Will also be covered in a Week in Review on my Youtube Channel, link in profile

3.75? Rounded up to 4

TL;DR: If you enjoy non-stop YA fantasy this is the one for you. I really enjoyed a lot of this but found the pace a bit too fast.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night has me on the fence. It follows, primarily two characters. Lan is a 'songbird', a girl who works in a tea parlor singing for work. The city and land she lives in has been conquered by an invading force, her culture and people repressed and destroyed. Our second character is Zen, a young practitoner who is seeking out others like him and information about the magic and culture that they've lost. The two come in contact and the book explodes (almost literally) out from there.

My biggest problem with Song of Silver is the pacing which is breakneck for me. It was so fast, there were little to no quiet moments, no moments of reprieve for the characters. One good thing would happen, or five mins of dialogue and then immediately there is an emergency or a dire situation. Fast paced books are fine, but this felt almost as if our author just did not want or know how to give the characters rest. I felt so bad for them because of how much they seemed to deal with in such fast succession. There was one period of time that the characters didn't have a pressing emergency and that was described as 'And time passed'. Which during that time we had to assume that our characters grew attached to certain things and people but we never saw it.

Past this I loved a lot about this book! I want more of the characters we were introduced to, especially the side characters and the system and world is beautiful. The themes that the author is struggling with and representing, I felt were clear and heartbreaking (as they should have been). The villains did end up feeling a little over the top, especially in a final scene, but considering the wuxia/xianxia style of the action and magic in this I think that can be forgiven. The setting and magic were incredible and really that's what kept me coming back.

So while I wish the story had more time to breath and give us a breath this was a beautiful ride. If you don't mind books that just 'go, go, go' pick this up. It's got an amazing setting, beautiful magic, and over the top fighting that will not miss if you love that sort of thing.

4 out of 5 Ocarinas.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Amelie Wen Zhao is a brand new author to me, and I was excited to dive in. Zen & Lan were really great MC's and I loved the world. I could have used a little bit more world building overall, but this was a great story as a whole.

I really loved every bit of this book. I think my favorite part of I is that is read as emotional as it is intended. I really loved that this one it is a homage to the authors culture and what is lost and to be gained. The world building was really unique and the story itself was amazing. I kept asking myself and trying to figure out what was the deal with her scar. I’ll be picking up in a few days the published cope because I need to know what changes were made and this book was so good that can be read many times.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for provising this eARC.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is the first installment in the Song of the Last Kingdom series, and it follows Lan -- a songgirl who has lost her family and her homeland to Elantian colonizers -- and Zen -- a magical practitioner of the Last Kingdom. When Zen recognizes power in Lan, the two embark on a journey to the Last Kingdom in the hopes of finding answers about Lan's mysterious abilities.

This book sucked me in from page one, and I feel changed having finished it. Amelie Wen Zhao paints a vivid fantasy world rich in Chinese folklore and populated with a vibrant and complicated cast of characters. She tackles colonialism, cultural assimilation, rebellion, and love at a breakneck pace, and yet not once did I feel like the story was lacking or had gaps. Rather, I was left breathless, and wishing that it hadn't ended so soon. I already cannot wait for book 2!

This book was very refreshing to read and heart-warming as much as heart-breaking. It has changed my perspectives on so many concepts, like life and death and energies, for instance. I loved all of the characters and how you get to know them layer by layer through all the novel, it is something that I love in a book.

Lan is such an amazing character, full of incongruences like her journey. It has been fascinating how much she grows through the novel and how she does so next to Zen. And Zen… what can I say about him? I don’t know enough adjectives to describe him. The only thing I’ll say is that if you’re fans of enemies as lovers, you’ll love this book.

SPOILERS!

This book was definitely action-packed and the unexpected turns by the end of the book had me on the floor. We should talk about all of them but I need to highlight Zen saving Lan from falling off the cliff and then disappearing was one of my top moments. I just CAN’T!

I devoured the book and I enjoyed Amélie´s style a lot, although there is quite a lot of world-building so it felt a bit slow at some points. However, the writing style is impeccable and so beautiful, it will leave you speechless.

I gotta say that there are so many elements to this story that were interesting, but my favourite was the qi based magic. It was such a change of perspective from what I had previously read before, it has changed my mind completely on so many different aspects.

Rating: 4/5
I received an eARC of this book for my honest opinion

If you love to read mythology/folklore, magical, young adult books then I highly recommend this book. It has action, drama, a small amount of romance, adventures, and finding oneself. I am sad that I read this book so fast because now I have a while to wait for book 2, that is how amazing it is.

