Strike the Zither is simply enchanting. As someone who has struggled to read the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Joan He's retelling is a delightful segue to grab readers' interest in a beloved essential of Chinese folklore and culture.
A must-read for epic battles of strength and wit;

Strike the Zither is funny, charming, and a marvelous addition to any bookshelf.

Just finished this eARC (thank you @netgalley!) and I have a lot of thoughts on this one!! I tore through the first half of this book, absolutely obsessed with the MC: Zephyr is the cutthroat, driven, maybe-even-arrogant strategist to an endlessly honorable lordess, trying to wrest control of the kingdom from a cruel prime ministress. The whole first half, I was enthralled with this dynamic, and with Zephyr, who feels unique in the fact that she’s really not as likeable as YA MCs often are— She’s an intense personality! Watching her navigate and manipulate the politics and war of this world is so compelling, which is why I think I struggled a little bit with the second half of the book. Without spoilers, there’s a big shift about halfway through this story and it (at least for a while) changes the focus of the plot. This is the only spot where the book wasn’t quite as gripping for me. I think this shift is a cool risk and ultimately will benefit the story of the series overall, and honestly, I wish more fantasy/fantasy YA would challenge their readers like this, but IDK- I am struggling to process my feelings on the book because the shift in the story threw me off and definitely cut into the pace of the political plot (my favorite part of the story!), which ultimately did take away from my investment in the narrative, but at the same time, I appreciate the fact that I don’t think I’ve read another book like this in recent memory. 4.5/5 is my rating (rounded up to a 5 for GR), and I think it’s very possible that reading book 2 and seeing how the twist is used in the bigger story might bring this rating back up to a 5. 🤷‍♀️ Confusion aside: this book is great and different and I highly rec, and it’ll be on my classroom wishlist!!

I found Strike the Zither by Joan He to be a cute and entertaining read.

I recently realized that I'm not really the target audience for YA books anymore, but it doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy Strike the Zither. Instead, I thought that for a YA book it was very well done.

I liked Zephyr a lot, but what really made me stay was her struggle with her sense of belonging. In the book we see her face both the strained relationships she has with her "birth" sister (November) and her "acquired sisters (Ren, Lotus, and Cloud), as well as her "godly" sisters. They had interesting dynamics, an aspect that I think will be further explored in the second book and that I wouldn't mind reading more of.

The fantasy aspect was fine, nothing too impressive, but it worked for the book.

Not a fan of the insta-romance/infatuation, but given that it's YA and only a duology it's okay. A good thing, in my opinion, is that both Zephyr and Crow retain rational judgments and are pretty loyal to their sides, so you do get a bit of romance but without all the melodrama of "woe is me the peson I like belongs to the other faction and now I will desert for them because I'm in love." The relationship is cute, but nothing too intense. To my surprise, they are a bit more down-to-earth than what I expected for a YA.

Also, can we talk about Cicada? Because wow. Now that is a character I'm really interested in reading more about in the second book.

I will say, Miasma talks with too much flair. Her dialogues looked a bit too young for what I assume is her age, and at times I could only picture Yzma waving her hands around during her grand speeches. It is funny, but not what I would expect for the great villain to act like.

Overall, a cute read for a younger YA audience.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, as well as the Roaring Brook Press, for sending me a digital ARC of this book in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Review:

Themes: Action, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Betrayal, Found Family, Destiny

Strike the Zither is a YA fantasy that reimagines the classic Chinese tale, Three Kingdoms. I am not familiar with Three Kingdoms, but enjoyed this book nonetheless!

This book was beautifully written and had multiple twists and turns that had me GASPING. It was fast-paced, action-packed, and the ending left me wanting more! I never got bored while reading because there was always something epic happening in the story; it was such a page-turner. I loved the characters throughout the book, especially our main character, Zephyr. She is strong-willed, speaks her mind, and is a brilliant strategist. Her loyalty to her lordess is also extremely admirable. I also did not expect the hints of romance and banter that this book has! I hope to learn more about Crow in the sequel!

