I finally finished this amazing Ya Fantasy book and it was so good! I loved how it was from 2 characters povs because those are my favorites!
Song of silver, flame like night is a ya fantasy book that about a girl name Lan and she discovered she has to save her kingdom from taking over from it's enemy! She must go on a quest to find out how she can save the kigndom and use her Qi magic to stop them.
I really enjoyed how short the chapters were and I flew through this and couldn't put it down once I got to page 150 it was so much action packness and I cannot wait for book 2! Sadly have to wait till next year for book 2 though):

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eARC.

This book was 3 stars for me.

Pros: Lovely prose and extensive worldbuilding.
Cons: Lovely prose and extensive worldbuilding.

The book was beautiful, with lots of detailing, which slowed down every scene. I skimmed entire sections because there was SO MUCH INFORMATION thrown at us. There was even a history lesson in there, which I skipped entirely. The narrative and description were very sensory but so overwritten.

This style works for some, but it's not my favorite.

I also found the main character to be unlikeable at times and downright immature for a song girl in a Teahouse. For example, she used insults like: 'big, steaming bowl of turd,' 'ratfart,' 'dogfart,' and 'old farts.' These completely pulled me out of the book and made me dislike the main character more.

A deeply compelling fantasy. The author of this manages to craft a beautiful sense of setting and tension. That being said, I found the first half of this book to be a bit slow, which impacted my ability to get into it. Still, it was a fascinating read!

“Teach me to be powerful, so that I will not have to watch another person I love fall…”

Overall vibes rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, I’m just going to call it, I think this book could easily end up being my favorite new read of 2023. It’s certainly my favorite thus far. This book has everything and its executed so beautifully, it’s truly a masterpiece. The magic system is delicate and powerful, the main character is the definition of “soft and strong”, and the romance OH MY GOSH THE ROMANCE. It’s poetry. It genuinely felt like a privilege to witness these two fall in love. This author notes at the beginning of the book that she is “tired of Chinese girls being portrayed as beautiful, fragile flowers. I want to be a blade.” Goal accomplished. It is a story inspired by the damage of colonialism and is “an interrogation of and response to history” and she delivered in one of the most beautiful stories I’ve read. You will be left aching and full of agony but also hope.

Fat-friendly rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️, pretty neutral, very minimal talk of bodies, yay!

Spice rating: The most beautiful and delicate and passionate kisses

Recommend?: I will never STOP recommending this book! 😭🥹🫶🏻

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night launches a thrilling fantasy series based in Chinese folklore. Since I read a digital copy, I genuinely didn’t realize it was such a long novel until I had already finished and was marking it on Goodreads—the pacing is slow and steady, leaving ample room for worldbuilding and character development while delivering action-packed climaxes toward the end. 

I can’t definitively say that I liked Lan as a character, but I sympathized with her even when I didn’t support her decisions. She maintains her scrappy vitriol while learning to care about protecting the greater good, which reminded me vividly of Rin from R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War (one of my all-time favorite books). I wish we had seen Lan learn more from her previous actions, but I have a feeling a lot of consequences will be fully brought to light in the sequel. 

Zen fits many YA mysterious bad boy protagonist archetypes, but I really enjoyed the glimpses of character depth, and the ending strongly establishes his future development. I found his dialogue rather robotic, especially in contrast to Lan’s, which I’m guessing might have been intentional. Because of this, I didn’t believe too strongly in their romance, though I agree that their personalities are otherwise well-matched.

In terms of the magic system, I was still a bit confused about how it came to be appropriated by the Elantians, and only a select few at that. The Elantians, in general, appeared very monolithic, though I did admire the nuance with which Zhao addressed the lack of "black" and "white" in the narrative. I also can’t speak to how accurately Song of Silver, Flame Light Night incorporates practitioning since I’m not familiar with xianxia/wuxia, but to an untrained audience, it wasn't clearly defined. Since Lan's training was so brief, I don't have a solid understanding of the different schools of practitioning, nor do I entirely understand what differentiates a practitioner from a non-magic user.

Despite its predictability, I enjoyed the musical language and the ferocity with which Zhao tackles colonialism. This series has potential in the realm of YA, and I hope that it comes to fruition.

Song of Silver, Flame like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
.
This is the first book in a new YA fantasy series.

Lan is a young girl living in her homeland that is under the rule of a conquering nation. She despises them though because she watched them kill her mother. All she has left of her mother is a scar on her wrist of an unknown seal. Searching for clues to the seal she comes face to face with Zen, who is also fighting the ruling empire in his own way.
.
What I liked:
-I loved all the mythical mysteries in this story.
-There were some clever reveals throughout the book that I greatly enjoyed.
-I loved the school and all the people we met there.
-Lan and Zen were cute together and I am looking forward to seeing where things go in the next book, especially after that ending in Song.
.
4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a really fun start to a new fantasy series.

Solid book, no real notes but it’s firmly in the YA camp in a way in which I’m realizing isn’t to my liking anymore.
It’s very idealistic in the way it tackles colonial violence and the use of violence against colonial forces.

Overall: Special thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thoughts:

I had a lot of fun with this! I haven't read a lot of books based off of asian, specifically Chinese mythology, in fiction before so I liked exploring the folklore and the the different mythological creatures in this book! I did think the writing was a little dense for a YA book, but the more invested into the story that I got, the more I just went with it and enjoyed the story.

There were a LOT of twists and turns in here, and I can't wait to read the next book!!