I thought this book was beautifully written, Amelie really has a way with her words, she brought this beautiful world to life. The attention to all the small and big details she really knows how to wrap you up in this world to where you feel a part of it. The plot was done amazingly, and you can tell that Amelie knows/researched to get this Chinese folklore just right. The character development was amazing, to see how Lan was raised. What she had to endure and overcome. Zen is another character that I can’t wait to learn more about. You get to see small parts of him come out through the book and I loved everything that I was learning. I also really liked that the characters in this book were not perfect, the author showed their flaws. It really helped me to connect with these characters, but the small romance in the book was a little iffy about it. I didn't think that Lan and Zen had much chemistry, for me it felt like they were 2 lonely teens with a dark/scary past. The pace of the book was about 50/50 with it going from slow paced to fast paced, I did enjoy that I didn’t ever get bored or wished that it would hurry up.

As I said up there, I can not wait to see what the next book will bring us. If it's anything like this book it will be full of events unfolding, truths set free, balance of good/evil, determination to get to the truth about everything and lastly love (love for their country, love for their lost ones, and love for each other)

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is a lyrical and strong fantasy epic that was super enjoyable. At times humorous and warm, in others very thought provoking regarding imperialism and spoken history, this has a bit of everything while at the same time managing not to do a disservice to any of it. The mythology and historical background and context, along with the magic system was a bit unwieldy, especially in the beginning, but it quickly slicks and feels refreshing. I could actually imagine it all very clearly and could get lost in the world created.

This only expanded as Lan goes on the run and encounters others practioners that felt different and mysterious in their own ways. I wanted to know more about all of them, which I think will come in the next book. All these elements brought together were executed well and somehow didn’t feel too overwhelming. If anything, I think this could have been a bit longer just to give some elements more space, which I think would have helped, though weren’t super make or break.

For example, I think the timeline for Lan’s practioner learning is too compressed. Lan should have been learning at the school for longer, the jump in her skills from barely recognizing practitioning or believing it’s even real to being able to recognize qí, read and cast seals (not even just basic ones), and be able to recognize elements in the span of a few days of teaching was just so unbelievable it made me roll my eyes HARD. That said, is the magic still cool? YES. We’re the school teaching days really interesting to read about? Absolutely. I just wish it had a little more breathing room.

Another element I think needed a bit more time on the page was Zen’s change in the end, it felt too fast given his original intentions. I think a bit more internal dialogue would have helped smooth that out a bit, but I suspect more of that is coming in the next book.
I would caution that at times, Lan felt a bit too modern in terms of her attitude, mannerisms, or speech, especially when compared to Zen or others, but it didn’t detract too much for me. If that’s something you’re a stickler about, just note that that may come up.

These quibbles aside, I found this to be a fun book to escape into and continues the streak of strong Asian-inspired mythology fantasy for me. While Lan may not be my most favorite MC and I didn’t quite get an emotional connection to this, this was still so fun and engaging and has an important message and POV I hope many will read and experience.

Rating: 3.75/5, rounding up to 4.

Without a doubt, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night will grip fantasy readers right from the start. This book has action, a dynamic magic system, and a compelling story. I was pulled right into it and couldn't put it down. The story is complex, yet familiar (the colonizer/colonized issue akin to that of the Western empire vs. Eastern in World History). While many may feel uncomfortable with the portrayal of the Elantians (most definitely read White/European colonizer), Zhao does not paint the story as black and white, good guy vs. bad guy, but rather shows within the story's plot and its characters that power is the root of much discord and evil, that a power-grab, alone, can corrupt any individual.

I was really drawn to Lan and her plight as an orphan trying to make it in this violent, threatening colonized world, searching for the secret her mother left her. I think she is a really relatable, strong main character, who brings us into this world of qi and practitioning, is our eyes and ears as she learns about this magic structure and the true history of the Hin people. Likewise, Zen is also a compelling figure, who at once feels aloof and tortured by a dark secret, yet in Lan's presence his layers get peeled back and we learn more and more about him as the story progresses. I really enjoyed seeing the two characters interact, learn and teach each other in a push and pull. It made the ending even more fraught and tense, as the whole book brings you to root for these two.