I truly loved this book. It is the first book I have read by Joan He, and now I want to read the rest of her novels!

It has everything and more than you could ever want. I'm so glad I read this! It filled a gap that I've been searching for months for. My favorite character I would say is Zephyr. The strategy, mystical nature, and the traditional care that was taken with this book was unprecedented.

Disclaimer: ARC via a Netgalley

Joan He’s latest book, Strike the Zither, is the first in a series inspired by the Chinese epic novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. A gender bent Three Kingdoms, even.
The focus of the novel is on Zephyr who is the strategies for Ren, a lordess who is fighting out of loyalty to the Empress. Their primary opponent is Miasma and her strategist – Crow, who is also the only male character for much of the book.
He has a difficult job of not alienating those familiar with the inspiration while also engaging those readers unfamiliar with Romance of The Three Kingdoms. The risk for info dumping is high in this type of situation. He skillfully avoids such pit traps. When her characters explain things, it comes about organically (or to be more exact seemingly organically). There is no sense of “let me pause the story to explain”.
Zephyr is an interesting character. She is brilliant but far from perfect, a nice touch that makes her a rather compelling character. Is she a bit conceited and overly proud? Of course because she has reason to be. But despite her pride, Zephyr does win over the reader’s sympathy and interest. Perhaps it is because she is loyal, or her willingness to do what needs to be done, or her human sorrow and questing. There is a bit of wobble when the reveal comes, but that eventually makes Zephyr more human and develops her even more as character.
The supporting characters are a bit less well drawn. In part this seems because they are the characters from the source material, and epic characters are rarely moved beyond types. To be fair, this slightly changes after the reveal. To be honest, I had slightly mixed feelings after that, but He’s writing and the development of the characters won me over. The book also examines the questions of loyalty and ties. What makes us support one person over another? How do we justify or allow for betrayal?
And it is nice to read an epic story about sisterhood instead of simply brotherhood with women as afterthoughts. (Yes, I am still pissed about the Song of Roland).
And it is an epic story.

Zephyr is the best strategist in the land - she knows this. But her Lordess has few resources and they need help fast. So when Zephyr decides to infiltrate their enemy's court and change the tide of war, she does not expect the challenges she faces. Namely, her rival strategist - a handsome and infuriating boy who seems to see right through her. But she is the Rising Zephyr and if anyone can stop this war and unite the lands - she knows it's her.

This book was incredibly fun and captivating. I loved the talk of strategy, the plans she sets in place, and the fantasy elements. I think this book had a lot of potential that ultimately fell a little flat to me. The elements that were there - I loved and was pulled in by. What this book lacked, was more. It needed more development in almost every area. The character relationships were never fully flushed out, it fell into the insta-love trope, and each individual felt shallow. We needed depth in those character identities, the ways they interacted, and even the ways the plans were set into motion. There could have been so many opportunities to spend more time fully flushing out both the characters and the world-building but it was never given. I also felt like the book was split in two. The Before and After of the Big Event. I only wish this book was split in half - with each side getting more of a chance to develop. My biggest disappointment was the potential I saw for what could have been and was set up to be a truly wonderful and epic story.

That being said, I still did enjoy the book and would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick, light read. But don't really expect more than that.

Zephyr is the best strategist in the Xin Dynasty, but she is fated to serve the lesser. To see her warlordess Xin Ren become empress, Zephyr infiltrates the enemy camp and attempts to find sympathizers for Ren’s cause. She never thought she’d meet an equally good strategist in Crow, now would she discover (even as a strategist) you cannot anticipate everything.

