I’m a sucker for an East Asian fantasy, and I’ve been so excited to dive into this duology for so long! After finishing the first book though, I’m a little torn on how I feel about it so far. 😶🌫️
On the one hand I absolutely love the world that Amelie Wen Zhao has created. The conflicts between the Mo, the Immortals, and humans really caught my attention right off the bat. I also really enjoyed all the different people, creatures, and beasts that Àn’yīng meets during her time in the trials, and the overall atmosphere throughout perfectly captured that mythical/folklore vibe that I adore.
However, I really struggled to get on board with Àn’yīng as an FMC. When we first meet her she’s this strong, independent young woman, who’s spent the last 9 years fighting to protect and provide for her family. But as soon as she enters the Immortal Trials it feels like she spends the rest of the book needing to be constantly saved by people around her – whether that be the MMCs or her friends – and it got a bit tiresome after a while. I was really rooting for her to continue being this beautifully strong FMC who could hold her ground against other people in the trials, but any time she came up against danger of any kind she immediately falters and needs someone to step in to save her.
Her attitude towards Yú’chèn (a half Mo) also started to grate on me quite quickly. Its intended to be an enemies to lovers romance, and whilst I understand that she despises the Mo for what they’ve put her and her family through, Yú’chèn saves her and helps repeatedly throughout the trials without asking anything in return and she constantly flip flops between being grateful for his help, and spitting pure hatred and distrust at him. Honestly I was surprised that he didn’t just up and abandon her, he just sort of… takes it… 🥲
All that being said something about the writing really hooked me in and I found myself unable to put it down. I’ll definitely be reading The Dragon and the Sun Lotus to find out how the story ends, and I’m hopeful for there being some more development from the characters! 🌸
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