Ultimately, I think the story is really well written, full of intrigue and developments that pull you along. The pacing, because of this, moves well, though here and there there are slower moments. While this story is action-packed and full of really cool fight scenes, magic wielding, and drama, I feel the length of it makes it a daunting prospect for any reader who looks at its size and worries that it might be too much to take on. Still, I think high fantasy fans or any fan of c-dramas, will be compelled to pick it up. I definitely recommend it, and I look forward to reading the subsequent books in the series.

A beautiful introduction to a fascinating world. The authors writing flows perfectly, the plot moves at a great pace and is so intriguing. I loved the characters, the plot, the ending, everything. I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel.

I went into this book with fairly high expectations, and it met each and every one of them!
I loved how vivid the writing was - I could imagine every scene so well.
Also, the growth that both POV characters go through to get where the book finishes is incredible to witness.
Finally, the history was everything! I appreciated that true Chinese history was used but tweaked for the fantasy world.
All in all, an absolutely fantastic read that didn’t bore me at any point.
I’m so excited to see what the next book brings!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

(spoilers below)

A few times it felt like the author was trying a little too hard with the flowery descriptions (but that might just be a matter of preference). But you do get used to it after a while and I don’t think it disturbs the reading experience too much in the end.

The author marketed the book as enemies to lovers on TikTok. It could be considered a possible spoiler, but in a way it's not accurate either (in my opinion). Lan and Zen start as strangers and they then spend quite a bit of time together and end up developing feelings. Even when Zen made the bargain with the Demon God, the two of them never actually became enemies. Despite everything Zen still made sure to save Lan, and Lan kept being worried about him.
But anyway, even if "enemies to lovers" isn't accurate, their story was still worth it. Their relationship was adorable and Zen had been so sweet to her since the beginning. Lan with him, too.

It was a great read. The story was very interesting and, as already mentioned, Lan and Zen were so good together! I LOVE female main characters that don’t shy away from saying what they think.

The angst at the end made me cry and I'm so excited for book two.

I already read a book with this same dynamic before: demon bound boyfriend with a strong willed girlfriend, with a "bitchy" side female character and a sweet mlm side couple. If this series ends the same way the Shadow Of The Fox trilogy ended... I will cry my eyes out one more time I guess. I don't know if I'm ready for all that pain again, though.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night was engaging, magical, and overall simply incredible. I was hooked from the first page. The narrator was fun and lively and her personality shone through every interaction. I'll be purchasing this for my classroom!

Ok. I just finished this book, a week after its release day.

I will start with the good things: it was entertaining enough to want to continue to read. I found it had a good magic system that got me interested and made me want to keep reading to find out all the details and secrets the story held. It is a good fantasy for a fantasy book.

The problem with it, though, are the characters. All the characters felt like bland versions of 2012s fantasy books and it made me cringe so many times. I really couldn't care for any of them, and it bothered me to read. This is a dual POV book, but both POVs were exactly the same. It was so hard to identify which was which and it became stressful after some chapters of having the same problem. Also, the fact that some things were too obvious and they acted as if they were the biggest reveals ever? Yeah, no.

I just couldn't deal with how long this book was and how nothing really happened for many pages, and when things happened, they were very repetitive: we find something, the evil people come to kill us, we escape. And that repeated like thrice during the whole book.

While the overarching plot direction and themes aren't necessarily unique, I found a lot to love in this book.

Years after losing her mother to the Elantian magicians during the occupation, Lan is still trying to figure out what the mysterious mark on her arm means. She finally has a lead, but when an Elantian officer buys her time as a songgirl, Lan is forced to defend herself and her life. Fortunately for her, Zen happens to be at the right place, at the right time, even if they don't entirely get off on the right foot. And as a practitioner, he might be able to help her unravel the secrets her mother left her with.

There were several moments while reading this that I thought I must be near the end already, only to check and see I wasn't even halfway. This isn't because it was lagging in any way, but enough happens in this book that it could have easily been split into two. In fact, there are a lot of YA fantasies that don't pack nearly as much into the first book, but that is part of what kept me engaged throughout the story. I never felt like the pacing dragged, or like I was reading about something that didn't feel necessary to the overall plot. Lan has a very specific goal in mind, and she never veers from this, even when she is forced to take detours for a time.

Speaking of Lan, it's been a while since I've encountered such a compelling main character. I absolutely loved the way she was, from her snarky replies, to her determination to learn new things and do what is necessary to protect herself and the people she cares for. Even though there is a romance between her and Zen, that never becomes the end-all-be-all of her as a character. She still makes the difficult choices, love and soulmates be damned.

