Books On Our Radar: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
(Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao is solidly on my radar after my BookExpo trip! There were so many great books that I was able to pick up, but I was lucky enough to get to hear Julie pitch her own book to a small group of bloggers thanks to the PYR Influencer Breakfast (more about that in my BookExpo wrap up – coming soon). Nothing can get me more excited about a book than hearing the author discuss it. The book could be about nothing that I would want to read, but hearing someone’s passion about how much work and heart they put into their dreams, really fires me up. Maybe it’s because writing is never going to be my thing, but damn I love reading! So my admiration is huge. However, I am really looking forward to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns! Fairy-tale retellings are big these days, but the excitement is real for this East Asian version of Snow White! So be sure to put this one on your TBR, or preorder it now for its October 10th release!
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress #1) by Julie C. Dao
Category: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publication: October 10th, 2017; Philomel Books
Purchase: Amazon
A Fall 2017 Junior Library Guild Selection!
“A richly developed fantasy world coupled with an ambitious anti-heroine of complex agency, this story shines and surprises at every turn.” Marie Lu, #1 New York Times bestselling author
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.
Oh I am preordering this sucker right now!! Hello I loved TWaTD and Snow white so obvs this is something I mUST read.
I met Julie at BookExpo and she made me want to read it ASAP! <3