Easily one of my favorite 2022 reads. AWZ's beautiful writing had me hooked from the very beginning. SoS, FLN's world is wonderfully built, with lore rich in magic and violence. The Elantian colonizers struck me as a mix of British and Spanish, and their metal-based magic was a cool counter to the Hin qi-based magic. A corruption arc, Chinese mythology, star-crossed love. What more could a girl ask for?

I wish we could've gotten to know the side characters better. Shàn'jūn is a sweetheart and his relationship with Chó Tài is so lovely. Poor Dilaya just kept getting beat up. I hope they're more fleshed out in later books. I adore the (coughtragiccough) love story between the two leads, Lan and Zen, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Thank you Delacorte Press and Netgalley for the ARC! I'll post this review on my instagram on 12/20.

The book had me in awe I could not put it down. The writing is done so beautifully and the descriptions immersed me in the world.

𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘖𝘧 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 tells the tale of kingdoms coming undone and lives lost by unbalanced energies. Lan and Zen, both the sole heirs of their respective clans have lost but survived and are now destined to carry forward the true history of their Kingdom while battling their fated demons.

- ~ -

Sòng Lián or Lan, our protagonist, is still haunted by that one night in the snowfall, twelve cycles ago, when a destiny was chosen for her. To this day, she searches for the menaing of the seal burned on her wrist.

When she chances upon a black-cloaked Zen who had sensed a strong qì coming from her, he had no idea the sweet looking girl he can't get out of his mind, is high on street cred but has no knowledge that she's a practitioner.

Together with some begrudged friends and masters of a school - last on its kinds - hidden deep in the mountains, Lan and Zen battle their destinies and learn the true meaning of Yīn and Yáng, the good and the evil and how they are nothing but two sides of the same coin.

- ~ -

Ok so I don't remember now what I went into this expecting, but I came with a lot more than I had anticipated - all in a good way.

I think my favourite aspect of the stort is that while it is a purely fictional craft, it speaks a universal truth that can be easily applied to our lives in general.

All I can say is that I'm very excited for the next part and can sense that it's going to be more thrilling as the plot fully unravels and star-crossed lovers realise that they miss each other. Also, I think we'll get more of the two demon gods unaccounted for as well as Dilaya, Shàn'jūn and Tài.

- ~ -

4.01 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

Beautiful. This word encompasses this entire story for me. It is beautiful from start to end. It is beautiful in its writing, in its world-building, in its dialogue, and in its beautiful leads. Just beautiful.

The world the author has created here is lush, immersive, and captivating. At times it did feel a bit info-heavy, but I was always patient in slowing down to ensure I fully engaged with the material. I didn't want to miss a single nook or cranny in what was born within this world. It was magic, it was heartbreak, it was hope. There is so much to devour from the world created.

And there are some magnificent characters to fill this world.

I loved Lan. I loved that she wasn't the typical super strong, wise, has-all-the-answers protagonist. Instead, she learns as she goes along. She makes mistakes, has shortcomings, mouths off to the point she gets herself in trouble, and I loved her for it. Loved her! She felt multi-dimensional, relatable, and inspiring. She was easy to get to know because she was this beautiful open book (minus those hidden secrets). She was so earnest in learning (even if she fell asleep a few times during important lessons, ha!). I loved her journey because it never went static, she was an evolving lead.

Then there's Zen. He's complex, brooding, guarded, and intriguing. So very intriguing. I did not get to know him in the same way as Zen. His character wasn't easy to crack, but when he's on the page he had my full attention. His character's allure is irresistible, and his arc produces more questions than answers. Yet I felt committed to go to the end of the line with his journey.

My qualms are mere nitpicks. I didn't fully feel Lan and Zen's chemistry fully unlocked in their burgeoning romance. I think I would have enjoyed more romance--more love story-- to develop, it felt it was from a very lengthy, cautious camaraderie to sudden, rushed late game romance. Other nitpicks include how I did not quite understand a choice Lan made, as it felt rather contradicting to a big moment she has prior to it. And the book felt a bit too long. I actually believed I was reading a standalone until it became clear this is only the beginning.

