Feiwel & Friends | 23 August 2022 | 352 pgs
Source: Purchased
[May contain spoilers of the first book, A Magic Steeped in Poison]
There are times that you loved the first book of a series so much so that you harbour lots of hope, anticipation and expectations for the next installment. That's how I felt with this duology - I loved the first book but this, not so much.
This book picks up where the first book left off with the return of the Banished Prince to take over the throne of Dàxi through the help of Chancellor Zhou's dark plots and conspiracies, leading to the people living in fear as many are poisoned and the court officials and disciples from the Wulin are being controlled by dark magic.
Although Ning is glad to be able to revive her sister, Shu, out of her deathbed after the tea poisoning, circumstances didn't get any better as they find themselves on the run together with the princess and her bodyguard. A boy Ning once fancied and trust leads to more complexity in their ambiguous relationship, for Kang is the son of the Banished Prince and while there's a sense of righteousness in his blood, the fact that their kinship remains.
While the first book is filled with the intrigue of the tea magic and the intensity of the competition among the Shénnóng-shi, this book lacks the two i's (intrigue and intensity) and on top of it the first half of the story moved slowly with nothing much happened except more court politics. The interactions among the characters were minimal too and while the alternative narratives between Ning and Kang gave the reader a glimpse of their inner mind, they weren't enough to make the story more engaging. The pace only picked up towards the last third of the story but then it came a bit too late and a bit too fast for wrapping up the whole story. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed this duology. I was entranced by the fantastical world of the tea magic as well as the role and the skills of the shénnóng-shi. I'd definitely want to read more of Judy I. Lin's books in future. Last but not least, I want to thank Lark for reading this book with me. Go visit her blog here and see what she thought about this book.
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Awesome review, Melody! You did a much better job of summarizing this book than I did. Thanks again for reading it with me. :D
Lark - Thanks, Lark! It was still a fun read despite the book was disappointing. Let's hope our next read will be a better one. :)
I occasionally read fantasy adventures. This seems like a good one.
https://bookdilettante.blogspot.com/
Nice review. I just read Lark's too and yes it seems this one just didn't have the oomph, sounds like, that the first one did.
Harvee - I don't read a lot of fantasy books but this was quite a refreshing read.
Greg - Thanks, Greg! The first book was good and yes, both of us were disappointed with this book. Hopefully her next one will be better.