This is cute! If you like xianxia and danmei, you’ll probably like this. I will say it reads a little young, even for YA. There’s also a bit of insta-love but their relationship is sweet and good enough to not have that be a damper.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins tor this ARC! This book was very sweet, even when sometimes it felt a bit predictable and cliche. This book reads very simplistic, however considering it's a YA book that isn't a complaint on my part! Overall I think I'd recommend this to anyone who wants a cute dash of queer historical fiction and some folklore mixed in.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collin’s Children’s Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not for me. The cover of this book was beautiful and drew me in and the plot sounded cute. Unfortunately this book had many of the issues that I have with YA novels.

The characters had no personality and the relationship was instantaneous. The dialogue was incredibly flat and modern taking away from the story. Lastly descriptions read more like a series of definitions rather than being woven into the story.

This book was fantastic! I loved the storyline, I loved the characters, I cried at the end. This book hit my emotions all the way through in all the right ways. It shows the power of family love, romantic love, and friendship love. There is backstabbing and betrayal. Plus magic. What more could one want!

unfortunately this did not work for me and I feel like it should have been at least new adult instead of ya. However I do see potential for others to enjoy it.
a dnf.

DNF @32%

I usually like Chinese folklore retellings. But I didn't like the pacing of this story or the instalove.

I received a free copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

(rounded up from 3.5 stars)

first of all, the cover is absolutely beautiful.

secondly, i found this book to be an overall quick and cute read! the story was easy to follow albeit fairly predictable, but its good if you want a simple fantasy read. i do think the main romance was insta-lovey, since they barely interacted and already, they were attracted to each other. i usually prefer more of a slow burn, but i thought it was fine for this story.

i thought the dynamic between zhen and qing was amazing, and how much they cared for each other as family.

two things that were kinda lukewarm for me were xian as a character and the ending. maybe i just don't like time jumps right at the end and xian made a couple of choices i questioned a little.

Ahhh l'm a huge lover of Chinese myth retellings and this one was my favorite one! I absolutely loved the author's spin on the classic story and the amount of cultural elements/representation that was included. I watch a lot of xianxia dramas and this felt like one - the worldbuilding was very detailed and very well done! The one thing I did wish there was more of was more of a slow burn between Xian and Zhen but thought this was great overall.

4.5*

This was an amazing book and I plan to keep my eye out for more of Sher Lee’s works. The romance, the characters, the mythology, the setting etc. It was all just so good.

It did start to drag a little bit in the middle but the beginning and ending were great.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children’s Books and Quill Tree Books for the e-ARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars, rounded up

TW: violence, torture, oppression,illness, death, grief, loss

When this book was first announced I was intrigued immediately! First, there was the recognition of the name and the legend, which is one of my favorites and I have consumed the story in various mediums. Secondly, was the cover which has beautiful artwork and emotional depth to the characters which draws you in. Then, this popped up as a ‘READ NOW’ option on NetGalley so I quickly hopped on board and buddy read this over Labor Day weekend (2024) with friends. This book was a delight from the start to finish, while I was already accustomed to the legend, Sher Lee was able to make it her own and had new life and heart to the story. This is a gay retelling of the legend where we have Prince Xian who is desperately trying to save his dying mother, and Zhen the boy with the secret, the snake with many secrets and potentially an answer. This book serves up all the best elements of a YA story, quick, engaging pacing, interesting characters and a good balance of conflict, heart, tension, and resolution.

Honeslty, my only gripe with this story is that I wanted more and felt it was a wee bit too short. Yes, everything was accomplished and I would definitely read this again, however, how dare you make me care about these characters without giving mee hundreds of pages more of their timeline. The story was not rushed, but it would’ve been nice to luxuriate in each moment longer, from the Xian and Zhen’s initial meeting, to Zhen’s discovery that Xian was in fact a prince and what they’re relationship looked like as princes and attendant. More tension, when the “truth” was revealed and how each character had to grapple with the other. Of course the ending as well, I would love to see another novel in this world focusing on Qing or at least an epilogue novella…I simply crave more. There was a moment where I was like umm, isn’t this YA, but I should’ve had more faith in the author for while she portrayed a romance she still wrote for the intended age group and kept things appropriate for the target audience.

