3.7 or 3.8 to be exact.

like most commentors here have pointed out, it’s more of a young adult fantasy. not trying to bad mouth this book, because i actually pleasantly enjoyed this, but it’s more of a young adult novel which has amazing settings and decent characters. the plot in itself is rather… predictable, as with all hero fantasy tropes.

with that said, lemme preface this that i’m a banana, so i’m chinese but legit can’t speak, read, write chinese. hence, unless you’re a true chinese (lol?), or basically someone who has a good grasp of chinese history and culture, i doubt that any of the dialogue inconsistencies or chinese misspellings will get to you. you can really just enjoy the mythological aspect of the Celestial Kingdom, as well as Chang’e and Hou Yi—though i wished that the latter couple would have been more fleshed out.

overall, decent read, i’ll get the second book to tjis sequel, just so i can finish the series off!

3.7/3.8 stars?

okay, first off, i really appreciated how the author redirects the whole Greek narrative to be more feminist—because after all, why were men the trusted orators anyways?

plot? good. characterisation? good. pacing? good.

but that’s where it stops, there’s nothing too out of the ordinary because the legends are already set in stone (pun intended). it’s worthwhile to note how the book does narrate from various narratives.

a good read nonetheless! i enjoyed it!

first off, this book is so short. just 80 pages long! but the poems inside were very well-written and presented in this very down to earth manner which i enjoy.