Yet, those qualms feel minor, because, indeed....this is only the beginning. The above nitpicks feel they can easily be "remedied" once the sequel arrives. So I leave this not wishing for this or that, but embracing what was given.

And it was beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Delacorte Press for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lan is a songgirl working in a Haak’gong teahouse. Indentured up to her eyebrows, she spends her nights singing to Elantian patrons and her days hunting for clues about the mysterious mark burned into her wrist that only she can see. The mark appeared when her mother died fighting the Elantians, an invading force now occupying her country and wiping out Hin culture. Inadvertently catching the attention of both Elantian sorcerers and a mysterious Hin practitioner, Lan must run for her life.

This xianxia-inspired fantasy has some beautiful imagery (hinted at by that marvelous cover), a magical school, a boy with a dark past, and a rather slow-burn romance. I suspect a lot of readers, as indicated by early reviews, will enjoy this a lot. I was impressed by the theme of imperialism and the wiping out of a culture— it gave the YA novel unexpected depth.

I devoured the first half but found myself really slowing down through the second half— it felt less believable and less immersive. I quickly became emotionally attached to Old Wei and Ying at the beginning because we can see their close relationship to Lan. But later on, there are big reveals that didn't have the necessary weight because they didn't yet have that deep connection to Lan. And while the descriptions of the Elantian impact on Hin culture cut deep, I feel like the portrayal of mythology and the magic system was often drowned in exposition.

In a fallen kingdom Lan carries her mother's secret which could be the key to saving her people from the invading Elantians and the power of the Demon Gods. Inspired by ancient mythology and folklore of China Song Like Silver, Flame Like Night is the first in the Song Of The Last Kingdom fantasy series.

The magic system is interesting and something I haven't read before. There are actually two systems of magic, one for the enemy Elantians who use metal and Hin who use Qi. I would have liked to learn more about the metal magic and whether one side can use another's. When the metal magic was first introduced I actually wanted to research metals. That's how interesting everything was.

There is a lot of action and some really creative scenes which were fun to watch unfold in my mind. Some moments are even creepy. There is also a lot of history which is important for the story, not just for the reader but the characters as well. It is a lot to learn though.

The main characters are Lan and Zen. Lan can be annoying and acts childish at times. Her transformation isn't fully believable. Zen is a strong character. Both of their backgrounds are talked about a lot but it would be nice if we could see more of it. I don't really feel the romance or love. I believe in it but I don't feel the depth the characters suddenly act like it is. It's supposed to lend weight to the climax but it doesn't for me.

There is some repetition and overly descriptive writing at times. I feel that without it the book would then have been shorter or more time could have been spent on relationships with other characters. Some characters towards the end seem to contradict themselves so some of their actions are not fully understandable and slightly frustrating.

This is a darker story. Secrets are revealed and there are a few twists but everything is not resolved. You are left wanting more and since so much is established in this first entry that leaves me ready for the sequel.

3.75 stars

First of all, I loved this book to bits. One of my best reads this year. I loved all the characters, they were really like-able and well developed. The romance was very nice and made me love them so much. I would recommend this to all my friends who like reading ya or fantasy. 5 out of 5 stars, I love this book.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is the start to a new duology by Amélie Wen Zhao, and I feel like she’s definitely finding her feet a bit more in publishing with this series. I had mixed feelings about her first series (to the point where I still haven’t read book 3), but I like where this series is going so far.

I love the inspiration in Chinese history and myth, with Zhao explicitly mentioning wuxia and xianxia stories from her childhood as inspiration. These elements, from the way China’s imperial history were incorporated to the clan structure, make the book stand out, even amid its peers in Asian inspired fantasy. And to further explore the passage of time, with the impacts of colonization, gave it a bit more a distinct, modern feel in that regard. And while it can be dangerous to mysticize qi (looking at you, Mulan (2020)), Zhao’s qi-based magic system is well-rendered, especially in its duality and balance of yin and yang.