I ended up enjoying this book more than I thought I would. To begin, I am tired of the all powerful group of girls who lead an army of (seemingly) pansy men - peeing their pants when captured by another army. My eyes roll and I wonder how this population with ever survive because no one will procreate if all the women want to do is rule and fight. Once I got over that though, the story is very well written. I did hope there would be more Chinese scattered throughout with maybe a translation in the back - why call them aunties, why not ayi? The overuse of the term “sobriquet” got on my nerves. I know what it means now, so maybe I should thank the author for extending my vocabulary, but the beginning of the book seemed to use it every few pages.

Overall, an enjoyable fantasy book based on a Chinese classic tale (I appreciated the information in the back about that.) I think it would fit better with my upper middle school and high school due to the violence and some gory scenes.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC. As a librarian at an international school in China, this is a this will definitely go on my next order - when it is available. I think all middle/high schools should check it out!

Strike the Zither is a reimagining of the Chinese military epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of China's four great classical novels.

In this novel, you follow the strategist, Zephyr who is no stranger to the chaos that has fallen upon the continent. Orphaned at a young age, she grabs control of her own fate by becoming the best strategist in the land. This lands her the position of strategist for one of the warlordesses, Xin Ren. Working for Xin Ren causes Zephyr to be at the end of the double edge sword. She is drawn to the courage and honor Ren inspires in others, yet in this wartime, it betrays someone or finds yourself betrayed. In order to survive and prevent her followers from being slaughtered, she must infiltrate the enemy's camp and overcome the obstacles lying in her way. Some are human like the opposing strategist, Crow, and others aren't human at all.

Joan He has returned with another novel filled with a beautifully crafted world, characters you find yourself drawn to, and plot twists that leave you wondering what will happen next. This book will have you wondering what scheme Zephyr is drawing up next. I am in awe at how this book had me rooting for both Zephyr and Crow. If you love found family, fantasy novels written by Asian women, rivals that kiss and don't know what they are, and/or a novel that will you have wanting the sequel, pick up Strike the Zither.

Thank you, NetGalley and Fierce Reads for an advance reader copy of one of my most anticipated reads for this year!

Strike the Zither is my favourite read of 2022.

When I was accepted for the ARC I was ecstatic, and that usually lends me to have a lesser enjoyment of the book purely because I set my standards so high. This was one of those rare few books that lived upto my expectations and exceeded them.

Its no secret I'm a fan of Joan He, my constant spamming about her other works (and her adorable cat nubbs) makes me somewhat biased, but I was blown away outside of my admiration for her. If I had never heard of her before and this was my first book, I wholeheartedly believe I'd of still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our book here follows Zephyr, a strategist in a war fighting for the underdog. The book opens with her unravelling her newest plan that puts her right in enemy territory alongside a mysterious strategist for the enemy who leads into an enemies to lovers plotline! Romance isn't the sole focus of this novel by a long shot, often second to the plot itself and completely sidelined when a signature Joan He plot twist throws the whole story on its head.

Joan subverts expectations time and time again to deliver impactful stories, compelling character arcs and gut wrenching plot twists. If you're a fan of enemies to lovers, political intrigue, three kingdoms, c-drama or strong women who can and will beat you up? This book is for you. If I add on that the book has an amazing map, character guide with affiliations and character illustrations will you get it? I certainly hope anyone reading this picks up the book because I have never read a book so fast in my life!

I'm really not sure where this one went wrong. I loved He's last work, The Ones We're Meant to Find, but I didn't have the same connection with this one. The worst part is, it had so much potential. The romance between Crow and Zephyr was almost amazing. The political plots were almost amazing. The side characters were almost amazing. Too many things were almost good. I needed something to stand out, but instead this just faded in with the rest of the books on my shelf.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