In comparison, Zen almost comes across as bland. I think the reason for this does become more clear the more you find out about him, but for me it meant that while I understood Lan's motivations and feelings, Zen never felt quite as genuine. When they first confess to having feelings for one another, reading that he cared so much for her took me by surprise, because I hadn't seen much of it prior to that point. This is despite the fact that the book is written in 3rd person, and that we get chapters from both their perspectives.

The other issue I had were a few of the antagonists, especially Dilaya. That girl was just everywhere at just the right moment to hear all the things she shouldn't know about, and she predictably reacted badly every time. This felt like a bit of a pattern for many side characters—while Lan and Zen felt fleshed out, the others were a bit flatter.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this, and if you're looking for a nice, meaty start to a YA fantasy series, I highly recommend checking this out.

When I tell you that this book blew me away, I’m not kidding. I absolutely adored it. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but after that it absolutely FLEW by. I am in a major East Asian folklore retellings phase right now, though I have been a fan since I first read The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. My interest was rekindled by Elizabeth Lim’s recent Six Crimson Cranes and Blood of Stars duologies. Perhaps that makes me slightly more biased, but if you enjoy stories like that, you will love this.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night explores severe colonialism and culture erasure from the viewpoint of the oppressed. That alone is a good reason to read this, but the intensity does not stop at the violence. The Elantians, who are colonizing the Hin lands, bring a strange magic that is pulled from metals as opposed to the magic of the Hin people, which is based on qi-the natural energies of the world, which must keep a balance. The Hin people pre-conquer believed in keeping qi in balance, and also believed in the four Demon Gods who used to rule the land. The Silver Dragon, The Phoenix, the Azure Tiger, and the Black Turtle. These demons were purportedly long trapped, but those who possessed the dark qi of the demon gods wielded great but uncontrollable power. The first chapter goes through the history, legends, and lore and adds depth into the world build and aids in the reader’s understanding of the need for balance and care by practitioners of qi-related magic.
In the beginning of the book, Lan, orphaned at a young age, works for the largest tea house in the capital, Haak’gong as a song girl. Life as a song girl is very precarious and Lan, a strong and rebellious sort, soon finds herself in hot water when a Elantian soldier threatens her and she unwittingly kills him with magic she didn’t know she had possessed. She is saved by a boy in hiding as a Hin court employee, Zen, who secretly is a qi practitioner and part of the last hidden school of magic.
Soon, Lan finds herself in the secret school training. However, as the threats to the last remaining bastion of Hin culture loom ever closer, Lan and Zen must find the secrets behind the mark left on her by her mother before her death at the hands of the Elantian Winter Magician. It may be their only hope to saving their people. Danger lies ahead, and a hunt for the four demon gods begins.
The fantasy elements of this book are incredible, the writing is absolutely engrossing, and you can feel and practically see the emotions and settings of this book. I give major props to Wen Zhao. I didn’t think I could be as captivated by this as I was and it was so much better than I could have anticipated. I had this on my list for 2023 books I was interested in, and that list was super short this year (MAYBE 10 books deep). I was overjoyed to get an advanced copy of it and finished it so very quickly in December, 2022. Yes, my review is late, but that should tell you how great this was that has stuck in my brain so firmly. In other words, it’s been released and if you don’t have it in your cart right now or even have it already on its way, you are sorely missing out.

Genuine thanks to Netgalley, Amelie Wen Zhao, and Random House for the advanced copy in exchange for this sincerely honest review. I can’t wait for more books like this!

An excellent start to this duology, and I find that I’m particularly fascinated by the lore and world. This is not to say that I didn’t also appreciate the characters (who I thought were pretty great too, and I definitely want to see more of them), their journeys and the actual plot, because I totally did. I really need the sequel because I must know how it all ends!