As far as characterizations, the story does still utilize some familiar YA tropes. And while I found myself feeling very mixed about them in her first series, I feel Zhao managed to more effectively inject her own style into them this time around. Lan particularly drew my attention due to how the current colonial regime impacted her, essentially stealing her name and identity when they killed her mother and oppressed her people. Zen is a practitioner of magic with a dark past of his own. I really liked seeing them connect over their respective experiences with trauma, and found their romance pretty believable.

As this book is rather long, it is a bit of a slower burn. However, it is well paced for the most part and doesn’t lack for action or intrigue. And it builds up to a cliffhanger, leaving me eager to continue, and anxious for the next book.

This is a solid start to a new series, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys Asian inspired fantasy.

Song of Silver; Flame like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao
“She would take it. She would no longer be the flower. She would be the blade.”
~~~
Words can’t describe my thoughts for this book. It held so much emotion, so much power. It felt so different as well from her other series Blood Heir Trilogy. I have never watched a K-drama but as I read this; I had one playing out in my head with so much detailing and enthusiasm.
Any person could tell that the setting and plot had a lot of thought going into this. Then for the characters, their chemistry was fantastic. Let’s also not forget the comical side to this book, the banter between the two; I love me so good banter. Along with the slow burn, I turned into a giddy little girl with it sometimes. Sometimes I couldn’t stop smiling even when I wasn’t reading the book, I was thinking of certain parts.
Then the ending broke me, I won’t go into detail. But it broke me, with one line. One scene, I crack like an egg. I stayed up one night till 3am to finish it, thank the gods I didn’t have to work the next day. But I stared into the abyss after that. *insert The Grinch* gif. Just do yourself a favor now. Preorder this book and be prepared to read it in Jan. For some of you, you may need tissues, just a warning.
But thank you Amelie Wen Zhao, Random House Children, Delacorte Press, and the GetUnderlined booth at YALLfest for letting me have access to a physical copy to my favorite author. *side note: yes when I got this in my hands at YALLfest. I cried like a absolute baby. Don’t judge me*

firist of all, the cover of this book is so gorgeous
second, this book was amazing. the characters were all likable and well-developed, and the romance was absolutely swoonwrothy I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading ya or fantasy, because they will definitely like it as much as I did
overall 5 out of 5 stars

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is one of the best books I have read this year. Zhao was able to make a poignant commentary on colonization and its effects on the colonized while maintaining a beautifully created world and fully-fleshed-out characters. I loved the writing style, which was very lyrical and seemed to flow across the pages. The main characters Lan and Zen were perhaps my favorite part of the book, with Lan's sometimes stubborn personality bringing a lot of flavor to her character and Zen being a true morally grey character.

I only found the book to be just a little bit tedious in the second half. The first half moved very quickly, establishing plot, characters, and motivations, but the second half seemed to slow down a lot more and I was sometimes a little bit bored.

Overall, this is a novel I would definitely include in an in-classroom library to give my students a great option to read!

I have mixed feelings, personally, on Zhao’s epic fantasy. My undergrad was EAS (strong emphasis on China) and I felt some of the world building was tedious and academic. I would have loved to have seen a glossary of words to support readers. The East vs West themes were also very strong in such a way, that parts of character motivations seemed shallow.

For the story, I loved it. Until I realized we weren’t concluding the story in 1 book. It’s not that I didn’t like the story, either, but it was a lot to absorb.

Based on the epilogue, I WOULD like to read the sequel and would recommend to others to read. However, I wish this had been a one-and-done book or a longer book.

The world building is beautiful. I could see this being a popular pick from our libraries, especially with the beautiful cover.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

I did not expect to like this as much as I did. Well, as someone who mostly reads fantasy like this I did but I didn't expect it to quickly become one of my favorite books of the year. The world was absolutely beautiful, with an incredible magic system and amazing characters. This book was beautiful and I'm beyond excited to read more books from Amélie, with the way she writes it was easy to be pulled into this story and I ended up finishing it extremely quickly once I picked it up.