One key element that I loved in this story is the parallel of power and betrayal. Initially, you may think as a Prince Xian had an unbalanced power of Zhen, but then that is subverted by the things that I cannot speak of without spoiling it. Also, when it comes to the conflict both gentleman are able to feel betrayed and conflicted by the others actions, or lack thereof. Since this story is dual narration between the two, we get to spend time with each on intimately and see their struggles within the situations they’ve encountered. Fahai and Qing were great supporting characters that still had their own identities and key traits that kept them from fading into obscurity. Instead their roles lending themselves to the story as well as to the development of our two leads. All in all this was a solid read which I flew through in about two days.

All the things that I liked about this book:
- lots of cultural history
- philosophical, ethical, and mythological beliefs
- magic system
- tea brewing and board games
- snakes!
- some really cool action scenes
- good balance between imagery/descriptive narrative and plot/story-telling
- surprise villain!
- Xian is a compelling MC (and is bi/pan, yay!)
- queer norm setting, emphasizing how same-sex relationships have historically been a normal thing
- some very interesting side characters
- gay angst and sexual tension
- prince and pauper/hunter and hunted/lovers to enemies to lovers vibes
- snakes!!!

A cute, gay, character-driven, mythology-inspired retelling. The story dragged quite a bit in the middle and I unfortunately didn’t feel connected to either of the protagonists despite the dual POV chapters. I enjoyed how well the culture, customs, religions, and philosophies were integrated into the story but since I’m not at all familiar with the actual legend of the white snake/other animal spirits, I would have liked to read more lore about that.

I am not a big fan of the insta-love trope so the romance was a little disappointing, even though there was an attempt to explain it both as ~past connection~ and as ~destiny~

There was a somewhat cool twist that I did not foresee (and somewhat still don’t really understand) but other than that, the story felt formulaic and predictable. I found the side characters more interesting, to be honest.

As always, glad that this was a low spice, closed-door? romantasy and especially glad that this was set in a queernorm world. Homophobes still exist, though, so beware. Also cw for snake attacks, animal cruelty, torture, and (very) mild violence/gore.

Ever since I saw the cover I knew I wanted to read this, and was able amidst the rest of things going on in life did pick it up it was a sort of sweet spot intersection I needed among other subjects I've been reading. Legend of the White Snake is a retelling of well, the legend of the white snake, considered one of China's greatest folk tales, but with the twist that the snake spirit here is a young man instead of a woman, and as there are various versions/retelling as you do with old stories, it's neat to see a sort of more modern-written take (though the setting is the same/similar as the tales). It's not YA but it does feel more YA-leaning and that's fine actually, it made it a quick read that I enjoyed throughout, and watching Xian fall for this beautiful (snake) boy, even if quickly, was a delight, and the conflicts, while very high stakes, still had some feeling of everything will be all right in the end, which is just what I wanted at this time.

The story is rife with Chinese tradition, culture, and ritual, which seems like a great intro to a lot of people and a nice familiarity to those already familiar with culture itself, and a lovely little addition (or intro) into xianxia fantasy stories with that hit of danmei flavor.

I think the story was made more with Qing as Zhen's sister-friend and Feng as Xian's bodyguard-friend, like sure, a friend is a potential weakness but also someone to tease you about falling for the prince! Oops! Friends and found family are so important, especially in a rigid royalty-type structure and also when you're just a little snake guy navigating the human world.

This is one of the very rare times I reached out to the author on Instagram like Mona-Lisa Saperstein, "widget pleeeease!" and I'll be continuing to purchase Sher Lee's books until I have some reason not to. Thank you to Lee, NetGalley, and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for granting access to the eARC in exchange for review!

