[Review] Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

Series: Rise of the Empress #1

Rating: 5 stars

Published: October 10th 2017

Goodreads Synopsis:

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?
Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

FANTASTIC. Evil Queen retelling that has all the right levels of evilness. I love multifaceted characters, and even more so antiheroines/villains with so much depth to them.

Xifeng has been trained since birth to be the next Empress; however there are many factors holding her back. She has this dark power within her that she must use in order to fulfill her destiny.


So a bunch of people were saying this was pretty slow BUT I get where the slowness is coming from? For the most part, until Xifeng gets to the city, we see her as a passive main character so not much is happening. But when she does get to the city and install herself into the palace (through cunning and clever words) THAT IS WHERE IT ALL GOES DOWN. Xifeng's development from her meek, humble village girl to this lady sought to achieve power was so great (You're not suppose to like villains/antiheroes but Xifeng is an admirable sort).

Gonna have a little section over here for great Xifeng quotes.

"I am afraid to be without you. I am afraid to face this Fool without you by my side," she admitted. "But I have to believe I can follow my destiny on my own."

"...I want... I need to be more than what I am."
"You can be," the queen said, her eyes gentle. "You can be, without taking this murky passage set before you. Your Guma wants wealth and power, but that's not why you want to be Empress. What is your reason for wanting such a cage?"
"A cage protects. It sets apart what is inside," Xifeng hesititated. "I want to mean something to a great deal of people. I'm tired of being no one. As Empress, I would have the right to choose for myself. Guma could not command me, and Wei would not own me."

Kang waited for her on the ground level. Despite his customary simper, he surveyed her with quick, clever eyes. "You survived. They haven't broken you like a colt in the stable?"
"It is impossible to break me."

I love how Dao interweaves magic and the aspects of the original Snow White/Evil Queen tale that we all know into this lush East Asian inspired fantasy. Kang reminded me of the Magic Mirror. Jun is definitely the King. Obviously Xifeng is the Evil Queen (although the way these fairytales seem to go, there isn't a happy ending in the future??? But I really want her to have one). Xifeng's backstory with her aunt Guma was so carefully interwoven that when the plot twist comes, I didn't expect it at all.

When it comes to the side characters... I love Kang! His sneakiness and friendship with Xifeng was always entertaining to read. Empress Lihua - I pitied her and her mother-daughter like relationship with Xifeng. And Xifeng's relationship with Jun certainly was steamy and well-developed. I can't wait to see where it goes!

This has to be one of the books with a sequel I really am anticipating.