Thank you Beckett Publishing Group and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC of this book.

The first book in the Wanshiki trilogy - Kika Emers takes us on a harrowing journey of Kali, a "young" Wanshiki who is serving punishment in the human world until she proves she is worthy of redemption.

First things first, I appreciated the glossary of terms and pronunciations- not being familiar with the Mandarin Chinese, it was incredibly helpful not to have to work out how to pronounce everything on my own.

The plot moved fluidly with meaningful conflict and character development. I did not find the main character, Kali, to be likeable, but I think that's intentional and leaves room for improvement in the next two books of the series. She comes off as very self-centered, but it does seem more understandable as the story progresses.

This book is very heavy with metaphors and similes, most of which are enjoyable, however, some were lost on me.

Emers does a good job of creating a fantastical world that encompasses the real emotion and struggles of adolescence. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to book two.

4.5 Rounded Up

I’m so glad I received this ARC. I loved everything about the book even though I didn’t pronounce half of the words correctly🤣.

Kali(Liv) was quite immature, but she had her own mature qualities; she just didn’t always handle situations correctly. She HAS to live through/to her seventeenth birthday. Hunter is one of my favorites. Grams and Gramps just add the family aspect that every wants and that Kali longs for.

I couldn’t decide which characters I could trust tbh, but that’s what kept me even more intrigued.

I will definitely be continuing this series! I can’t wait for book 2!!!

wow this was so good!! i read this in a day because i simply could not put this book down and couldn't wait to read what comes next. kali is such an interesting character - she is living as a human in one of her multiple lives as a punishment for something that happened in Pompeii. at times i struggled with details of the Wanshiqi, but overall it's such a fun and unique book!! i'd never heard of a plot like this, and was pleasantly surprised. i'll definitely be looking forward to book 2!!

This book was a surprise!

I would almost have scrolled by it because if the book cover, but the title intruiged me - as well as the description.

I'm mostly positively surprised by this book! It is a very unusual plot that was refreshing and exciting to read. There is not a lot of hand-holding and explaining of the fantasy part of the story - when I started reading I had so many questions I wanted to mention in this review, but a lot of them slowly got answered. On one hand, I liked that as it felt very natural and authentic.

On the other hand, the "normal" and "not fantasy" part of the story is very Young Adult with teen drama, misunderstandings and even the hint of a triangle lovestory (luckily not all too much). Sometimes I felt the vastness of the washinqi world clashed with the young adult theme. As if too complicated a concept was tried to be explained by a too simple language. Actually a quite good representation of the vibe of the book.

Some of the washinqi lore still feels a bit loopholey to me. Like how they look down on humans but many of their ways are very human-based (taking hand, lowering yourself, etc). Also, how are all the important figures in families with each other?

The language is pretty easy, some of the topics are tough, though. There is a lot of emotional tomult going on that got a bit frustrating in the end.
The least enjoyable part in my eyes was the main characters' relationship to her parents and the relationship among them - that felt too chaotic and like wanting too much. However, this was apparently only a first book in the series so maybe that will get explained better.

Thank you @netgalley and Kika Emers
Although I hate cliffhangers , and Rainbow eyes girl suffered bullying from her classmates and it was a bit triggering …it still was a great book

"Remember Pompeii" by Kika Emers is an exceptional book that I absolutely loved. The characters, especially Wanshiqi, were remarkable, and the angst portrayed in the story was captivating. The plot follows Kali, who is living as a human in one of her multiple lives as a punishment for something that happened in Pompeii. Her parents were forced to join her, but her grandparents, Grams and Gramps, who were my favourite characters in the book, and her Tonggan Hunter chose to join her in her punishment. However, Kali can never make it past her 17th birthday.

The book sets up the series beautifully, and I am eagerly waiting for the second one to come out. One of the things that make the book so special is the compassion that Kali shows towards those in her life.

“Remember Pompeii” was a good first attempt; however, it was not finished. It started off too quickly. It felt like you were thrown head first into a story that didn’t quite know where to begin. There was not enough world building or context for even the title of story (if you had not had previous knowledge of Pompeii). Even after having read the entire book, I am still confused about the purpose of the book, character plot lines, and overall future book premises. A forced a love triangle was not needed, and was resolved too quickly (as Hunter was not really a part of it). Overall, this was an okay first draft, but needed more, and therefore, only received one star.

This was an interesting novel, involving mythology I wasn't familiar with, largely inspired by Chinese mythology. Kali (short for Kalifornia) is an immortal being, who, as a teen, caused the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that led to the destruction of Pompeii - which isn't actually what she is being punished for; the deaths of human beings are not relevant to the immortal race she belongs to. What is relevant is that another immortal vanished during the destruction, which was a misuse of her powers. The ruling council determined that she was immature in her actions, and sentenced her to be reborn over and over again, until she matures enough to be trusted with the full powers of an adult, obtained after one's 17th birthday - and since teaching her the necessary maturity is her parents' responsibility, they are reborn with her every time she fails to reach her 17th birthday. Several thousand years later, she still hasn't made it to that all-important birthday.

Kali has been sabotaging her atonement since it began. Her reasons are complex, and not fully known to those involved - her parents, her grandparents, the council, and her tonggan, her partner. Unlike her parents, who are required to participate in her punishment, Kali's grandparents and her tonggan participate voluntarily, and each knows part of what happened, but not all. This novel uses an unusual premise to explore the complex relationships that exist between family members, as well as those between friends. The story was interesting and engaging, and I look forward to the sequel I hope the author will write. Recommended for teen and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC.

