I loved the way this book captured a traditional fairy tale aesthetic, complete with quests, witches, soldiers, and epic romance. The writing was beautiful and the ending was everything. It definitely was a typical hero's journey, but I thoroughly enjoyed the romance between Lan and Bao and the way they both clearly grew as characters. It wasn't just smooth sailing with a minor pit fall and then a resolution. They had to go through so much to be able to forgive one another for some pretty serious transgressions and overcome numerous obstacles together in really close quarters.
I did have some issues with the world building in that it was really hard to imagine the realm they occupied. The different kingdoms weren't really clearly explained or developed and that made it hard to track some of the references being made to them throughout the text. I read an ARC of the book, so perhaps in the published edition there will be one, but I think a map in the front would have been beneficial for filling the different locations out more and creating a visual that I could keep in mind as I read.
Overall though, the love story was convincing to me, the plot stayed interesting, and the characters were believable. I think this book is definitely worth a read if romance, fantasy, and fairy tales are your thing!
I did have some issues with the world building in that it was really hard to imagine the realm they occupied. The different kingdoms weren't really clearly explained or developed and that made it hard to track some of the references being made to them throughout the text. I read an ARC of the book, so perhaps in the published edition there will be one, but I think a map in the front would have been beneficial for filling the different locations out more and creating a visual that I could keep in mind as I read.
Overall though, the love story was convincing to me, the plot stayed interesting, and the characters were believable. I think this book is definitely worth a read if romance, fantasy, and fairy tales are your thing!