Book Blog #383: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

 

Title: Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, Vol. 1

Author: Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù

# of Pages: 401 (ebook)

Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Synopsis: Born the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom, Xie Lian was renowned for his beauty, strength, and purity. His years of dedication and noble deeds allowed him to ascend to godhood. But those who rise, can also fall...and fall he does, cast from the Heavens again and again and banished to the mortal realm. Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time. Now only a lowly scrap collector, he is dispatched to wander the earthly realm to take on tasks appointed by the heavens to pay back debts and maintain his divinity. Aided by old friends and foes alike, and graced with the company of a mysterious young man with whom he feels an instant connection, Xie Lian must confront the horrors of his past in order to dispel the curse of his present.

Review: I was pitched that this story was a gay romance, which is why I wanted to give this story a shot since I was craving a good romance. But somehow I ended up reading a fantasy-adventure horror comedy instead?

I wouldn't even call this first volume of this series romance; when they say it's slow burn, they mean across the WHOLE series apparently. But I didn't even have an issue with the romance being slow burn (it actually is moving faster than I expected). The bigger issue is that the plot is ALSO slow.

My dislike for this book could also be chalked up to a bad translation. There's a lot of concepts/terminology that weren't translated in a way that's easy for the reader to understand without having some Chinese cultural/historical knowledge, and the prose was choppily written to the point where I had to reread sections that were phrased weirdly. 

I also did not expect this book to actually be a poorly written YA. Any mysteries are revealed in long monologues by one of the characters, and it's just not engaging nor organic to be told rather than shown the whole plot. 

I'm curious on if the romance progresses in the latter books. The male love interest is actually a character I really liked (very cool yet soft personality), and he was one of the more redeeming parts of the book. However, I'm still undecided on whether I'll continue reading (definitely need a break after slogging through this one). I wouldn't recommend this book. 

Book Blog #382: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

 

Title: The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

# of Pages: 387 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful. Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves. Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House. But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince. To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death...and love.

Review: Reading The Poet Empress made me feel like I'd been punched in the gut.

As an enjoyer of imperial court dramas (shout out to K-dramas Empress Ki and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, and even the video game Road to Empress), this seemed like something right up my alley. I love it all, particularly the court politics that is inevitably tied up with some romance plot with a prince or a king. 

If you didn't know anything about this book going in, it's easy to see how this book could be no different; some romance book mixed with crafty deceit. The author Tao actually does a great job in telling this story in a way that makes it incredibly obvious where she COULD have leaned into the romance aspect of the story (it was practically writing itself in my head). But while she toes this line with her writing, don't be fooled: this is NOT romance. 

This book is actually about power, family, and duty. There's the power struggle and the court politics that I love. While Frozen (yes the Disney movie) is a VERY different story, The Poet Empress is similar in that there's a significant focus on complex sibling relationships. They also both do a great job at demonstrating that stories about sibling love can be just as captivating as those about romantic love.

By at least 50% in, the story will have you hooked and racing to the end. The story is told non-linearly, so I initially was skeptical that I was going to like this book. I kept putting it down in the first 30%, but then suddenly I jumped to 60%, then the end! It felt like I was with this characters forever from what they went through, but it only took me ~2 days to get through this book (which is fast for a book this length).

Some of the story read like it was being told rather than shown to the reader, so I was bracing myself for the story to end predictably. However, I ended up being surprised in ways I never would have guessed, so the end solidified this as a solid 4 star read rather than the initial high 3, low 4 star rating I was initially considering. 

I would highly recommend this book.

Book Blog #381: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

 

Title: The Song of Achilles

Author: Madeline Miller

# of Pages: 369 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: The legend begins... Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the kingdom of Phthia to be raised in the shadow of King Peleus and his golden son, Achilles. “The best of all the Greeks”—strong, beautiful, and the child of a goddess—Achilles is everything the shamed Patroclus is not. Yet despite their differences, the boys become steadfast companions. Their bond deepens as they grow into young men and become skilled in the arts of war and medicine—much to the displeasure and the fury of Achilles’ mother, Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece, bound by blood and oath, must lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

Review: I finally understand the hype.

I was reluctant to read this book because I already read Miller's more recent book Circe (which was also hyped up) and thought it was...just okay. I wasn't a huge fan of how she balanced the original mythology and the fictional aspect (I actually wanted MORE of the fictionalized aspect), and Circe isn't a particularly likable nor interesting person.

