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.

I received an ARC through the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin is an adult historical fantasy set in Shanghai in the 1930s. Jingwen is a cabaret dancer whose grandmother is the doctor of one of the local gangs. On a night when Jingwen and several of her fellow dancers make a bet about who can attract the richest client, one of the dancer’s lips are stolen right on the dance floor, leading Jingwen to learn more about her own family and city.

Lin’s descriptions of Shanghai make the city feel like a character all its own, from the citizens to the sights and smells to its history and its present. I found a lot of the descriptions to be creative and revealing about Jingwen’s character as well as the person or thing being described. The characters had distinct personalities from Jingwen’s ambitions to Beibei’s arrogance to Bailey’s quiet calculations.

I found it really hard to put this book down several times, especially as more and more of the fantastical elements were slowly revealed and we got glimpses into how the fantastical coexists with the historical Shanghai setting. Jingwen has a voice that I want to read more of and would gladly devour another book following her.

I would recommend this to readers looking for historical fiction with light fantasy elements and readers interested in Shanghai during the Jazz era.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

It felt like it took awhile to get to any fantasy elements, and then even after that, it felt slow. I didn't care about the characters, and the writing style wasn't for me. The dialogue felt stiff at times, and the writing was supposed to be flowery and beautiful and whatnot, but maybe was trying too hard.

I will, unfortunately, be abstaining from sharing my thoughts about this title until St. Martin's Press adequately addresses the current boycott and claims and questions.

*review copy courtesy of the punlisher*

This was dreamy, poetic, and very Chinese in its essence. I really liked Daughter of Calamity.

Jingwen, the main character, is cold, abrasive, and standoffish, but deep down, she has a strong moral core and loyalty to those she holds dear.

Like Shanghai itself, she has multiple faces and personalities. Her Shanghai is kitchy and brimming with life, while at the same time dark, seedy, and dilapidated. Crystal palaces and French cafes are interspersed with abandoned temples with crumbling paint, underground gangs are fighting for power in dark alleys, and foreign powers are exploiting city riches for their own gain. This Shanghai is true to its historical memory despite very strong fantasy elements.

Another delightful part of this book is its portrayal of Guanyin, who is usually like Mother Teresa of Chinese pantheon. Here she is Mother of Calamity and Destruction, assassinations in the dark, true to her demonic origin.

At last, the best part of this book for me is how much it's suffused with a passion for dance.

The beginning of the twentieth century was absolutely revolutionary for the dance world, very experimental and exciting. Jingwen lives and breathes by it.

And the performance which is a centerpiece of the book made me think of its historical counterpart in the shock value, possibly The Rites of Spring which was performed by Dyagilev ballet troupe in Paris at that time (look it up, pretty avant-garde stuff for its time!)

Secondary characters to Jingwen are all excellent. Li Beibei, who was way too cool for a support cast, deserves her own story. Her grandmother and mother, the two opposing gang members, even the despicable villain with his typical white man exploiting Asia attitude, they all had layers.

What else? The atmosphere was top notch, and the plot was fast-paced and exciting. Overall, 4.5 stars. This was totally my jam.

The review is posted on Goodreads under kara-karina and will be posted on the blog closer to the release, thank you!

This is the story/fantasy of a dancehall girl in Shanghai. I normally do not read fantasy. I find the multi - complexity of plots to be more convoluted than I care to read. This involves gang members with steel arms, shamen, gods from the past, men of wealth and dancing girls along with our heroine’s grandmother who raised her who was performing illegal surgeries and her mother who is an even more notorious dancing girl. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

Historical fiction set in Shanghai from the perspective of a second generation cabaret dancer. Infused with bouts of mystical adventure, glimpses of rich culture, and snippets of exhilarating performances. The story moves right along with the main character facing tests of friendship, familial ties, and professional duties.

4/5

A story of power, corruption, greed, and redemption. Jingwen is a cabaret dancer in 1930's Shanghai, where her main priority is to appeal to wealthy, foreign socialites. Her grandmother, though, is a surgeon with ties to the Blue Dawn gang. As Jingwen begins to understand the underworld of Shanghai, she gets pulled into conflict that she could have never imagined. With confrontations against gods, men, and shamans, this dark historical fiction is full of adventure.

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"Daughter of Calamity" was beautifully written, with Lin's vivid imagery painting amazing images into your head. The story was very interesting, with nuanced enemies, causing me to challenge my own understandings of "good" and "evil". But there were always conflicting ideals at play -- traditionalism vs. modernism, globalization vs. localization, technology vs. spirituality. Yet Lin's nuanced take showed there can be evil in any ideal, and maybe we just need to embrace change while actively working to ensure those we love are safe.

While I loved the way the story came together, it's definitely a slow burn. The author introduces many characters/ideas throughout the story, and you will think these are minor details until they aren't. Normally, I'm not interested in slow-paced reads, however, I'm so glad I gave this a chance. I will say, the first plot-driver happens around the 25% mark, the book picks up a bit more around the 50% mark, and then it's an absolute page-turner from the 70% mark until the end. Patience really is a virtue here!

I definitely recommend this book and I'm looking forward to future works by Rosalie M. Lin!

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

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book. First, can we please talk about this gorgeous cover?! It sucked me in, and then I read Shanghai, gangs, and dancers losing faces. Heck yeah!