Zhao created a compelling universe and story with this book. I haven't seen a magic system that revolves around seals before so that was a fun aspect. I also loved that this was an Asian inspired fantasy: we don't see enough of that. I also thought that the character were realistic in their behavior and motivations. Finally, I liked the way there were little hints to various plot points but it didn't feel overly obvious to me when I got to them.

This was an excellent read that I found myself saying, "One more chapter" several times throughout. It was so beautifully written, with such wonderful storytelling and diction along with relatable, realistic characters

This is so clearly a love letter to Chinese culture, history, and mythology. On the other hand, it is a very clear commentary on the horrific destruction of colonialism and how to fight against it. I felt the topic was expertly handled, with a very real discussion/debate happening between the characters being brutalized on how to fight back effectively.

The mythological aspect is phenomenal, too; the four gods of Chinese mythology have been used for many different stories, and this one took a turn that was subversive compared to other mainstream media that portrays them. It fits within the anti-colonialism narrative perfectly and seamlessly, a great way to show the differences between the colonists and those being colonized.

All exposition was natural and easy to understand, as Lan was taught the Way. I (though admittedly biased, as a musician myself) really loved the use of music as a way to channel qì among the many different techniques displayed throughout the book. Again, a loving reverence for the arts is clear here, pulled from millennia of real history.

I sincerely cannot wait for the next book personally and it makes me happy that it is a series, even though (spoilers) it had looked like it was going to wrap up with just the one book and probably could have--many kids these days have grown accustomed to serial reading and I think this will very much engage them and satisfy that need for a multi-part, in-depth story.

I don't know when books based on Chinese folklore became an instant must read for me, but here we are. With excellent source material and in the pen of a gifted writer, the story becomes timeless and epic. Highly recommend!

Everything about this Chinese folklore-inspired fantasy is utter perfection, from the characters you can empathize with from page one to the perfectly logical yet still utterly mystical magic. It's as much a story of the conquered fighting and resisting their conquerors as it is the story of one girl trying to figure out her past and her purpose.
Lan is a great character to guide readers through the story because she knows more than she's telling, but she also has a lot of questions. It's a nice play on getting information from characters and Lan figuring things out on her own. And Zen is a great male lead that follows a path that's obvious from the very beginning but, oh, so satisfying to follow. You can't help but root for them and want them to find a way to help their people against the awful Elantian colonizers.
Be ready to hate absolutely everything about colonization (as if you already didn't) because the author did a fantastically realistic job of writing out how they systematically annihilate a culture they blindly think is lesser than their own only because it's different. I confess to spending a couple of pages raging mad.
I can't wait to catch up with the characters once again in the next book. This one has the potential for greatness.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the phenomenally fantastic read!

I adored this book and it immediately made me pick up the author’s other books to read eventually! I loved the page of the story and the flashbacks that we get to give us context to different scenes as they happen. The characters are so three dimensional and felt very consistent with their personalities. These two bickering could have been the entire story and I would’ve loved it too. The world building was so interesting and I was blowing through this story!

This took me so long to finish 😅

I really wanted to love it. But sadly, I never quite did. I think if you've ever watched a xianxia or wuxia drama can almost predict what will happen here.

It wasn’t until the last 70% or so that I felt invested in any way.

I will say though. I’m Team Zen. His sacrifice makes perfect sense and in the end, Lan and her gang are kind of doing what he intended in the first place: same thing, different font.

This was such a good time! It really hit it's stride in the second half, and I could not put it down. The plot twists combined with the Chinese based folklore were stellar!

This was a gripping story filled with action and mystery that held my attention and grew my curiosity. I really enjoyed the author's writing style that propelled the plot quickly while providing imagery of a magical world of beautiful settings, terrifying creatures, and savage battles. I enjoyed the slow-burn romance between Lan and Zen, and appreciated the opposing views they carry (morally grey?) and tough concepts that the story and their choices created. For any readers who enjoy YA fantasy, mythology, intricate world-building, and fast-paced plot, pick this book up!

I love anything this author writes. I enjoy her characters and the storyline. It’s a mixer of so many different emotions. I would recommend this book. 10/10

This book was good and I enjoyed a lot of parts of it like the magic system was so cool and unique, Lan the main character, and some of the side characters. But there were things about it that I just didn’t connect with. I thought Zens character could have used more connection points and vulnerability. I think the amount of lyrical description could have been slimmed a bit. I did like the beautiful words and writing but there were times where it got to be overwhelming. And most of the events happened in the last 20% of the book (which is not totally abnormal)

Overall I liked the book, I just didn’t love the book.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me an ARC 🙏🏽

I thoroughly enjoyed this new young adult fantasy. The gorgeous worldbuilding and prose drew me in immediately. I will be highly recommending this to readers!

Let's just say, the cover is not the only stunning part of this book. I knew before I requested this that I loved Amélie Wen Zhao's writing because I read and loved her debut, Blood Heir, a few years ago. I was curious, though, to see what I would think of a new story from her, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked this one even better!

Similarly to Blood Heir, it was the well-crafted worldbuilding that really sucked me into the story, and the Chinese inspiration made for a unique magic system. Additionally, I loved the characters. Lan and Zen stole my heart as much as they stole each other's, and I'm dying to see what will become of them in the sequel.

There's been a fair bit of hype for this one, and I can honestly say that I think it's well deserved. I hope this book finds a lot of success. I'm thrilled to be receiving a finished copy very soon!

Thank you to Random House Children's, Delacorte Press, and Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!