ON THE OTHER HAND, The Song of Achilles has a VERY likable main character. Don't be fooled by the title, the narrator is Patroclus, Achilles's close companion (and likely lover according to the actual mythology). While Patroclus is relatively unknown (I didn't know who he was at all) and comes of as meek and uninteresting as Circe in the beginning, the reader will see that he's just a really well-intended, caring person, and faithful companion to Achilles. 

I didn't know how Achilles's nor Patroclus's stories ended, and even though the ending is intentionally predictable, I was flying through this book on the edge of my seat praying for a good ending for this duo. The start of the book is way more romance heavy than I expected from Miller's writing, but this was exactly what I was hoping for so it's was very pleasant read. 

The middle portion, or whenever Miller went into recounting war events/logistic/politics that are necessary for staying true to the mythology, went a bit slower for me. This is why this book is getting 4 stars instead of 5; for both Circe and The Song of Achilles, there's aspects of the myth's retelling the read more like a nonfiction recounting of events rather than something the reader can be immersed in (aka good fictional storytelling). 

However, this was less of a problem in The Song of Achilles since Miller included more fictional aspects in the book (or at least I presume) with many interactions between Achilles and Patroclus (which I doubt the original myths wasted their time with). I blazed through the last half, and it wasn't even as romance focused; it was just a really gripping, fast paced story.

Achilles and Patroclus's story reminds me of the second-to-last song from the musical Hadestown (retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice) where even though we know the ending of the Greek mythology stories, we want to tell them again and again because they are so hopeful, even if they may end in tragedy. The Song of Achilles is no exception to this; I feel like sad and hopeful at the same time after finishing this book but loved the journey it took me through. 

This is a solid if not high 4 star read; I would highly recommend!

Book Blog #380: Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser

 

Title: Mona's Eyes

Author: Thomas Schlesser

# of Pages: 446 (hardcover)

Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Synopsis: Fifty-two that’s all the time Mona has left to learn about beauty. Every Wednesday, Mona’s grandfather picks her up after school and takes her to see a great work of art. Just one. A different masterpiece every Wednesday for a year. Fifty-two weeks of consummate beauty. Fifty-two weeks of visits to the museum before Mona loses her sight forever.  Together, Mona and her grandfather will experience a full range of emotions; their enchantment as well as their sadness will be complete. From Botticelli to Basquiat, Mona will discover not only the power of art but also the meaning of generosity, doubt, melancholy, loss, and revolt.   At once a profoundly moving and beautifully crafted novel about the fullness of life and an enthralling guide to the world’s most renowned art, Mona’s Eyes is, at its core, a story about the deep and moving relationship between a young girl and her grandfather.  

Review: This book shouldn't exist. 

One of the worst reads I've encountered in a long time. Mona's Eyes weakly attempts a fictional plot that nonsensically ties to a long exposition on 52 different pieces of art. These two could be completely separated: the fictional aspect fleshed out into its own book unrelated to art, and the art pieces covered in a comprehensive textbook. Their union in this book is so forced that one wouldn't be lacking without the other. 

The book is structured such that every chapter has a couple paragraphs of fiction at the start. This covers the "plot" that more like a slice of life on Mona's life as a young child in France (going to school, interacting with her parents) and a bit of a mystery on what's wrong with her eyes and what happened to her grandmother. Notice how the plot doesn't seem to be strongly tied to art or its history? 

The rest of each chapter (probably 2/3s of it) is Mona and her grandfather Henry examining a piece of art. Schlesser is an art history teacher, and I horrifyingly learned that he uses Henry as a way to verbosely spout a bunch of facts to Mona (and the reader) about each art piece. Even worse later on, Schlesser uses MONA (an elementary schooler) in the same way which was very unrealistic for someone her age (no matter how astute). Any of these art pieces could have swapped out for a different piece, and it wouldn't have affected the plot at all. 

It's the latter point that made this book such a long read; this is an art history textbook in the sheep clothing that is "fiction", where the fictional story isn't even worth reading in its current state. I received this book as a gift because apparently BARNES AND NOBLE has called it Book of the Year for 2025. I don't know what metrics they're using to chose this book: it's not very popular, and it's just not good fiction. I'm convinced money was traded to push this book despite mainstream audiences not liking it. I have 0 trust on Barnes and Noble's recommendations because they're definitely not recommending this book for the right reasons. 

