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Julie C. Dao

Författare till Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

10+ verk 1,301 medlemmar 37 recensioner

Om författaren

Inkluderar namnen: Julie C. Dao, C. Dao, Julie

Serier

Verk av Julie C. Dao

Associerade verk

Mermaids Never Drown: Tales to Dive For (2023) — Bidragsgivare — 26 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
20th century
Kön
female
Nationalitet
USA
Födelseort
New York, USA
Bostadsorter
New England, USA
Agent
Tamar Rydzinski [literary]
Jon Cassir [film/TV] (CAA)
Kort biografi
Julie C. Dao is a Vietnamese-American author for teens and children.

Medlemmar

Recensioner

A solid debut and part one of a duology (I accidentally started this series by reading the followup novella that takes place AFTER both whoops). Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is the origin story for the evil queen in what I assume will be a Snow White retelling, and she is a compelling character who grows in ruthlessness over the course of the novel. I was surprised to see that Xifeng and the world of the Great Forest seems to be Chinese inspired when the author is Vietnamese American, but I got more of that from [b:Song of the Crimson Flower|43911067|Song of the Crimson Flower (Rise of the Empress #2.5)|Julie C. Dao|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552924855l/43911067._SY75_.jpg|53186311] (speaking of that book, am now a little squicked over the age gap between Wei and Wren but oh well I guess, if he's the huntsman).

Going to start on [b:Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix|32605122|Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2)|Julie C. Dao|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522159918l/32605122._SY75_.jpg|53186304] shortly
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Daumari | 22 andra recensioner | Dec 28, 2023 |
This second half of the Rise of the Empress duology fits more neatly into the Snow White beats, though it also borrows from Asian folktales such as The Crane Wife during the course of McGuffin collection.

I liked this, and read most of it over the course of the weekend.

(also maaaaan we seem to look to teenagers/young adults for leadership often, huh, but maybe that's part of the genre)
 
Flaggad
Daumari | Dec 28, 2023 |
Whoops, thought I was picking up a standalone when it's really the third book set in a fantasy universe. This seemingly takes place 8 years after the previous one though ([b:Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix|32605122|Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix (Rise of the Empress, #2)|Julie C. Dao|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1522159918l/32605122._SY75_.jpg|53186304]), and characters from the other two feel more like worldbuilding backstory so when I get to those, maybe they'll feel like interesting prequels.

Song of the Crimson Flower feels a little like mixing the mistaken identity from Cyrano with the prideful declaration followed by remorse to lovers of Pride & Prejudice, needing to solve a curse like Princess and the Frog with a dash of Legend of Korra's estranged gray-haired sisters (except less kid friendly). I know, it's possible to consume media without comparing it to others but Tropes Aren't Inherently Bad and there's a comfort in finding familiar beats. Short and sweet, I really liked this.

Definite hooks for future installments as well (or let dangling threads be dangling threads idk)
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
Daumari | 7 andra recensioner | Dec 28, 2023 |
A unique anti-hero tale set in a beautiful, Eastern Asian inspired backdrop. I loved the premise of the book, and I very much enjoyed the story, for the most part. I've been looking for good Eastern-inspired fantasy for a good while, and this fit the bill quite nicely.

Gorgeous cover and writing, and lush, vivid descriptions make you feel like you're really there in Feng Lu with our villains and heroes and heroines. Made me envision being in ancient China during the time of the dynasties, and facing their mythical spirits and creatures and lore. The love story was tragic indeed, and I did feel terribly sad for the protagonist and her love interest (although, very refreshing to read a story in which the FMC spurns love for power!)

The story moved very slowly for the first half, then sped up quickly in the second half. The final 75% is where it got really interesting, IMHO. Another small issue I had was that I felt like everything was just too easy for the protagonist, as the entire story is pretty much revealed by way of prophecy in the beginning. No surprises and everything plays out as planned. I also never felt any sort of tension, or that she was ever in danger at all, instead thinking, "Oh, she'll just get through this", whenever something bad happened.

The book is written in third person, through our protagonist's POV. All in all, I found this to be an enjoyable, unique read. The author is very talented and I would definitely read the sequel, if there will be one!
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
galian84 | 22 andra recensioner | Dec 1, 2023 |

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Associerade författare

Chloe Gong Contributor
Gail D. Villanueva Contributor
Adiba Jaigirdar Contributor
Laura Pohl Contributor
Cindy Pon Contributor
Julian Winters Contributor
Joan He Contributor
Axie Oh Contributor
Karuna Riazi Contributor
Kat Zhang Contributor
Kosoko Jackson Contributor
Kim Mai Guest Narrator

Statistik

Verk
10
Även av
1
Medlemmar
1,301
Popularitet
#19,740
Betyg
3.8
Recensioner
37
ISBN
49
Språk
2

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