All I can say is WOW! This book isn't usually something that I would pick up, but I am do glad I gave it a chance! The cover is what drew me in, it's stylized like an old painting and the mysticism was right up my alley. I kind of want to get the art framed and hang it on my wall!
The characters were absolutely charming. Re-tellings of classics are usually pretty hit or miss in my experience, and the characters were what made this a hit. Xiang and Anh both have interesting and complicated backstories, but the way they fall together seems totally natural. I was rooting for them from the start. I'm a sucker for the found family trope, so I quickly fell in love with the secondary characters too.
The pacing was just a little slow in the beginning, but the last half more than made up for the slow start. I really appreciate the representation and rich cultural aspect of this book, and I am looking forward to reading more by this author!
The characters were absolutely charming. Re-tellings of classics are usually pretty hit or miss in my experience, and the characters were what made this a hit. Xiang and Anh both have interesting and complicated backstories, but the way they fall together seems totally natural. I was rooting for them from the start. I'm a sucker for the found family trope, so I quickly fell in love with the secondary characters too.
The pacing was just a little slow in the beginning, but the last half more than made up for the slow start. I really appreciate the representation and rich cultural aspect of this book, and I am looking forward to reading more by this author!