XIRAN JAY ZHAO THE GENIUS YOU ARE.
i have no clue why i didnât read this earlier but boy did i love this book!!!!!!
disabled rep in the form of both zetian & shimin? check. feminine rage? check. great dialogue? check. world building that makes sense? check. a love triangle that doesnât feel forced and is resolved in an interesting way? check. loveable anti-hero as a protag? check. grungy elements that make this YA book feel like itâs pushing the boundaries of YA fantasy? check. check check checkkkkkkk
god i loved zetian. honestly sheâs up there as one of my fav protags from literature. i always love a female protagonist who pushes against societyâs rules and transcends beyond what is expected of her. plus she felt so rational, and i love that her character development wasnât focused on her letting go of her rage!!!!! let women be angry and murder lots of men (in fictional books)!!!!!! i really enjoyed the plot and all its progressions and developments. the action scenes felt so real, and although i found it really hard to picture things such as the chrysalises & spirit armourâŚ. i was having way too much fun to let the fact i didnât have a super clear picture affect my experience reading this.
iâm not a fan of love triangles tbh and they fucking piss me off but the way this one was handledâŚ.. chefs kiss. yet again XIRAN JAY ZHAO YOUR MIND. i wish the âresolutionâ of the love triangle (iykyk) was a bit more fleshed out and had time to breathe before the ending, and i hate when books are such a clear set up to a sequel. babes give me some form of resolution my god!!!!!!! but honestly with how much fun i had i canât really complain, but i imagine those who read this when it first released would be fuming about the ending. it felt rushed. defo didnât feel like it came out of nowhere butâŚ.. idk it felt Too Fantastical. the ending defo follows zetianâs established personality and motivations, but it feels like it.. wouldnât be possible in universe. possible as in⌠yeah that could happen logisticallyâŚ. but in reality would it be able to work? idk.
but god this book literally scratches every itch i love in a book.
in less than 400 pages, xiran jay zhao has cemented themselves as one of my favourite authors. plus they get bonus points for being a fellow nonbinary baddie. cant wait to see what chaos zetian causes in the next book đź