Interesting concept for sure. We were introduced to a lot of characters fairly quickly, so it was hard to keep up with who would be important to the story - it turns out everyone is, which made it a little overwhelming. A lot of things happen very quickly, so the book moves along well and never really had any downtime, which was nice.

This is going to be one of those books I visit again and again. Every time I tried to set the book down, even just long enough to grab a bite to eat, I felt compelled to pick it up again immediately. I love an ending I can’t see coming, and Daughter of Calamity delivered.

Book synopsis was intriguing. I loved how the story was set up in the beginning, but it felt like it lost momentum. Character development needs a bit more work. At some points, it got too complex that I just lost interest.

A deliciously volatile historical crime fiction novel. I liked the Shanghai setting, and the flawed characters. The fantasy integrated well, and in a way was thought provoking.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was immediately engrossed in this book! I felt completely immersed in the setting and loved following the cabaret and gangster scene in Shanghai. The author does not waste time propelling the story forward and I could not put this book down. I audibly gasped multiple times while reading and felt the pain and conflict that Jingwen experienced. Overall, the story progressed really well. Towards the end, it felt a little rushed. I wanted more explanation and to be eased to the conclusion. I so enjoyed this book, that I would have wanted to read 100 pages more to get the ending that I think this book deserved. If you are looking for a magical realism story set in the hustle and bustle of Shanghai nightlife, this book will serve you an absolute adventure!

This was great! I loved the concept, and the imagery was so masterful that I felt like I was there. I loved the FMC!

This debut is transportive - its writing brought me into the story.

Magical realism mixed with Shanghai gangster historical fiction, beautifully atmospheric and gritty at the same time, the story’s vibrancy shines through.


I will look forward to reading Ms Lin’s upcoming works.

Recommended!



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

💃 ARC REVIEW 💃

This book was a fun ride from start to finish. The author does an AMAZING job painting a beautiful picture of both characters and the setting of Shanghai, which is a character of its own. Really enjoyed this one and would love to read more from this author!

Jingwen is a cabaret dancer in Shangai, a city being taken over by gangsters and foreigners. She's also the granddaughter of Liqing, the surgeon who makes this all possible by grafting the steel from melted down swords onto the bodies of gangsters giving them almost godlike strength. Jingwen cares nothing for these political powerplays between the new and the old until one night one of her fellow dancers is maimed in a most brutal fashion right under everyones noses. As Jingwen gets drug deeper and deeper into the fight for the heart Shangai she realizes that her first priority should be to protect those she cares for at all costs, even if it means dancing with the devil.

Guys, this genuinely should have been right up my alley and yet I could never fully get into it. Jingwen's motivation evolves throughout the book which is good, it should evolve in than manner and yet I never felt like she was really resolved to anything. Even when she does find her resolve. There's kind of a Joy Luck Club thing going on between her mom and her grandmother as well that I don't think gets the attention it deserves. Especially since her grandmother is kind of the center of the entire book. Jingwen's relationships with the other cabaret girls is kinda weird too. Like, I get that given the circumstances they are rivals for certain and yet it just feels like they are indifferent to each other more than anything. And her reactions to anything her co-workers say (hell really anything anyone says) is just weird. She's supposed to come across as having bravado but it's just kinda awkward.

I know I went on a giant rant here and I genuinely hope you read this far because Lin has potential, I honestly can not stress this enough. I really, truly can't. I felt like this was an excellent skelton of a story, a unique story of the changes in Shangai, but really China period was going through at this time. I believe 100% that Lin has the ability to write on par with and possibly exceed Kuang in this unique little sub genre of fantasy that Asian and Asian American Women have carved out recently. I will be buying this book simply because I want to see more of what Lin has in store for me. Because I think it's going to be amazing.

So to the overall portion and the most important question; do I recommend this book? The answer to that is yes. Even though it's not going to make my Top Ten this year, I found this to be a really unique blend of really horror (not sure that's what Lin was going for but that's what I felt it was), fantasy, mythology, and social commentary. I am very glad I read it and I'm looking forward to more books by this author.

As always many thanks to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley for the eArc!

I didn’t care for this one I felt it was not that engaging and felt the story wasn’t plotted and paced correctly.

Jingwen is a dancer at the Paramount in the 1930s with deep familial ties to the Blue Dawn gang. When she discovers that dancers have been getting their body parts removed (and attached to wealthier people) she goes on an adventure through the deep underbelly of Shanghai.