*An ARC was sent to me by the publisher. This does not affect my review in any way*
Strike the Zither is Joan He's third novel and is, as she often says, the novel of her heart that she wrote. I have been a long-time fan of Joan He - I started reading Descendant of the Crane and liked it enough but then I put it to the side. I had managed to also read an e-ARC of her sci-fi book The Ones We're Meant to Find and really loved it but I truly think this is where her writing, her prose, her characters, and world-building really shines.
This is pitched as a re-imagining of the classical Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Now, I am going to say right away - I do not know anything about said novel. I'm not particularly well-versed in Ancient East Asian literature, much less Ancient China but I trust Joan He to know her stuff.
We are in the year 414 of the Xin Dynasty and there's a war on the horizon basically. The land has been divided into three factions and each one is trying to take over the others to gain complete control of the land. We follow Zephyr, our main character, who is the strategist to one of the warlordesses and she is one of the most successful strategists in the land. When she's forced to infiltrate the enemy, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, a strategist like her and perhaps, the only worthy opponent she'll ever have.
This one was so, so amazing. I flew through it and rightfully so because the story had me on the edge of my seat and I was so happy to be able to have read an e-ARC of it. I think Joan He's talent really shines through this one (it definitely did shine in TOWMTF as well) and you can really tell she really put her heart and soul into this one.

I love Joan He’s writing so much. As soon as I heard she was writing a new fantasy, I knew I had to read it. Strike the Zither was a fascinating take on the take of the Three Kingdoms. As with all of her work, Joan He creates a rich world with her unique voice and sweeps you up in this new world. I loved this book. I loved the characters, the setting, the plot, everything. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

I have no idea where to begin. I have been anticipating this novel for a while now, and it was absolutely nothing short of what I imagined. I was bursting with so much joy and happiness as I read this, the cover itself is beautiful and I loved the story and the way the author intertwined everything at the end. I can’t say much, but what I will say, is that this was absolutely worth the wait. So much love to this book, absolutely a terrific 5 star read

I'm not typically a fan of first person present tense writing, but I can make exceptions from time to time and recognize that it's just a stylistic choice that I don't always mesh with. But, it works really well here! The story is engaging enough that I looked past my personal taste for tenses. I'm always on the lookout for great books based on Chinese culture, as I have many Chinese students. I love being able to make recommendations to them where they feel represented. This will be added to my list of recommendations!

This is JH's best book so far! And, honestly, I know nothing about the original tale of the 'Three Kingdoms,' but this retelling is canon as far as I'm concerned. So glad it's going to be a series!

I love the themes this story explores - the rise and fall of fortunes, how closely fate is tied to individual lives and choices, and how greed and ambition are inherent human qualities. And it's all set in an ancient history full of war, secrets, betrayal, scheming, and magical qi. It's very much an action-packed story.

Also, the character illustrations included in this are stunning! We need more art to be published in books, so here's hoping the sequel will have more!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for allowing me the opportunity to read this book.

Strike the Zither is a reimagined version of the Three Kingdoms with many female characters. The world was lush and sprawling with places, people, intrigue and deception.

I loved Zephyr. She was a very complex character with layers to her personality. It was interesting to see her world unfold with each page and interaction with new characters.

Crow was another deep character. His motivations were murky and immutable.

There was a twist I wasn’t expecting. It threw me for a loop. I can’t say anything else. But wow.

I did get confused at the beginning as I was reading. There were epithets, different names for the same person, and multiple people who have the same last name.

I was sad to see it end with a bit of a cliffhanger. I would definitely read the second book.

EXCERPT: "Strike the Zither should require clarity to read and love ... It’s a distinctive work that requires dedication, and He gives it. It’s undeniable that the zither produces a beautiful sound, but perhaps this reader just doesn’t understand the music."

Full review published online at Asia Pacific Arts Magazine.

Firstly I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillian Publishers for sending me this E-ARC.

I knew before I even started reading the book that I would love it... And it did not fail me. I love the stories of the Three Kingdoms, and even playing it in Dynasty Warriors, so reading a ya fantasy retelling of it was splendid.

I love Zephyr, her strong will, her strategies, and her loyalty to do what must be done. Each character was intricately woven together as the story flowed. I love how Zephyr fights for everyone to see that she is the greatest strategist, as she rises to protect those she has found as her family.

