This was a short, sweet, tortured love story. Zhen and Xian are adorable. The character development was very nice, the reader can understand the emotions behind all the decisions made and the tightness of the emotional connections. Zhen's humbleness throughout the book is so beautiful.

I do wish the villains in this book were more pronounced. Some were explained in the end but others I felt could have been dug into more.

I love the multiple POV in this, the tastefully written love scenes, and the attention to detail in the world-building. The writing makes you feel like you are in the action, in the soft moments, it was a great reading experience.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I am unfamiliar with the original story but, would love to read it and compare the two.

Thank you Netgalley, HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books, and Sher Lee of my ARC. I am voluntarily and honestly leaving this review.

Thank you to Sher Lee, Netgalley and Harper Collins for granting my wish for this ARC in exchange for an ARC.

I've a huge fan of Asian fantasy books and it's honestly a majority of what I've read this year. I've also been a huge fan of danmei since 2020 so when I heard about a danmei-inspired book, I jumped at the chance to read the ARC for this book!

#Thelegendofthewhitesnake follows a young prince named Xian and Zhen, a snake spirit who has cultivated into a human. Xian is desperately searching for an antidote to cure his mother's illness. Although he was able to get a spirit pearl that would have been the antidote, he fell into the water after being attacked by thieves and was rescued by Zhen. However, Zhen ended up swallowing the pearl soon afterward and was able to cultivate into a human as a result.

I am familiar with the original tale of the White Snake and this book follows the story very well. Xian and Zhen were already feeling some unspeakable connection with one another at their very first meeting. In a way, the romance felt like fated lovers but it was never explicitly stated, which I actually really liked because I myself could draw that conclusion or just make speculations and predictions. It was even mentioned at some point by Zhen that he had felt drawn to Xian when he first rescued the prince.

The two are so cute together and although i love grumpy x sunshine, sunshine x sunshine is equally as good. Zhen is kindhearted and pure

I absolutely loved the pining and longing the two felt for one another and i was rooting for them even more when Xian found out Zhen's true identity. The angst was SO GOOD and RAW. Even when Xian wanted to hate Zhen, he couldn't help but care for him. Because deep down, Xian knew what kind of person Zhen was inside and out and he accepted him wholehearted for who he was and not what he was .

I also enjoyed Zhen's and Qing's relationship-found family tropes are always so wholesome. Another small thing I really liked was how the world/setting is queer normative which isn't something I've really seen in actual danmei novels.

One thing that I think needed improvement was the overall pacing and I also wish Qing and Feng had a bit more scenes together.

#LegendOfTheWhiteSnake #Netgalley #Bookstagram

Thank you to Sher Lee and Netgalley for an opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a hard sucker for Asian-inspired fantasy. I've also been enjoying my dive into queer rep books over the last few months. Legend of the White Snake was a fantastic read for a story inspired by Chinese mythology with a queer twist.

The story follows Prince Xian and Zhen as a snake spirit disguised as an ordinary human. When Xian was a little boy, his mother fell ill, forcing him to seek an antidote to cure her sickness. When he attained a pearl that would be the answer to his problem, he was ambushed by thieves that wanted the pearl for themselves. He ran and fell into a body of water, where a snake saved his life but swallowed the pearl. Years later, on a journey to a faraway town to seek the snake that stole the pearl, Xian encounters Zhen, unaware that Zhen is the exact snake spirit he was seeking.

I loved how much Legend of the White Snake felt like a Chinese fairytale. From Xian and Zhen's first meeting, to the little moments they shared before they exchanged "I love you's," to the devastation when Zhen's identity was exposed to Xian, I was able to root for Xian and Zhen the entire time. My investment remained because of the angst, hopeless pining, and high tension sequences that are staples in Asian romances.

I do wish the book was just a little longer to cover the 3rd act breakup between Xian and Zhen. Their emotional separation didn't last as long as I would've hoped. I wanted more time with Zhen coming to terms with his behavior toward Zhen and for Zhen to spend more time with Qing and a certain character that came to aid him.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking for your next Asian-inspired fantasy read!

Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee is a solid 4-star read for me! This retelling of the Chinese myth brings a fresh twist with a beautiful LGBTQ+ romance at its heart. I loved how Lee modernizes the ancient story of the white snake spirit and human love, making it feel relevant while keeping the core of the myth alive.

The world-building is rich, and the emotional stakes are high, but I felt a few moments were slower than expected, and the pacing could’ve been tighter. Still, the book’s unique combination of mythology and romance made it a captivating read. If you enjoy heartfelt fantasy with a modern edge, this one’s for you!

I finally finished #thelegendofthewhitesnake by @sherleeauthor and I am so glad I got the chance to read this book. The writing is beautiful, the incorporation of Chinese culture was so well done and the pacing was perfect, I could not put the book down. The characters felt real and I truly rooted for them throughout the story. I am sad to let this book go, because it truly is a 5/5⭐️. I would encourage anyone to give this a try, especially if you love Heaven Official’s Blessing. Thank you to @harpercollins for giving me this ARC.

This book is just perfect if you love Asian fairytales, soft MM love - and getting your heart broken and mended again, rinse and repeat.

For a book this thin there is a lot in it. I've never heard of the Legend of the White Snake but now I adore it and I want to get back into this world and read more.

Xian and Zhen are two cinnamon rolls that have to be protected at all costs. They're also a snake and a snake hunter, so there's that. It's insta love that is miraculously still touching my heart from very first sight.

And there's even very good side characters I want to know more of.

4,5/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @harpercollins for the eARC!

#LegendOfTheWhiteSnake #Netgalley #Bookstagram

I always love a light hearted, YA romance and when you combine it with Chinese mythology, I’m so going to read it! Legend of the White Snake was a solid fantasy romance featuring a sweet, shy snake spirit and a strong, flirty prince. Opposites attract isn’t something I usually seek out in romance, but the author did a great job showcasing Zhen and Xian’s difference and how those differences changed each of them for the better. The relationship between Zhen and Qing was beautiful! I loved the found family trope and wish I could’ve spent more time in this book. The big betrayal reveal actually surprised me and I sped through this wonderful story. I found the ending a bit predictable, but I don’t really mind, as I always love a happy ending. I definitely recommend to any YA, fantasy, and/or romance reader out there!

Thank you so much to Sher Lee, who is such a delightful, kind soul, for sending me an early copy!

Screaming over how good this book was! I devoured this story in just a couple of days and it's not often that a book leaves me feeling as satisfied as this one did.

I love retellings in general, and this was a telling of a story I wasn't familiar with. However, I don't think that was a determent here. Sher Lee knows how to build a world, her rich descriptions of the world that Zhen and Xian live in made me feel as though I was experiencing the story right besides them. Seriously, the author made me hungry every time she described food.

And it's not just the world building, but Sher Lee is excellent at creating characters that jump off the page. Zhen and Xian have such distinctive voices, that even as a Dual P.O.V story, I could set the book down mid-chapter and jump back in and have no trouble recognizing whose voice I was reading in.

I will say, the first 40% of the book is spent really getting to know the characters and their goals and motivations, which can make the story feel a little slow. However, after that the plot really takes off. And at that point you're so invested in the characters and their feelings that you find yourself invested in their success. And because you've had time to build a connection to these characters their hurt becomes your hurr. Several scenes made my heart hurt for these boys.
(I cried real tears over this book. Full on sobbing.)

Honestly, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. You won't regret it! This will probably make it to my favorites of 2024 and become a new comfort read for me. If I would give this book 10 stars I would!

Thank you NetGalley and Publishers for allowing me to ARC read and review this story! All opinions are mine and honest.

I really loved this book. I think that the elements of legends and fairytales are incorporated into the story very well, and the characters feel dynamic. I loved the interactions between Zhen and Xian, and I found it difficult to put down once I'd started. The writing flows well, and the plot is engaging. It fits the YA category well, and I think readers who enjoyed Fake Dates and Mooncakes will enjoy Legend of the White Snake as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC!

Thank you Harper Collins, Sher Lee and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the plot of this one. I was engrossed in the story and where it was headed and while there were small pockets of info-dumping, I felt as a whole it was really beautifully told.

I loooooved learning a new myth/legend from another culture. This will always be something that delights and intrigues me.

