This had so much potential, and it wasn't a ~bad~ read by any means, but it also lacked the spark that I needed to keep me going and I couldn't get myself to slog through it.

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'd at 24%. The story was confusing and lacked intrigue. The world of alternate Shanghai seems fascinating, but it was not clear what the rules of the world were and where the story was going.

"Daughter of Calamity" was one of those books that started great. I liked the premise and the writing style, but then I began to struggle. It couldn't keep my interest and started to not invest in the characters as I would have hoped. Unfortunately, this story wasn't for me. Even the narrator, though I thought did an excellent job, couldn't save this one.

Glamorous 1930s Shanghai Fantasy

Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin is a historical fantasy novel set in the dazzling and dangerous world of 1930s Shanghai. The story follows Jingwen, a talented showgirl at the Paramount, one of the city's most lavish nightclubs. Jingwen competes ruthlessly to charm wealthy patrons while balancing a double life as a messenger for her physician grandmother. The plot thickens when a series of cabaret dancers are attacked, their faces stolen by cruel magic and appearing on wealthy foreign socialites. Jingwen fears she could be next and is drawn into a web of intrigue, glamour, and danger.

Daughter of Calamity is a compelling read for fans of historical fantasy and dark, atmospheric storytelling. Rosalie M. Lin’s debut novel offers a richly textured glimpse into 1930s Shanghai, blending elements of glamour, danger, and magic. While it may have some minor flaws in character development, the novel's strengths lie in its vivid setting, intricate plot, and the moral complexities faced by its protagonist. Overall, it is a promising start for Lin and a worthwhile addition to the genre.

This was so well written. Watching her try to save those around her as her life became more and more entwined with the mystery was so good.

The story promised by Lin's premise was so interesting. A mash up that gave dancing girls, gangsters, mythical creatures, stolen body parts, ancestral ritual and surgeries, selfish wants and petty jealousies.

Set in a Shanghai that is modernizing and catering to men of the West with affluence who have unfettered access to both women and the drug trade, there are still home-grown gangs with their own interests.

Jingwen navigates her position as a dancer at a popular cabaret and the granddaughter of a powerful surgeon and is pulled into a thrilling mystery of the underground bone trade and uncovering the culprit stealing certain body parts of other cabaret girls.

Lin's tale mashes together science fiction, fantasy, and mystery/thriller to get readers interested in what is happening. But at times, it can make the story feel disconnected and bloated. The prose as well becomes heavy with unnecessary metaphor that exasperates.

All the elements are here for a captivating story, it's just the execution and style that has affected the unfolding plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the 1930s, Jingwen, is a local showgirl who dances at one of Shanghai's most popular and luxurious night clubs. Her fraught past with her mother left her to be raised by her grandmother, a mystic physician who works for one of the cities most notorious gangs. She has always lived on the peripheral of the dark underbelly of the glamorous city but it isn't until some of her fellow dancers are attacked and mutilated that she gets a glimpse into the real Shanghai. Gangsters, demons, dancers, and shamans clash in the glittering streetlights as a battle for control rages in smoky cocktail lounges that put opium dens to shame, swan filled gardens, and sacred temples. Can Jingwen save her friends and city before the mother of calamity destroys it forever.

Rosalie M. Lin beautifully mashes genres together in an atmospheric fantasy meets historical fiction. I love the glittering world she created in the deep pockets of wealthy Shanghai littered with corrupt business men, silver-armed gangsters and a goddess itching to run amuck. Her writing is so immersive and grand that I found myself wanting to step into one of these dark lounges to watch sparkling women magically dance the night away. There are a lot of characters and some of them are not as well developed creating some leaps in determining their connection to Jingwen. I am not traditionally a fan of sci-fi or fantasy so those although still beautiful those parts were a bit much for me, especially the ending. I would love to see Lin do a historical fiction as she can paint a spectacular portrait of times gone by. I missed that this was a sci-fi when I requested it but I am glad I did because it was enjoyable beyond the genre.

I had the audio version read by Si Chen who was excellent. She was very enjoyable to listen to with good character range and pacing. I would definitely listen to more of her works.

I’m not sure if I wanted more or less in this book.

I wanted more about Jingwen’s life and the side characters. I wanted more consistency in her emotional reactions what was happening around her. I wanted less wavering around the main plot points.

The premise was very interesting but I had a hard time following it through the flowy language.

This book is definitely worth the read for the setting and storylines. It just takes a while to get into.

"Daughter of Calamity" by Rosalie M. Lin transports listeners to 1930s Shanghai with its richly detailed imagery, but the lush descriptions often overshadow the plot and character development. The main character, Jengwin, feels one-dimensional, her personality largely defined by dancing and interactions with wealthy men, which left me wanting more depth and complexity. The narrative's focus on exhaustive scene descriptions slows the plot's progression, making it challenging to stay engaged.