I loved reading about Lan and Zen's journey, however, I found the first half of the story to be more enjoyable than the second half; it also felt very similar to Spin the Dawn with the involvement of demons, etc. and the second half felt like I was reading its sequel (Unravel The Dusk), which I did not enjoy as much as the first. Overall, this was a very enjoyable book and would definitely read the sequel.

Amelie can create a world like no other. She is intricate, detailed, and immersive. Her worlds leap off the page and fantasy lovers will fall in love with her characters and settings.

However, the pacing dragged a bit for my taste. Whether it was just the fact that I’ve been out of fantasy for awhile, or something else, I still think this book will be great for a lot of people.

At some point in my life I watched many dramas with beautiful universes and fantasy worlds. Well, none of them matched the feeling this book gave me. It was so beautiful written, lyrical in some ways, I felt it deeply in my heart how much research the author put to make this worldbuilding so vast and unique.

I love fantasy, I love romance, I love everything that have to do with forbbiden love and powers who can bent a person will and make him go beyond repairs to protect the ones he loves. This book is about sacrifices, about the helpelness that comes when all you ever wanted is to protect and keep alive the ones you love. Is about a found family and cherish good memories, about lost, about making new friends.

The book was well written, with such a complex worldbuilding and characters that are so real, so vivid, so true to their nature. I loved Lan, definitely she's becoming one of my favorites of this year, as she was just a mere girl trying to protect the one she loved. She's been thru a lot and she still knew how to smile, how to love. Zen had my heart since the beginning and I felt bad for him so many times I can't count them on my fingers. All he ever wanted was to protect them, to love them, and that is something I can only admire. Ya, maybe he took bad decisions but he made them only thinking of the greater good.

I don't think there was a single thing that happened that wasn't answered. The cover itself made sense at the end of the book and I loved what that meant. After all, because of the cover I fall in love with this book. I simply saw it and I knew it I want to read this book. And good that I did. It was mindblowing, such a roller coster of emotions and feelings.

In a world here their people doomed them, these people found in them the power to do good, to do better. This is a book you need to read to fully understand my words and love for it. I recommend it to everyone who loves fantasy. Who loves forbbiden love. Found family. Found friends. Powers and gods and demons.

This was a DNF for me, A lush world glimpsed through the pervasive yet unbelievable romance was intriguing, but never reached. The antagonist was so overpowered that it seemed all geared to set up sequels, but reading the first book was a slog. The characters beyond the main pair are NPCs, there to offer a hint or quest to the leads, or to die dramatically to set them on their way. The leads are flat as well, and the magic system incoherent in what seems to be an effort to remain true to Chinese mythology without being set in China. Read Joan He's Strike the Zither instead, and put this one on the return shelf along with Last of the Talons.

If I could give this a million stars I would. HOW PHENOMENAL! I loved Amelie’s other series and couldn’t wait for this. This blew my expectations out of the water. The qi based magic, the weaving of Chinese folklore into this fantastical world. I loved it and can’t wait for book 2.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for sending me an early copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

Hello and welcome to one of my new favorite books of all time! That's it. That's the review. It's literally so amazing from start to finish that the last thing I wanted to do was put it down. The world immediately immerses you and is so unique that it was unlike anything I've read before, even when it takes so much from Chinese lore and legend, with yin and yang and qi being the basis of the magic system. I wanted to know more not only about the characters, but I wanted to understand how the world worked and the intricacies of qi.

The characters are so relatable even from the beginning, and I loved watching their growth. I can't say too much more about that without spoilers, but the journeys they go on are so touching and heartbreaking at the same time, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

The plot kept me essentially screaming, and the last 20% of the book turned into me just switching between crying and screaming and gaping with an open mouth. The plot twists were things that I absolutely did not see coming, and they were so well revealed for the maximum effect.

When I finished the book, I felt empty and wanted to stare at the wall for 2 hours. That's how you know it's good!

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