While the writing in this book is beautiful, and premise appears to promise a story of adventure and mystery, the pacing was overall slow and made it a bit of a slog. I thought I had reached the end and I couldn't figure out why there were 3 more chapters. I thought there would be much more story behind Jingwen, her mother and her grandmother, but I feel like that fell short.

This was a bit of a miss for me overall.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

This book depicted such a magical take on Shanghai and all of its layers. You can tell that this is the author's passion project, and the storyline unfolds in a really interesting way that keeps you engaged. However, my only gripe is that the narrator's internal monologue would take me out of the storyline. She'd be having a conversation and then would be thinking about something else completely different in the monologue, which is fine, but I would've appreciated a little more integration. 3.5/5

Gorgeous prose and inventive setting, but this ultimately failed to pull me in. Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to check this title out in advance of release!

~I received an ARC of Daughter of Calamity from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review~

Daughter of Calamity develops a steampunk universe in early 1900s China set after the Opium Wars. Jingwen, the main character is a cabaret dancer who experiences some of her peers being attacked and parts of their faces being stolen away. The premise of the story is interesting and the development is complex.

I definitely liked the cyberpunk and fantasy aspects of the story and Rosalie Lin makes a detailed effort to lay out the aspects of Shanghai culture through language and imagery to develop the story.

I think at some point Jingwen's motivations get a little unclear and her development gets a little lost, but, I do appreciate the relationships between the women in this story.

An interesting tale to be sure.

I really wanted to love this story, it has such an exciting premise but the way that it’s written is not something I enjoyed, nor do I think it serves this type of story.

I’m really not a fan of the narrative style. The constant use of simile (every damn page has a simile) feels like it’s trying to be a more artistic style than it’s actually achieving. The dialogue is stunted and unnatural, it feels like robots talking to each other. The main focus is on the atmosphere of 1930’s Shanghai with a secondary focus on the action of the plot, but that’s kind of all it has going for it. The characters are fairly flat and lifeless, they don’t feel like real people and lack any unique tone or depth.

I’d give this book 2 stars strictly because the setting delivered exactly what I expected, and it was the highlight of the story. But everything else really wasn’t working. I’d say the author was going for a gritty dark theatrical movie feel, but that really doesn’t work in a novel the way it does on screen.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

This book was beautifully written, with scenes that are so well described you feel almost like you can step into them. The setting manages to combine glamour and danger. What kept me at arm's length was the characters and rather slow pacing.

I received an ARC of this via NetGalley.

Dancers, gangs, and gods all fight for control in the dark and glamorous streets of Shanghai.

Jingwen leads a double life as a showgirl by night, and a money runner for her grandmother, a surgeon for the most powerful gang in the city, by day. Jingwen strives for the glitz and glam, but it comes at a dangerous price, one she comes to know all too well.

I was drawn in by the premise, but was slightly let down by the execution. I feel like the author should have spent more time detailing Jingwan and her motives. We were thrown into the action, and I prefer a more personal start with the MC. Thankfully, the atmosphere is top notch. I loved Shanghai and all its glamor. If you prefer action over characterization, this story is a better fit.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Daughter of Calamity sounded so interesting, between the historical Shanghai setting and the mystery of the cabaret girl’s faces, I was really looking forward to reading it. This is such a strange book with so many threads and motivations at play. While at its core it is Jingwen’s story of claiming her own power and strength, it is also a story of different forces trying to create their idealized world and the corruption of people coming to steal the resources of the city. It’s such an interesting blend of Shanghai culture and beliefs being subsumed in some senses by the European forces coming into the city. I don’t know how I feel about choices though the story telling was compelling (though slow building in the beginning especially). I like how complex and imperfect all the characters are and that Jingwen isn’t trying to be a good person, per se, but is trying to be good for her community and the future she wants to see. In the end, this was a very intriguing read and I did love the blend of fantastical and normal; I think this is a story I’m going to have to sit with to full absorb and process.

This is a historical fiction with a dash of magical realism. The book is set in the 1930’s in Shanghai’s where there is a lot corruption, crime and greed. The main character, Jingwen is a showgirl and a money runner for her grandmother. Her grandmother works for/with the Blue Dawn gang in Shanghai. There is rival gang wants control of Shanghai and will stop at nothing to get it. The author does an amazing job with description of the setting and really set the tone for a eerie, creepy atmosphere. The first half of the book I was hooked due to this and found that I lost the intrigue for the story as it continued on as I felt it became overly complicated and too many things were going on at once. I found it hard to follow. I felt the book fell flat overall. But with that said, I would definitely give this author another chance as I did enjoy the style of writing. Also the cover art is amazing!

I feel like this was a good first book release, but it wasn’t great. The first half of the book was very slow; I almost stopped reading because it didn’t start to pick up until after 40% through.

The author writes some beautiful passages with gorgeous sentences that caused me to pause, reread, and appreciate the beauty of her writing. And then other times I felt like I was reading words for the sake of words as opposed to really moving the plot along.

The ending felt rushed and a little too “happily ever after” for the rest of the book. All told, I’m not upset I read it, but it isn’t a book I will be recommending.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this but unfortunately this one is a DNF for me. The world building was good but I had a hard time getting into the story itself.

First time from this author and not sure i will read anything further.

I was so excited to receive this arc but it definitely fell flat. there characters were boring and it definitely didn't keep me engaged. I did finish the book but was very hard to finish and stay engaged. the plot fell flat.

Seems there is nothing to look forward to in the novel or any explanation on what is going on. I just felt confused, rushed and not interested.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review.