There were twists I was not expecting, and each moment I love how the story naturally flowed together. The fighting, the music, the unspoken words between characters, the symbolism of qi, was all beautifully written. I can't wait for the next book to come out! As I wish I could know now what happens next.

I’m a huge fan of Joan He and her works, and this book was one of my most anticipated releases this year. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint! A reimagining of Three Kingdoms, Strike the Zither follows a strategist who will do whatever it takes to change her fate amidst a war where betrayal is always around the corner.

The nation is split between three warlordesses who vie to gain control of the puppet empress. Zephyr is a strategist for Xin Ren, a warlordess without any land but one that Zephyr knows she can help win the war. When they’re backed into a corner, Zephyr infiltrates another warlordess Miasma’s camp, pretending to defect when in fact she’s busy gathering more support and allies for Ren. There, she meets Miasma’s strategist Crow, who soon proves to be Zephyr’s rival in every way.

Strike the Zither holds nothing back and makes the most of every page of the story. This book was shorter than I thought when I went into it, but that ended up working in its favor. The pacing was also amazing in that the official summary only describes part of the book. Of course, I can’t share what happens next because of spoilers, but I’m in awe of how Joan He manages to pack so much story in only part of the book itself and then completely pivot to something new.

This is a Joan He novel, so I already knew to expect plot twists and pain. However, while reading, I really never knew what would happen next. Even if I could predict one part, I had no idea how it would play out. At one point, I told myself it had to be a stopping point so I could sleep, but I couldn’t bring myself to put the book down.

The plot itself is a little difficult to talk about because, again, spoilers. Every moment of it is drenched in conspiracy though, as Zephyr continually navigates herself out of tricky holes. I enjoyed seeing how she overcame every new challenge and can’t wait to see how the sequel continues the story.

Each and every character had such strong characterizations. Zephyr herself proves to be a multifaceted protagonist, ambitious in every sense yet also loyal to certain things. She wants so badly to be great and be remembered that she’ll do whatever it takes to win. She thinks she’s above everyone else simply because she thinks she’s better than everyone else. It’s also obvious that she needs to be the smartest and cleverest person in the room; being outsmarted is not something she takes lightly, which becomes an issue when she meets Crow.

Crow as a mirror to Zephyr is fascinating. He’s the only one she sees as a rival (for now), and I loved reading about their dynamic. There’s also a hint of a romantic aspect that I believe we’ll see more in the sequel; the tension between them is thrilling! I can’t wait to see more of them, especially because of [redacted].

Other than Crow, we see a lot of Xin Ren, the warlordess who has Zephyr’s allegiance. Despite her weak position, she also holds true to her strong sense of loyalty and her code of ethics. Lotus and Cloud are her swordsisters, sworn to each other in a bond that runs deep. Neither of them understand Ren’s belief in Zephyr, which causes animosity between the three of them. Miasma is the warlordess who currently holds the empress’s ear and therefore controls the empire. She’s ruthless and strong, cutting down every enemy as soon as she can. The south is controlled by Cricket, a young ruler who proves that she is not to be underestimated.

I loved the writing! It’s definitely different in tone than the author’s other works, but that only adds to its appeal. Zephyr narrates from a first-person point-of-view, so we’re in her head and able to see how she plans and plots. This lens adds to her characterization, making her an even stronger character from the start.

I’m personally not familiar with Three Kingdoms at all, so I can tell you that knowledge of the original story is not necessary to read this book. The author’s note expands on certain aspects of the story that explains more background and her choices in adapting the original source. I found it very informative, as well as fascinating to see the amount of thought the author has put into writing this story.

Strike the Zither tells a tale of strength and loyalty, and the betrayal that comes in-between. This book made my heart pound. I loved the characters, and I couldn’t put it down! I can’t recommend Strike the Zither enough; please just trust me and preorder it today!