Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1) by Julie C. Dao

Synopsis:

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This novel's greatest strength is it's main character, Xifeng. She is a true anti-heroine, and I think the YA genre is still sorely lacking in that department. She's cunning and ruthless, and I enjoyed seeing all the goodness gradually bleed out of her as the novel progressed. However, because Xifeng was such a presence to be reckoned with, all the other characters paled in comparison to her. They're not completely flat and lifeless, but still fit their character tropes too well to feel different and unique.

The world-building is confusing, and the mythology and history of the world left me scratching my head. Usually this would be an extreme detriment to my enjoyment of the novel, but where Dao fails in her world-building, she makes up for in her atmosphere. Her descriptions are lush and detailed, and made me feel truly immersed in an East Asian-inspired culture. I find very, very few authors can make me so comfortable in their world once they stumble in building it.

While a little too slow at times, especially between 100-250 pages, I think Dao's debut is worth checking out. It kept my interest enough to finish the novel, and didn't make me hate doing it. However, I hesitate to pick up the second book when it releases. I don't know if I liked this book enough to read the next, especially because I know how this story ends. Regardless, this is a good, solid addition to the YA fantasy genre.