Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

3.5 Stars

So this one is difficult to review. I really struggled with the beginning of this book. I could not get into the story or the character's heads. It was not until we reached the Imperial Palace that every thing started to click and I could fully immerse myself in this story and that took a good 100 pages or so to happen. Now once I got over that threshold, this book became very enjoyable. I always love a book with a character you are supposed to hate but cannot help but love. In this case, it was more you understand where Xifeng was coming from and could relate to some of her wishes. This was not a Darkling situation where I love him as is. Xifeng was an interesting character. So many shades of gray to her character and her motivations. I'm really looking forward to what comes next, especially considering how this installment tied up so many things. I honestly have no idea where Julie C. Dao plans to go from here.

dnf at about ~%50

Good start but as it went on the main character annoyed me more and more. The way her moral dilemma was written was very shallow and describing her “evil” side as something that's almost like a possession or a curse felt really cheap. Unnecessary too, because her “good” side is selfish and uncaring enough to conceivably becoming more and more cruel as time went on. But at some point it starts to feel like that's not how the author intended it to read. For example I had assumed her constant harping about how she has no girl friends because other girls are jealous of her good looks was supposed to come across as shallow and prejudiced. But reading on it's clear she's supposed to be justified in believing that. Another example: despite constantly assuring herself/the reader that she loves Wei she never acts like she finds him anything more than a tool, once they're separated she doesn't think about him again. This would be good if she really is supposed to feel that way, but looking back I think the author intended that she really did love him. So it's really confusing for me that what I thought was good writing turned out to be my misunderstanding. Really should have stopped once the book beats you over the head with how she has an eeeevil inside her (as if it wasn't obvious!) complete with subtle symbolism of half her face being covered in shadow in her water reflection.

(Also one point that REALLY annoyed me, there is a little person character whose wife in an arranged marriage killed herself because she didn't want to be with him. This is written as the wife being shallow for not wanting to be with him. But seriously? The woman was forcibly married to someone she didn't want to be married to to the point she killed herself and I'm supposed to feel sorry for the husband?)

That said the book isn't terrible, I probably would have ended up giving it 2 stars (“it was okay” is not bad). Though it's hard for me to discern what it really deserves considering my earlier enjoyment seems to be borne out of my own misunderstanding of the authors intent. I also liked that the setting was east asian, though it wasn't explored much (and I can't imagine it will be in the rest of the book as I presume it's set in court) it's part of a series so there is plenty of opportunity to change that.

At last, a story set in Asia with proper world-building and lore, and not Asian in name only. Bless.This is definitely a guilty pleasure read for me because the protagonist, Xifeng, is an antiheroine of the pretty nasty type, yet I enjoyed her dark inner thoughts and the questionable decisions she made. If you find it hard to enjoy stories with protagonists that have sketchy morality, then maybe [b:Forest of a Thousand Lanterns 33958230 Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1) Julie C. Dao https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1496338822s/33958230.jpg 53186285] isn't for you... but I loved how unapologetically ruthless, selfish, and vain she is.From beginning to end, this book carries an ominous feeling as Xifeng leaves home and climbs to higher ranks in the court. It constantly gives off the feeling that something terrible is about to happen, even in the ending itself, and for this part it never disappoints.The writing, however, feels somewhat detached at times so during some of the most crucial moments it doesn't deliver the necessary emotions. It feels so strange when you're emotionally flatlining as you read through the deaths and heartbreaks of major characters, but hopefully this will improve in the next book.