I never got around to reading Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix, and it’s been a little over two years since I read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. However, you could honestly read this book as a standalone. Song of the Crimson Flower was absolutely stunning, a beautiful tale of the powers of real love.
Honestly, just the first page of the glossary had me in tears; reading all these Vietnamese names, ones that my family members have and ones that I encounter often, in a fantasy was so powerful. Thank you, Julie, for writing a gorgeous ownvoices Vietnamese-inspired fantasy! I also loved how this one still feels a bit Western because the intersection of being Vietnamese-American is very much a mix of Vietnamese and Western culture.
The plot was enthralling. You can’t help but be pulled into Feng Lu, a world of magic and mischief. Bao and Lan are going on a dangerous adventure to cure Bao of his curse and find his family, even if they shouldn’t be found. There’s an awkwardness between them because they’re connected by the curse, but Lan had just harshly turned Bao down after he professes his love for her.
Except, the thing is, Lan really isn’t a bad person; she was caught off guard because she had just found out that the man, who she thought was in love with her, wasn’t. Over the years, she’s built up a fantasy version of him in her head, and Bao has done the same with Lan. Both of them operate of faint imitations of love, infatuation really, because they don’t actually know the person they thought they loved. They grow to realize that the versions of people we create in our heads aren’t necessarily the ones we want and definitely not who these people actually are.
This character growth is so amazing; to realize the falsehoods of love when approached by the real thing is such a strong message. Going along with this, the romantic development stole my breath away with the longing of it all.
The prose is gorgeous as well! Julie has really grown as an author, and I loved her beautiful and more succinct writing in this book. The prose laid out a soft and gentle tone, one that gives the book a quiet beauty and emphasizes its message of love.
Song of the Crimson Flower was a gorgeous read that really shows how you can’t be in love with a person if it’s just the version of them you’ve made in your head. I loved the characters and their arcs, as well as the romance. Even if you haven’t read Dao’s other books, don’t let it stop you from picking Song of the Crimson Flower up as soon as possible!
Honestly, just the first page of the glossary had me in tears; reading all these Vietnamese names, ones that my family members have and ones that I encounter often, in a fantasy was so powerful. Thank you, Julie, for writing a gorgeous ownvoices Vietnamese-inspired fantasy! I also loved how this one still feels a bit Western because the intersection of being Vietnamese-American is very much a mix of Vietnamese and Western culture.
The plot was enthralling. You can’t help but be pulled into Feng Lu, a world of magic and mischief. Bao and Lan are going on a dangerous adventure to cure Bao of his curse and find his family, even if they shouldn’t be found. There’s an awkwardness between them because they’re connected by the curse, but Lan had just harshly turned Bao down after he professes his love for her.
Except, the thing is, Lan really isn’t a bad person; she was caught off guard because she had just found out that the man, who she thought was in love with her, wasn’t. Over the years, she’s built up a fantasy version of him in her head, and Bao has done the same with Lan. Both of them operate of faint imitations of love, infatuation really, because they don’t actually know the person they thought they loved. They grow to realize that the versions of people we create in our heads aren’t necessarily the ones we want and definitely not who these people actually are.
This character growth is so amazing; to realize the falsehoods of love when approached by the real thing is such a strong message. Going along with this, the romantic development stole my breath away with the longing of it all.
The prose is gorgeous as well! Julie has really grown as an author, and I loved her beautiful and more succinct writing in this book. The prose laid out a soft and gentle tone, one that gives the book a quiet beauty and emphasizes its message of love.
Song of the Crimson Flower was a gorgeous read that really shows how you can’t be in love with a person if it’s just the version of them you’ve made in your head. I loved the characters and their arcs, as well as the romance. Even if you haven’t read Dao’s other books, don’t let it stop you from picking Song of the Crimson Flower up as soon as possible!