I would like to thank Underlined of Penguin Random House at NYCC for providing a digital copy of this novel via NetGalley. I was initially drawn to this novel by the cover. I was intrigued when I read the description. Once I started reading it, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night immediately captured my attention. The story is based on Chinese folklore. It introduces Lan, whose mother had passed away at the hands of Elantian forces. A once great kingdom is now under Elantian rule, leading to many adverse consequences for its people. The Hin language is forbidden and Lan is not the name she was born with. Additionally, magic is banned. The author effectively explains the magic system early on. It is based on qi, which all people possess. But some individuals have an affinity for channeling it and concentrating it into seals. Also, some individuals can hold more qi than others. Lan is one such individual. She joins a school to help her control her qi. She meets Zen who is a qi practitioner and he helps her on her path to find answers regarding her mother’s passing as well as the mysterious seal on her leg. Not everyone is welcoming of Lan and her unique abilities. The source of her special ability is a mystery that the book slowly unravels. We discover what lead to her mother's passing and this revelation is another of many that shape the plot and story in interesting ways. The novel alternates perspectives which helps build the main characters of the story. This story contains themes of light and dark forces and raises questions of whether using dark forces is justified in difficult times. Can dark forces ever really be controlled? Once embraced, do these forces eventually take over the light? This novel tells a compelling story and tackles some difficult themes successfully. About 98% into the book, I was wondering how the story would wrap up since it still appeared there was more story to tell. The conclusion, although satisfying, raised new questions and set up a sequel—one that I’m very interested in reading. I really want to see how the author further dissects themes of light and dark and the very interesting folklore explored in this novel.

Amélie Wen Zhao returns with a new YA fantasy steeped deeply in Chinese mythology. I really enjoyed her previous trilogy, Blood Heir, and was really excited to get approved for Song of Silver, Flame Like Night. (henceforth known as SOS in my review, minor spoilers ahead)

SOS is an intriguing tale of a girl (Lan) whose mother was killed by colonizers but before she died she imprinted something onto Lan, a seal of magic. In Lan's search to understand what the seal on her arm is she collides with Zen, a practitioner of Hin magic. Zen is very much the stickler for rules type and doesn't speak a whole lot. On the other hand our girl Lan is a snarky brat and she carries loads of magic with her but has no idea how to use it. Zen decides to help her figure out what the seal is all about and A LOT of information is told to the reader where in the end we find out that Lan must not only destroy the colonizers she must also destroy the four demon gods of the Hin culture and return the power to the people. Not a tall order at all.

I loved Lan from the get go, she makes some silly mistakes but she definitely became dear to my heart because of all she goes through and discovers about her mother. She's very plucky and has tons of courage. Zen was kind of robotic but having a demon bound inside of you might have something to do with that. His backstory is very sad and at this point my heart is broken for him. He's such a self sacraficer. Her and Zen's chemistry was a bit "meh" for my taste (nothing like Ramson and Ana unfortunately) but they are cute in their own sunshine grumpy way.

It was a bit difficult for me to get into it at the start because it's very info heavy. And I haven't read a whole lot of Chinese mythology so I might've had to re-read certain parts to really soak in the information. I don't really mind informational heavy books but they just take me a minute when there's not a whole lot of other stuff going on in the plot at the same time. Plus with this being the first book in the series I expected a little world building. The book definitely picks up in the last 25-30% though.

I didn't alternate between reading and listening to the audiobook and I would definitely recommend doing that. Getting the pronunciations taught to me with the narrator was so helpful in understanding some facets of the culture and mythology. The narrator, Annie Q, was fantastic and I loved all her inflections and tones for the different characters. I would definitely listen to more books narrated by her.

The way SOS ends is not necessarily a cliffhanger. People have their agendas and their own squads but they might not be paired up with who you'd want them to be with. There's a really difficult death towards the end that had me tearing up so beware.

Overall, I would put this at about 3.75 to 4 stars in my opinion. I will continue the series because I adore Amélie Wen Zhao and want to continue to support her and I do need to find out what happens to Lan and the gang. Thank you so much to Random House and Delacorte Press for providing me an e-ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the E-ARC of this book.

I wanted to love this book, I really did but I didn't. I liked it and therein lies the difference. The first part of the book is very heavy on world building but that makes sense since this is the first of a series. It takes a while for the story to get going and for the characters to truly develop and even then, I don't feel that they were developed all that much. That being said, I will read the second book since I do want to know what happens and the last few chapters were good.

first off thank you to netgalley and harpercollins for the arc however late my review may be! second, support the harpercollins union strike!!!!!!!!

song of silver, flame like night is a tale of both fate and sacrifice as it follows both lawn and zen and their path to self-discovery while facing against foes both human and supernatural. this was truly the perfect book to start off the new year because it just proved how much i love fantasy as this book is full of multiple popular elements that simply tickle my fancy within the fantasy genre.

although it starts off slow, it is still interesting as you become endeared with both characters and when the plot takes off it does with a bang! with wonderfully written characters and a SUPERRR intriguing plot, i’m incredibly glad to have read this book and am excited for the sequel!