**I received this ARC from a third-party giveaway. In no way was I compensated for this review, and these are my honest opinions.**
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Release Date: October 10, 2017
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: 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.
I've been dying to read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns since I heard about it, and I was not disappointed! IT WAS SO GOOD, I don't even know what else to say honestly. We'll see how this review turns out.
Xifeng is beautiful, and her destiny is to become Empress of Feng Lu. However, to fulfill this destiny, she must accept her dark side, a darkness driven by her aunt who teaches her sorcery. In doing so, Xifeng has to spurn the man she has loved for ten years. But what is love when you can have power?
This book is marketed as "East Asian fantasy," but I believe it's Chinese mythology (I'm Vietnamese-American, so I can't say for sure). Anyway, the worldbuilding is exquisite; the five kingdoms, the religion, all of it is so detailed, it's like you're in the story itself. Of course, taking place in a royal court, politics are prominent. The intrigue Julie Dao sets up pulls you into the characters more.
Let it be said, I love Xifeng!!! She's an anti-heroine who is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants, no matter the cost. Since this is the start of her journey though, we do get to see her moments of doubt that ultimately end in her accepting her dark side. I loved the Empress too; Xifeng considers her weak because of her lack of hold over her husband, the Emperor, but she wields power in her own right. All the other characters were so well-written, especially Lady Sun, whose villainy stands in the way of Xifeng's ascendance to Empress.
The story doesn't really pick up till Xifeng arrives at court, which is about a third of the way through the story. I think I also didn't enjoy the first third because of Wei, the man Xifeng loves. All he wants to do is protect her, but I just kept thinking, Let her fulfill her destiny! Leave her alone! So yeah, I didn't like Wei much throughout the story.
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns was an amazing book. "East Asian fantasy twist on the Evil Queen" should be enough to pull you in, tbh. I didn't really understand how it was the Evil Queen story until the last chapter, but that was mostly because I was so distracted by all the other great stuff in the book. Come October 10th, I'll be picking this book up again, and I hope you'll join me if you like anti-heroines, East Asian fantasy, or fairy-tale reimaginings.
About the Author: Julie C. Dao is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York. She studied medicine in college, but came to realize blood and needles were her Kryptonite. By day, she worked in science news and research; by night, she wrote books about heroines unafraid to fight for their dreams, which inspired her to follow her passion of becoming a published author. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is her debut novel. Julie lives in New England.
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