4.5 ⭐️
thank you to the author for the arc! *HELP I JUST REALIZED I NEVER LINKED MY REVIEW HERE*

i don't even know how but this book managed to make me sob and i needed like 24 hours to recover. i've always loved this myth/legend, i distinctly remember my mom reading about this to me when i was young and i absolutely adored this retelling! this book has me screeching and pulling my hair out but also kicking my feet (mentally bc i read the majority of this sitting 3 m away from my teacher). personally, i think this book started off a bit slow but i literally couldn't stop after i got a bit more into it. the plot was very interesting, the big twist honestly had me "???" for a whole minute before i could continue reading. also, the romance was just soo sweet i love them sm, their chemistry was so natural. i was so attached to the characters i could feel myself experience everything that was happening in the book and let's just say the last few chapters literally destroyed me...

anyways, i highly recommend this book is you want your heart torn out <33

Touching and unique.

I was intrigued from the start and engrossed through the finish. I loved the romance, the destiny, the twists, and the heartbreak. Sher Lee poured so much emotion into this story, and I felt it all.

I can safely say Sher Lee is now an auto-buy author for me.

While I’m usually a sucker for worldbuilding, this book had very minimal. It was just enough to keep the plot compelling. It was not a turn off for me at all. While the characters felt a little underdeveloped, I also adored them from the start. Their relationships were strong. Family, platonic friendship, duty, found family, and romance were all mixed in so beautifully.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc of this title. All opinions are my own.

Ratings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5

Review:
I was impressed 💯 by how Sher introduced the Chinese culture, e.g. Making and drinking tea, their clothing, the magical elements to the readers while keeping true to the original story, thus giving readers an in-depth of the Chinese culture without giving headaches.

The meet- cute meeting between Zhen and Xian did manage to capture my heart! It was so so sweet and definitely swoon worthy! I loved Qing, Feng and Fahai. Their characters were amazing. The simplicity of the plot makes it an easy light read for me. I did shed some mini tears at the end of the book 🤧

I didn't give it five or ten stars because I kinda feel like the love between Zhen and Xian developed too fast for my liking. Nevertheless, it was one of my best reads in 2024.

If you love xianxia, danmeis and Chinese mythology, this book is for you!

I didn't really know what to expect going into this, but I ended up enjoying this immensely.

Look, it's very YA. It's got a lot of trope's. I figured out who the villain was on page 18. This wasn't some epic adventure story. What it is: A super cute, sweet romance full of family (actual and found), good friends, love, myth, magic and hope. I really loved all the characters. I also loved all the culture in this. I don't actually know a lot about the original myth or Chinese culture, but I loved learning about it through this story. It was a fast, easy and thoroughly enjoyable read.

I also finished this on the Chinese New Year - Year of the Snake...so it felt especially fortuitous.

Zhen and Xian: xoxoxo

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

DNF @ 15%
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for the eARC copy!

I had such a hard time starting this one - I am unsure if I am just not used to Chinese myth stories or how they work, but this just was not for me. I waited until my local library had the audiobook copy available and was able to make it to the 15% mark before I DNFed. The characters are very interesting, and I like the start of the world building - however, I could not get into the writing style completely. Word choices and descriptions used were not my cup of tea YA wise.

But while this book did not work for me, I hope it can work more for others. I plan to read similar stories to familiarize myself in how stories like this work and understand the background mythos better and try again another time.

So so cute!!!!! The characters were well fleshed out and the writing style was very easy to get through. Sher Lee always writes the sweetest romances ever, I’m so happy I was able to read this

This book is everything: angsty, atmospheric, and heartbreakingly romantic. Legend of the White Snake takes a classic Chinese folktale and weaves it into a lush queer romance that will have you clutching your chest. Zhen and Xian’s connection is electric, full of longing and quiet, stolen moments that you know are building toward a devastating reveal—and oh, does Sher Lee deliver the pain. The world feels alive with magic and tension, and the stakes are as sharp as a blade. If you’re into forbidden love, folklore, and protagonists who would burn the world down for each other, this one’s for you