I just found the characters fell a bit flat. I wasn’t emotionally invested in them or their relationships to one another. I felt a flash of emotion at Zhen’s sacrifice towards the end but aside from that, I didn’t connect with this story on any emotional level. Which is a shame because it had the potential to be brilliant.

I am pretty disappointed I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. This is one of my favorite Chinese Mythology tales and I've seen several Cdramas based on The Legend of The White Snake.

I was looking forward to the slow burn romance but it turned out to be Insta Love which meant I didn't understand why either of them did what they did. It was hard to root for either character. This was an okay read but I don't think I would read it again.

One day I won’t be left a weeping mess by a Chinese mythology retelling with a gorgeous cover, but today is not that day. This was so beautiful.

I was not familiar with this particular myth, so I’m not sure how much is faithful and how much is new. But I really loved how the story progressed, how Xian and Zhen’s relationship grew, and I loved Feng and Qing as side characters. The twists at the end had me surprised, and the level of danger our characters were in had me on the edge of my seat.

This is a story about love, sacrifice, balance, and forgiveness, and it was all just beautifully done. I devoured this and definitely recommend it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.

Sher Lee you did it again.. I adored Fake Dates and Mooncakes and when I saw she was releasing another book I immediately requested the ARC for it. I really enjoyed this one too! I will say I liked it less than Fake Dates but it was still thoroughly enjoyable!

I think going into this right after reading my first Danmei also may have contributed to me enjoying it slightly less than I could have. The characters were fun to read about but I didn’t feel as much connection to them as I would’ve liked. Zhen was my favourite and was a large reason for why I liked it as much as I did. I wish we could’ve seen more of Qing and her relationship with Zhen as their scenes didn’t have as much of an emotional impact to me due to not really getting invested in their sibling-like connection.

The romance was very sweet and there were many moments that had me kicking my feet and giggling. It did feel a little fast but I don’t mind that. Xian was sometimes a bit annoying especially during the conflict but not enough to make me actually dislike him or not root for the romance.

Overall, I had a really good time reading this and while I had some issues with certain aspects, I would still definitely recommend giving it a try.

4.5 stars rounded up.

This book was lovely. I'm not a huge YA reader but I loved the author's debut and jumped at the chance to read her second novel.

I was not familiar with the original story and was concerned that I would miss some of the nuance of the story because of it, but that was not the case at all. The characters were sweet and flawed and though the romance was a bit insta-lovey, it worked well for the story.

Was this book perfect? No. Were there some pacing issues? A bit. Could it have done with being a bit longer to really flesh out some more details? Yes. But vibes-wise? I loved these sweet little idiots. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️

Sher Lee' debut Fake Dates and Mooncakes was one of my favourite reads of 2023, so I was super excited when she reached out to ask if I'd like an early copy of her fantasy debut! Whilst I did have a fun time reading this book, I admit it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

I think the concept of this book is really good and this could've easily been a 5⭐️ read, but I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. I started very strong, with a hooking premise, interesting plot, and likeable protagonists, but from the moment Xian and Zhen meet, the plot seems to disappear and the focus is solely on their almost insta-love relationship. Whilst I did like their initial meeting, and could get behind their initial connection, I felt their romance rushed too suddenly into a relationship, and was based more on physical attraction than a deeper connection. Insta-love style relationships are an issue I have quite often with romantasy books (they're not a personal preference of mine), so that did hamper my enjoyment. I did like their relationship more towards the end, but I wish it had been developed more. The individual character development was stronger, but still not as developed as I would like. I did still really like Xian and Zhen as characters and became attached to them both (especially Zhen though, he was my favourite).

I think this book as a whole was quite underdeveloped. The plot got lost a bit and sidelined too much for the romance, and relationships with side characters felt less emotional as we didn't get to know said characters and their connections well enough. There were some interesting themes that I was hoping would be explored more - particularly the differing power dynamics between characters, which was touched on a few times but never in quite enough depth - which I think would've worked better if this book was a lot longer. This also impacted the ending reveals (though I do think these were quite well-crafted reveals and twists that made sense and were satisfying in the plotline) which made them feel somewhat sudden. Whilst this book is a standalone, I personally think it would've worked much better either as a much longer book, or as a duology. This would've, in my opinion, given more time to expand upon the world and magic-system (which were both very interesting, but underutilised) and develop and explore characters and their relationships. The second half of this book (after a big reveal) was quite rushed, but it felt much stronger to me in terms of plot and relationships (I enjoyed Xian and Zhen's romance much more in the second half. I admit to being nearly in tears by the ending chapters and the epilogue because I had become so much more invested and attached to the characters!