Si Chen's narration is clear and accurate in cultural references, but her performance lacks variation in character voices, making it hard to distinguish between characters. The slow pacing, combined with the dense descriptions, can make the audiobook feel monotonous. While the book excels in creating a vividly described world, it struggles with pacing and character development, resulting in a listening experience that may not be for everyone. If you enjoy richly detailed settings and don't mind a slower, descriptive narrative, this audiobook might be worth a listen.

I wasn't able to connect with the characters in this story. While the Shanghai setting sounded interesting, the pacing felt slow, and I found myself skipping ahead at times. The characters had interesting backgrounds, but I struggled to connect with them emotionally. The writing style didn't pull me in. I listened to the audiobook, and Si Chen did a wonderful job portraying the characters. I listened to the book much longer because I thoroughly enjoyed her narration skills. I feel like those that enjoy a city setting with complex characters would enjoy this one.

I was looking forward to the book as the book description sounded so interesting. I have never read a book that was so full of contrast. On one hand, the book had beautifully written, detailed descriptions of scenes full of rich imagery, to the point of being over-written. Yet this book is also so underwritten where the same care and attention to detail was not extended to the actual plot or characters. In fact, the imagery was so full of similes it became exhausting to listen to and made you lose focus on the rest of the story. This book would have been half the length if you removed half the imagery, and you still would have had a detailed world but with plenty of room to actually write a plot and flush out the characters. Jengwin's whole personality is dancing and getting attention from rich men. There is nothing else there. She sees traumatic and horrifying events happen to her "not friends", and is over it the next day. Nothing seems to bother her or affect her deeply at all, ever. She puts no thought or emotion into her life or her experiences. Oh, lets just casually do drugs with no consideration for the repercussions or effects because some rich man is giving me attention and wants me to. The character is another contracts in the writing, she somehow notices all these little fine details in how things look (again with the author's liberal use of imagery), yet the character is supposed to be naive despite working in a dance club catering to men. It is hard to believe she is naive as she is in the book. I find her character so flat and annoying, and frankly she is just TSTL. The other characters are equally flat and annoying. I had to force my way through this audiobook at 2x speed then started skipping 10 to 15 mins at a time and yet still didn't miss any plot points. The story was completely lost amongst the imagery and needlessly excessive description of the surroundings. I DNFed at 50% because the story (or lake of) was making me frustrated and I cannot bear listening to another second of it. The narrator was no help in keeping engaged either. There was just no effort there to make the book and dialogue more interesting. While she could pronounce all the Chinese words to some cool cultural items (that were never described or explained...in a book that over described every other detail), she put no effort into making her voice any different for any of the characters, You couldn't tell who was talking and had already zoned out after 10 minutes of describing the room and all the peoples clothes. 1930's Shanghai had a tease of being actually interesting if not simultaneously over and under written. The hint of a magic system was poorly focused on and could have really added an extra layer to this book if it had also been paid half as much attention as the descriptions given to another dancer's lipstick colour and how their earrings sparkled as they moved. Don't get me wrong, I do like some beautiful imagery in scenes but when you can listen to a 40 minute chapter and its 90% descriptions that a rope handing a cage from the roof twisted like a giant serpent with a coiling muscular body wrapping around its prey like a... it is just too much and only 10% maybe bland dialogue and a single plot point. I understand the author wanted to write a beautifully described book, but she overshot the mark and this was just too much.

Clearly the author has the ability to write beautiful detail and rich imagery, just take some of that focus from the scene descriptions and put it onto the plot and characters and this book could have been way better. This is a debut author and I do hope she works on her allocation of detail to provide more of that meticulous detail towards the more important plot and character aspects in her next book.

1930's Shanghai there is a prestigious club called the Paramount. Inside there are cabaret dancers who only dream to become the lead dancer. Jingwan is one of them and soon sees that maybe she can make this dream come true by teaming up with a Mongolian Shaman, Zachai. But there is a catch….she must bring down the Leader of a rival gang, the Blue dawn and her grandmother their doctor. As she learns the tricks of the trade from her grandmother she soon discovers that her fellow dancers are being mangled and used from body parts for the rich. And her grandmother has a hand in these horrific crimes. Will she help the one who had hypnotized her or stay true to her family?
Overall rating 3/5
For readers who enjoy vivid and colorful writing. I struggled to understand what was happening due to being distracted by the side stories and barely touchable fantasy. I wish this book was more realistic, maybe body parts vs faces/lips/eyes with the women seemingly non phased. Or if the author embraced more of the fantasy and made the world laden with creatures and mystical elements. I do appreciate the premise of the book and would recommend it for readers who love folklore and sci-fi/fantasy books. (Sorry if I spelled names wrong, being a audio book I did not have a reference for correct spelling)
*Thank you to Rosalie M. Lin, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the audio copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

Rating: 3.5 stars

"Daughter of Calamity" by Rosalie M. Lin offers a rich tapestry of culture and adventure, though I wished for a tad more magic. As a mixed-Asian individual who loves supporting Asian writers, this book somewhat resonated with my heart, celebrating its cultural and storytelling.