It's a shame because art history is already not a popular topic, and there's were actually some interesting points covered for some of the paintings. However, Schlesser's writing style reads like the ramblings of someone infatuated with the sound of their own voice rather than writing to appeal to an audience new to art appreciation. I'm actually more put off on the topic now than I was before reading this book.

I wasted ~2 months of my life trying to chip away at reading this book, with the only reward at the ending being able to write this review to warn people: do NOT read this book.

Book Blog #379: Verity by Colleen Hoover

 

Title: Verity

Author: Colleen Hoover

# of Pages: 333 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Thriller, Mystery

Rating: ★★★★☆

Synopsis: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.

Review: Brava, Colleen Hoover, for writing a book in completely different style and genre than I was expecting. I firmly bucketed her as a romance author, but I’m happily proven wrong.

Although there are romance elements, I actually don’t consider Verity to be a romance at all because it’s overpowered by the thriller (and mystery) qualities. It took me a while to sort out my actual thoughts on this book while recovering from the dread/fear I felt while reading.

Verity had plenty of flaws that almost made me rate this 3 stars instead of 4. 

- There’s POV switching in the form of switching between two mediums: Lowell’s (the main character) narration and Verity’s manuscript. Both are in first person, but I actually wasn’t as bothered by this as I usually am. However, it did weaken the story’s grip on my attention because there were times where Lowell’s chapters felt like filler. 

- This is yet another case where an author creates a main character who is ALSO an author or has writing related interest. In Verity, there's actually TWO author characters (Lowell and Verity). But I guess authors "write what they know".

- Hoover was VERY intentional with making this story a thriller. Verity is written to be ominously freaky, and Lowell is the classic jumpy main character whose paranoia is contagious. If this was Hoover’s goal, mission accomplished. That being said, it felt like some cheap ways to make a story creepy in ways that weren’t plot relevant. But I’m not a huge thriller fan, so I can imagine others might love this aspect.

- Without spoiling it, the ending felt rushed, and the extended epilogue was unnecessary or should have been incorporated in the rest of the story. The ending was also divisive (which I liked), but to make it truly defendable, I wish Hoover made sure there was continuity in her story when looking at it from the most common angles. 

But in the end I felt this book earned a low-4 stars:

- This book flowed really well; I read it in a day and couldn’t put it down (but maybe this is because I was too scared?)

- While the beginning felt like a cliche romance (meetcute in the very first chapter really fit with Hoover’s style), the rest of the story was actually not recognizable to me as Hoover’s style at all. I applaud the writing diversity and thought she pulled it off really well without being overly reliant on incorporating romance elements. 

- I like books that make the reader at the end want to go back and overanalyze the story, and this book fits the bill. I couldn’t get this book out of my head and found myself scrolling through fan theories to hear other people’s interpretation of the story. 

- There’s a lot of nuance in the characters; even one’s that are meant to be “villainous” are still realistic and have some admirable qualities (love to hate them). 

- I would actually recommend this book to people, especially since it’s such a quick and gripping read. 

Book Blog #378: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

 

Title: The Vanishing Half

Author: Brit Bennett

# of Pages: 346 (ebook)

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Synopsis: The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect? Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.

Review: Borderline 4 stars.

This book focuses on the Vignes family across multi-generations in a way that reminded me of Pachinko (which I loved!).

While this book is told in 3rd person, there's a LOT of time skipping (not just the big time skips between chapters) back and forth that really disrupts the flow. Every time there was a time skip, I would put the book down, which slowed down my reading pace in a major way.

The main issue was how much time skipping there was that made the story feel too unfocused. I would have connected with the characters more if at least the chapters were told more linearly (so I could learn about these characters as they grow) and/or if the story focused in on one of the generations (so each character can have deeper character development). 

The ending almost made me give this story 4 stars; it wasn't until the ending 20% that I felt more invested in the characters. I also applaud the author tackling interesting topics: 

- complex family relationships: twins are inherently close in ways that siblings who aren't can't fathom. Yet the Vignes twins sudden go down different paths and deal with their familial relationships very differently. 

- acceptance/rejection of identity: one twin leans into their blackness, the other rejects this identity. Their daughters (who are the more interesting and likable characters in this story) are the physical manifestations of their respective choices. The story covers how their differences affect their relationships with those around them and each other (and the surprising ways it doesn't affect them). 

Overall an interesting read, just very slow for over half of the book. I recently read The God of the Woods which had time skipping and was also a slow start, but I actually like the writing style better than the style used in The Vanishing Half. I'd only recommend this book if it already sounds interesting to you!