It sounds like I'm being really harsh on this book, but I did really enjoy my time reading it (it is most certainly hooking and exciting and I did not want to put it down!) and will probably be buying a physical copy when it releases next month, I just think there was a lot of potential that wasn't fully explored. I do still think this book is good, and do recommend checking it out! I think this was a promising start from Sher Lee in the world of fantasy, and I am excited to see what she will do next!

A sweet and fluffy romance where even when the plot is dramatic, there isn’t a big sense of stress or doom. In some ways this felt like reading a folktale—not only is it based on one, but the characters are often being told what the meaning of symbols or the lesson they should take away from something is. Generally a queer normative world with very little criticism of Xian either for his sexuality (gay with the understanding that at some point he’ll take a wife for succession purposes) or his promiscuous nature, as he is a favored prince and therefore in a position of high power. Fast-paced, I think the whole story takes place over around 2-3 weeks, not counting the prologue/epilogue type parts.

I discovered the wonderful world of danmei earlier this year thanks to my friends, and know only a little bit of the legend of the white snake this story was based off of, so I was so excited to read a novel that would give me danmei vibes! I really enjoyed all the story beats and themes with family, duty, equilibrium, and a lot of the characters here too. I also have to say that I really enjoy Sher Lee's writing style here because this book was just so easy to consume and gobble up!!

And Sher also did a great job with taking the original story and making it into a super cute YA queer retelling with a lot of heart. There were some twists and turns I didn't expect in the story overall, which made this even more fun!!

Xian and Zhen were so adorable together and their dynamic & journey was so fun to read. On top of that, their individual character development was well-explored too. The pacing worked out really nicely for a standalone, and while I greedily wish we got some more, I think things would've been too drawn out for the worse if it did.

A really great YA danmei-like standalone experience!

So I will say I know very little about xianxia and have no knowledge at all about the White Snake Legend. I can’t attest to how well this works as a retelling/reimagining. However, in terms of reading it as a myth inspired fantasy I very much enjoyed it.

Feel like this was one that swung me around soooo many different emotions - joy, sorrow, anticipation, anger, hope, despair and relief. Kept me gripped and on edge. I really wasn’t sure how it was going to play out in the end and a couple of twists took me by surprise!

I really loved Xian, Zhen, Quin and Feng. Whilst I’d have maybe liked a bit more depth. I think their characterisation worked well for a YA novel.

I enjoyed the authors first book, but actually liked this way more! Fantasy/myth is definitely more my thing anyway, but I think I found the writing way more engaging and descriptive. Really painted a picture of the setting.

In some ways I think this could have benefitted from being longer. I’d have liked even more of the politics, the relationship developments and world building. But this is a common critique from me so maybe I’m just greedy! 🤣

Really enjoyable read and I absolutely must check out more fantasy inspired by Asian myth and culture.

Thank you to Harper Collins, Sher Lee and Netgalley for an advanced digital copy of this!

it was a good book! i did think the first half of the book was very very very slow, but i enjoyed having multiple povs keeping the suspense alive.

I will never get tired of queer retellings of myths and legends, and I especially enjoyed this spin on White Snake from Sher Lee. It’s more of a fresh story in its own right, just utilizing some of the familiar framework and characters from the legend, but taking its own approach to telling the tale of a snake spirit and a human.

Even if you aren’t familiar with the original story, the base is predictable in a comforting sort of way, from the very quick falling in love to the way Zhen’s secret unfolds to Zhen and Xian’s resolution. Even as a retelling, there’s still a very fairytale vibe to it, from the writing and the way Lee describes the forests and court to how everything plays out.

As mentioned, it’s predictable, but in that sort of way that you know exactly what you’re getting into at the start and it’s exactly what you want from a xianxia-flavored YA romance. In that way it’s very fun and cute.