Thank you Walker Books for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
Zhilan was assigned female at birth; despite an unusual gift for illusions, they know they will live out their life in the perfumed confines of the women’s quarters. But when civil war sets the country aflame, Zhilan is the only one who can save their disabled Father from death on the battlefield.
By taking his place.
Surviving brutal army training as a male recruit – Zhi – is only the first challenge. Soon Zhi’s unique talents draw them into an even more perilous fight, in the glittering court of the Land of Dragons, where love and betrayal are two sides of the same smile. The fate of an Empire rests on Zhi’s shoulders. But to win, they must first decide where their loyalty, and their heart, truly belongs.
Review:
I need to start off the book and say to the haters that writing nasty comments on Goodreads about this book, can we remember that this is a work of fiction. This is a god damn book and people should be allowed to write a book without every single nay sayer cracking the sads and having to jump in with their two cents when they probably haven’t read the book. If a book offends you get over it and get a cup of cement and harden the f up. If you keep getting offended by every single thing you are going to hate a lot more things in life then what you will enjoy and that is just a sad way to live.
The author’s intent is to write a story. A story. This isn’t a racist attack. It would be great if authors could stop getting attacked because people get offended by the wind. *eye roll* It is almost at that point where you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Don’t write about another culture, you get slammed for ignoring them. Write about another culture and apparently you did it all wrong.
Now that I have got that off my chest, let’s get back to the book at hand. This was actually a damn good read.
This was some small retelling of Mulan, which was great and I loved how this is another book to highlight Asian culture. Instead of bagging out another author who wrote about Asian culture, I’m standing here screaming for more books on Asian culture. I actually love the history behind Asian culture and have a great appreciation of anything along those lines, especially Japanese culture.
Besides there being a slight pie of romance in there, it didn’t subtract from the story. I’m not a romance kinda gal and I loved this!
The characters were epic. And I mean epic!! They are the kind of characters that you love and want to wrap up in a burrito and protect them while you tack them out for tacos.
I think if you ignore the negative comments and read the book for what it’s worth, then you may enjoy it
Rating: 4/5
Publisher: Walker Books
ISBN: 9781406388546