The story follows Mei Lin, a young woman grappling with her heritage and destiny in a world threatened by unseen forces. Lin’s descriptive prose paints vivid scenes that immerse you in Mei Lin’s journey: “Her determination sparked like embers, a blend of tradition and modern challenges.”

The novel shines in its exploration of Asian mythology and folklore, adding a compelling layer to Mei Lin’s quest. Themes of family duty and personal growth are woven intricately throughout the narrative, grounding the story in heartfelt struggles and triumphs.

While I wished for more exploration of magical elements hinted at, "Daughter of Calamity" remains a commendable debut for those interested in culturally rich tales and character-driven adventures. Lin’s homage to her heritage is palpable, promising a promising future in storytelling.

**Thank you, Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review.

Jingwen is a Shanghai dancer in the 1930s, there is someone going around taking body parts from the dancers and stealing parts of their faces for the rich women of Shanghai. Fortunately Jingwen is able to go down into the underworld of Shanghai and learn its secrets to try and save the women and as it turns out, she will end up saving the city itself.

This book was just not for me; it was disjointed and confusing in its narration and therefore there were very few times that I was fully engaged in the story itself. I think the lead in took too long and I never really became invested in any character or storyline. I’m sure there is an audience for this novel, but it wasn’t me. I ended up listening to much of it because it went faster than reading it and the narrator was very good.

3.25

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC to review

I absolutely loved the narration of this one and Si Chen's narration definitely brought this story to life beautifully. The topic and set up was actually pretty interesting and the plot was well done. My only issues with this was the pacing of the story, there were parts I wanted more of and parts I wanted less of but there always seemed to be a clash.

Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

I just finished Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M Lin - paperback arc and audiobook and here are my thoughts!

Jingwen works in an upscale club in Shanghai while running money for her grandmother to a gang that runs the city.

Things start to get even more dangerous when some of the Cabaret dancers come under attack from unknown assailants who cut pieces off their faces off. When the pieces of those faces start appearing on wealthy women, jingwen comes to understand that luxury comes at a price that someone else is paying.

Narrator was great. I really felt drawn into the story in a real and tangible way.

I thought the plot was really clever. a young woman works in a club, her own grandmother does dirty dealings with dangerous gangs. She knows a lot but for some reason she comes across a little vapid. Then she comes back online and seems like she wants to know what’s going on and then oops! Something bad happens and it’s business as usual? There didn’t seem like any consistency to her character. Whether that was deliberate or not I don’t know but it was hard to connect to a woman who seem so on it one minute and then ditzy the next.

I really enjoyed the storyline though. I needed to know what the heck was going on. The story weaving was exceptional and the ending was pretty great. I also felt that things started and ended quickly, too quickly like the one sword fight. It almost felt like they were filling in words until they could go back to describing things in detail again.

More action would have been amazing and letting some of the interesting scenes play out more would have really rounded this book out. I still really enjoyed the book but it really could have been the best book of the year with some changes.

4 stars

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for my gifted arcs

#audiobook #daughterofcalamity #rosalinmlin #historicalfantasy #smpinfluencers #stmartinspress #bookinfluencer #bookreview #arcreader #readerofig #igbooks

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press and Rosalie M. Lin for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Set in 1930’s Shanghai, Jingwen is a showgirl at a very famous club, the Paramount, where she charms and competes for the attention of the wealthy patrons of the club. Her grandmother is also a surgeon for Shanghai’s most powerful gang. In a city of crime, another horrifying theft happens. Someone is stealing the faces of the beautiful dancers. Jingwen in concern for her safety goes deep into the criminal underworld to find the thief and protect herself and other dancers. With unlikely alliances and fearsome foes, she finds that this is much more strange than she could have prepared for.

3/5

This book had such an interesting world, highlighting the dark night life of Shanghai. I always enjoy unlikely allies romantic subplot. This gave me “These Violent Delights” by Chloe Gong and “The Last Bloodcarver” by Vanessa Le vibes. It was dark, gory, and strange. Although I found it a little to stay engaged at times, I still enjoyed it over all.

DNF at 11%. I ultimately was not engaged. I only made it a little way through and found nothing of it interesting. Even the narrator for the audio wasn’t very good. Didn’t show any inflections or any differences between the characters or people. If I wanted that, I could’ve listened to myself read it.

This is an example of a book with an amazing concept that just didn't quite follow through for me personally. Jingwen is such an interesting character, but I could not tell if she was supposed to be naïve or more mature because her personality, thoughts, and actions varied wildly between the two. I loved the magical-type aspects in the book, but the story was very slow in getting to the action and twists so that I was less invested when they eventually came. I also couldn't quite figure out the relationships she had with both friends (enemies?), family and romance. The descriptions could be beautiful, but also vague. I also enjoyed this version of Shanghai that the author altered just subtly enough to make you questions what is real and what is not. There are a lot of different things going on and the transition between them was (for me) confusing. I think this author has such interesting ideas and maybe with time can craft a dazzling book.