It has a lot going on - entrenched in the culture of China and sprinkled with magic, it feels truly original and like nothing I've read before. It’s ending is wrapped up nicely and it’s great to see a female heroine going on a “hero’s journey.”

While the story might have been engrossing the characters were not super strong. I didn't feel a connection with Jingwen and everyone else seemed more like noise or names that I couldn't remember. The plot changes gears pretty dramatically about halfway through, and it was hard for me to keep focus.

I really wanted to like this book. It was written well (although some of the metaphors were a bit much) and overall was a solid debut novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

P.S. why is it always fungus?

Beautiful writing, but ultimately a shallow story with awkward pacing issues...

Rating: 2.5/5 ✰

Background:
Daughter of Calamity is a story set in an alternate, fantastical 1930s Shanghai where seedy underground gangs reign supreme and ancient powers are commodified. I was immediately enchanted with the world, especially because the author's writing is absolutely stunning, but with time the feelings faded as the plot and characters became so messy. It felt like the author had certain plot ideas in mind, and instead of having the story unfold, characters were just pushed from situation to situation in order to hit these beats. The world either needed to be explained in more depth, or shortened more so that we're not left confused in the end.

There were just so many unnecessary details that took a lot of our time, with the plot (and characters) ending up suffering for it. This felt especially apparent with any fight scenes and the big shows; these things had so much buildup, but ended up only lasting a couple of pages before we needed to move on to the next part of the story. Don't even get me started with the romance... it's completely rushed and feels added in for fun instead of being an intentional aspect of the story. Either the author needed to flesh out their chemistry more, or the romance should've just been a lesson to Jingwen about idealism.

Characters:
The place where the book felt the most disappointing was the characters. In the beginning, I could really feel all their potential for complexity and expected a lot of interesting interactions between them, but in the end it felt like they were just vessels for the story without any real depth or strong traits. Jingwen spent a lot of time thinking and admiring the city, but it didn't ever really feel like she had her own unique voice. She didn't really seem to have a lot of values and changed her mind easily, which is incredibly ironic considering how randomly upset she got when she sees someone else do the same thing. If the author wanted her to feel like a hypocritical character, then I definitely think that needed more fleshing out. I don't think she's meant to be an unlikable character though, since she seems to be framed as morally just in situations where she's fighting with her grandmother or whatever else, so these moments all end up just feeling disconnected. I would've just liked more cohesion with her character.

A lot of the other characters in the book felt similarly shallow, with their relationships seeming to change really suddenly. My excitement and appreciation for them early on ended up just becoming apathy as time passed and they continued to lack any real exploration. Instead of adding more depth, the same descriptors are used over and over again (Li Beibei's catlike grace, Zikai's magnetic aura, Bailey's honeyed demeanor) so we never really learn much about them or get any kind of attachment. These things help describe their vibes, which is helpful in the beginning, but once you get a couple hundred pages in you expect to know more about them than just their vibes - especially if we're supposed to feel care and worry about them in this dangerous world.

Closing thoughts:
This is just so disappointing because the overall story idea was really good (especially that ending omg!!), but the execution needed more time and care to really make everything feel more meaningful. I honestly think that if this was a series instead of a standalone, and the author had more time to flesh out characters and build suspense, it would be one of my all-time favorites. Glad I got through this because I still found joy in the writing, but I really hope there's more polishing before release.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own and not sponsored in any way.

Shanghai gangster historical fantasy is weirdly popular these days. It feels like such a cool, magical time in history when China was the epicenter of world culture and there was a lot of buzz around the city in particular. People were writing song after song about it- even in the west. Shanghai was rightfully looked at as this crazy magical lawless adventureland where anything could happen and you met people from all over the world making their fortunes in what was often a "faraway land". It was also a time of colonialism and a lot of cultural mixing for China. Theres this complicated beauty in the history of the time period being presented here that still keeps readers coming back and begging for more. In these books, Shanghai is as much the character as the characters themselves.

Daughter of Calamity is one of these books. To dismiss the beauty of Shanghai in this book and how lovingly the author writes about the city would be missing a lot, and it was my favorite part of the book.

This a debut and it shows. Some clunky writing and weird transitions. It sometimes felt like the author really wanted you to get caught up in the adventure she was hoping to frame, but it also takes her a long time to get to the point. Scene transitions can be a little odd and the dialogue comes across as forced and awkward at times.

