the book and really helped to show growth in Xingyin's character. I even liked the twists and turns the author decided to take, and the ability of this book to make you question who is good and who is bad. There is no black and white, both the Celestial Realm and the Demon Realm have evil within them and a need for power. My biggest issue with this novel was the characterization of Prince Liwei. He was so contradictory and seemingly "good", only to continuously hurt Xingyin. It did not feel that he really had Xingyin's interests at heart and his storyline felt flat and unrealistic. Their power imbalance, his anger at her intentions for saving her mother, his constantly placing himself in her life after her asking him for space, his not liking the court system but then completely upholding it; these were just some of the instances that made me dislike him. This was a romance that I felt did not work and everytime Xingyin waffled over him I became angry for her (and sometimes at her). I wonder how this kind of relationship could ever survive. I think a little more focus on some of the other characters in the next novel would really elevate it. Tan's writing is very beautiful though, poetic and powerful. I am intrigued to see where the next book will go, since this book felt like it could have been a standalone.
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