Kali is a 3623 years old immortal soul, living in a teenager body that needs to turn 17 to break a curse that’s been put on her and on her family.
I was hooked from the first page all the way to the end of the book, I just couldn’t stop reading . An amazing story with a plot full of turns and twists. If your a fan of fantasy and history then this book is for you.
I definitely recommend this book.
I cannot wait to read the next books.

I want to thank Netgalley and Booksirens for sending this ARC my way. My true review is 2.5 stars.

When I read the description I felt like I needed to know more. After finishing the book I feel exactly the same. There was a great deal that was not adequately fleshed out. However the basics of the mythos were very interesting. I will have to admit at first I was VERY thrown off by the Mandarin terms, I honestly was surprised the author went this route rather than using Greek or Roman terms. After coming to terms with this, I found it rather interesting. The family secrets and drama were fun although the characters are not very deep or well fleshed out.

Something I did not enjoy was the authors over the top use of simile and metaphors. The language used just seemed entirely over the top and generally wasn't necessary. This really hurt the book in my opinion.

Remember Pompeii is a gripping and distinctive young adult fantasy novel that delves into themes of self-discovery, family, and immortality. Through her deft storytelling, Kika Emers explores the difficulties and ramifications of immortality, familial ties, and the weight of previous deeds. Remember Pompeii is a moving and engrossing examination of immortality, sacrifice, and the eternal power of love thanks to Kika Emers's skillful storytelling, which is full of family drama, unspoken secrets, and mythological creatures. Although I enjoyed the book, my attention started to fade toward the conclusion. I didn't think the characters had much depth or individuality.

Thank you netgalley and Beckett publishing group for the ebook ARC

This is a YA novel. It is for a younger audience, but I really liked it. I enjoyed the growth Kali went through. She went from a very immature teenager to a girl who had to learn through a lot of trials how to mature. She went through a lot of painful situations. I'm excited to see what the next installment holds!

This was a pretty good read. It starts off slower with the world building, but it quickly speeds up at about the halfway mark. I wasn't loving it at first because of the slowness, but then once I found out more and it sped up, I loved it. I became very invested in the FMC and can not wait until the next book comes out.

I loved this book so much I read it one sitting!!

I think Kali is such a relatable character who you just can't help but fall in love with throughout. Im such a fan of characters, especially in fantasy books, that have really accessible teenage problems because it always helps me envision myself in their shoes.

I did struggle slightly with the world building but I am super excited to see what happens in the next book in the series. For sure one that Ill be purchasing and re reading once its released!!

This has been an amazing story. Haven’t read nothing by this author before but I haven’t been disappointed, the character development was amazing and it was nice to see a story set somewhere with so much history attached to it. Absolutely makes you want to go there. I can’t wait for the next book.

Kali is a teenager, with an immortal soul. She is being punished for something that happened in Pompeii to live as a mortal girl along with her family. If she manages not to use her powers by the time she reaches 17 years, she and her family will go back to being immortal beings.

She hasn't managed to come to that age in 200 lifetimes, but what no one else knows, is that that is on purpose. She doesn't want to lose what she has and doesn't want anything to change.

This is the lifetime when it all changes. She is being blackmailed and is left with little to no choice.

I like the premise of the story, but I had time to get into it. Kali is a very hard person to like and root for.

Thank you to netgally and the publisher for the chance to read this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Remember Pompeii was a bit rough at the start and hard to get into but I'm glad I stuck it out. I felt like the characters were so vague, and I get that Kali was dealing with teen hormones but she was so immature at times. Wanting to get her family back to the way it was almost 2 thousand years ago just doesn't make sense. Her grams and gramps not telling her they knew was a huge red flag. They could have helped her through alot of her feelings and trauma. Tavs character made me suspicious, he was very upset at the rejection and was oddly attached to Kali, I feel like that will come more into play in the next book.
I felt like this book had a great idea and was good but it needed more fine tuning. Some of the jumps felt very sudden and had me needing to go back and reread the last paragraph thinking I accidentally skipped a page.
Right as it started getting really good the books ended on a cliff hanger.

I didn't love this one but I also didn't hate this one. However I'm not sure how I feel about this one. But I also don't regret reading it.

fun fantasy opening, it had very pre-set romance buut the whole thing was fun and the qi worked well. thanks for the arc.

The plot is so good, it has a ton of layers. If you enjoy a book where you can’t tell hero from villain this is the book for you. The fmc is being punished for causing the fall of Pompeii and imprisoning another immortal within it. The characters were introduced at the perfect pace.. The different parts of the magic system and world building were introduced throughout, as the main character developed more trusting relationships. Which in turn reveals more to you the reader. I was able to keep characters, relations, and their powers in order. I loved the character development. The way the mystery of what happened in Pompeii and why was interesting enough to keep you reading but didn’t leave you on a complete cliff hanger. The romance is fade to black, but it does have romance. I was a little sad with some of the choices she was making knowing she had a soulmate, but I think it just added to a more realistic and rounded fmc. The story was very plot driven and has so many layers to it. I can’t wait to see where the trilogy goes. Loved that the sneak peak into book two was included.