I just never really got into the story the way I wanted to and struggled to care about something that conceptually is really cool. It was a little boring and just didn't catch me. I do think that historical fantasy fans and people who are really passionate about Chinese historical fiction will probably find a lot of enjoyment in this. It may be a better book for historical fiction fans who are used to the flow of these stories. while there are fantasy elements, the vibe is heavily historical fiction.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Daughter of Calamity is one of those books where you start to form questions and can't stop forming them until everything has been revealed. At times, I didn't even know if what we were reading was really happening or if it was the characters imagination due to the drugs/alcohol. Throw all of this into a gigantic city with so much mystery that it's hard to figure out who you can really trust.

After meeting Jingwen, our main character, I didn't know what to think. Most of the time I knew she was pretty naive about the world she was living in. She wanted nothing to do with her grandmother's practice or the gang members she worked with. Then there's her mother and lack of relationship that doesn't really changed throughout the book. The one thing we knew she loved to do was dance.

Once the attacks started happening, we kind of get a few hints about possible romances. Not necessarily a love triangle because it's hard to figure out what's real and what isn't. For the longest time, it felt like she was a pawn, or I guess you could say a puppet. Someone somewhere was pulling the strings and I just wanted to know what was going to happen next.

The betrayals came and went. There's also a little fight scene that goes by very quickly. Heck, I'm still trying to digest the last few chapters. In the end, I'm intrigued by this new version of Shanghai being built and wonder how long it's going to last. Will there be another attack? Nobody knows.

"Daughter of Calamity" navigates the intricate world of 1930s Shanghai through the lens of a cabaret dancer entangled in its dark, magical underworld. While the premise holds promise, the narrative encounters challenges in sustaining engagement. At various junctures, I found myself grappling with boredom, unable to foster a genuine investment in the characters or their fates. The narrative lacks depth in character development, stakes, and requires a more comprehensive exploration of the world's dynamics. In a story that should brim with life, the scarcity of vibrancy and explanations leaves the overall experience wanting. I’m giving it a rating of 2.5 stars, "Daughter of Calamity" falls short in delivering the anticipated richness and depth expected from its intriguing setting.

Thank you to @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for a review.

I loved being thrown into the eerie darkness of lavish clubs in Shanghai. We follow Jingwen, a young woman with multiple jobs that include being a dancer. I'm not sure if the author has a background in dancing, because a lot of the dialogue had some dancer terms. This was a slow burn crime fantasy that includes comradery and competition. I loved the splash of Gods and Deities as other plot points in the midst of the Shanghai club scene. I am hoping to read more from this author.

This is a dazzling fantasy story of a young woman who is being called to follow in the footsteps of her grandmother and graft new metal parts onto the people of Shanghai. But this isn't the life she wants. In the mornings, she trains to dance and has dreams of performing on stage. At night, she dances with men, hoping to earn money in exchange for dance cards. In each of these 2, she is in competition to the other women around her and she pushes and pulls to get her wins.

But one night, in the midst of dancing and meeting rich men, one of the girls on the dancefloor is attacked. It's so fast, no one saw what happened or who did what, but the girl is forever maimed. That night changes the world for our main character, and she can no longer hang on the outskirts hoping for things to happen - she must make her own destiny.

I found the Shanghai the mc gives us to be fancy and mysterious. I liked the competition and the eventual comradery of the dancing girls. The smoke was used so much, I was unsure at times what was real and what wasn't. I didn't find much use for either love interest. They felt more like pretty arm candy than affection. I wish there had been more interaction and time between those who'd raised the mc, as I found their characters and storylines a little flat but I was interested to know more. The gods sounded as gods should - terrifying and awful. I loved the danger and horror of the events and the twists and turns. It did keep me entertained. I liked it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Daughter of Calamity has the sort of intricate world that makes you want to stay in it for longer, and though I liked the mystery, I do feel like the pacing was a bit off. I didn't mind the characters, but I believe I am a more plot/world driven reader, and perhaps character-driven readers may feel differently.

withholding review as a direct result of the SMP review boycott. all we're asking for is accountability from SMP, and then we will return to the regularly scheduled reviews.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Daughter of Calamity follows a cabaret dancer who gets wrapped up in the dark, magical underworld of 1930's Shanghai.

I found myself bored at a lot of points, and it was hard to feel like I cared about the characters and what happened to them. Depth is missing from the characters, the stakes, and just generally needs better explanation of the world and what's going on. There is very little life in a book that is seemingly supposed to be full of it.