Especially at the beginning, I didn’t quite understand what I was reading. What was going on? Was I supposed to figure it out, or was every reader in the same boat as me—thrown into a fantasy world without any background information? Little by little, the reading got better; it became smoother as I grew more interested in discovering the story. I can say that this story wasn’t what I expected, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. I appreciated that it felt like reading an ancient fairy tale; I liked the narrative framework with Chih, and the fact that Rabbit began telling the story through objects. I would have also liked to read a more detailed full-length book, because some points are still confusing to me.

I’ve read reviews complaining that it’s a mishmash of Asian cultures, that the portrayal of Chinese culture is inaccurate… and speaking from the depths of my own ignorance, I don’t really care if a fantasy book isn’t historically accurate. If an American were to write a book mixing various Italian (yes, plural) or European cultures into a fantasy story as inspiration, I wouldn’t see that as a huge problem. I’ll try to educate myself on the subject anyway by looking for more insights to see if I can learn something new.

I liked the book, and I even read it quickly by my standards, which made me raise my rating from what I would otherwise have given it. I felt very connected to Imogen’s story, but even while understanding it, I found myself getting a little frustrated by the same concepts being repeated over and over again. Of course, the book is narrated in the first person and takes place over the course of just a few days, so it’s not as if it could have been much different, but at a certain point I found myself bored by Imogen thoughts.

Still, it was a nice read, and one that also makes you reflect in some way on how we relate to others and how we put them into boxes. I also appreciated the theme of the famous actress coming out - because it's very easy to talk about others but we should think about ourselves.

as someone else pointed out: not gay enough!

i feel like it would have been more interesting to talk more about the support characters (or their romances) - most of them are just... there. I wanted to know more about Jane and Jonathan and Cec, but i understand this book couldn't be longer.

It wasn't what i expected, which was either a "classic" regency adult book, or a modern silly romcom. It was lighter and somehow younger for your typical history book, but at the same time too dark for a teen comedy. I didn't totally disliked it, I was just surprised.

(letto in ITA) i didn't expected much but i enjoyed it more than i thought! I didn't read the plot and i was sure it was a queer retelling, but i was happily surprised with the whole fanta history thing going on. Overall a very cute read