Strike the Zither is a retelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. As a fan of the original, I thought it was a unique idea to gender-bend it. I also thought the story was very faithful to the original. Zephyr is a very strong heroine. I like how she is clever and resourceful. I also like the romance between her and Crow. It was very slow burn and well-developed. The world-building was developed. It made one want to read the sequel! As for the narrator, I did not think she was right for the part. Her voice was soft, which did not fit Zephr. I think Nancy Wu or Kim Mai Guest would be suited for the part. Still, I recommend this for fans of Elizabeth Lim, Julie C. Dao, and Amelie Wen Zhao!

Strike The Zither is a young adult fantasy inspired by classic Chinese Literature. It follows main character, Zephyr as she goes from orphan to the most prominent strategist in the land. Zephyr works for Xin Ren and is trying to help her defeat the other two warlordesses, but unexpected obstacles and moves affect her ability to do exactly what she plans.

This book was pretty unique. In some ways, this book reminded me a bit of Greek mythology because we have Gods, legendary warriors, strategists, power hungry Queens, and epic battles. But where Greek mythology can be a bit predictable, this book is fresh and interesting. I don't want to spoil the twist that happens about halfway through the book, but suffice it to say that I didn't see it coming.

Zephyr is an enjoyable main character as well. She's loyal almost to a fault and she refuses to give up the work she's doing. We see flashes of good strategy, although I'm not sure we ever fully see the brilliance that she's renowned for. Even when she finds out unusual details about her own background, she continues to put her allegiance with Xin Ren above all else.

I also really enjoyed the details around music and how the way one plays bares the soul. I'm not a musician, but I do really feel the power that people can put into music and I thought that was a beautiful theme throughout this book.

All in all, I thought this was an enjoyable read. I did think some areas of the story were slightly confusing or could use a bit more development, but as the first book in a series, I think it's a good start. I look forward to seeing how this universe will develop and what happens in book two.

*Thank you to Netgalley, Joan He, and the publisher for the e-copy of this book. This in no way affects the objectivity of my review.

Full of political intrigue and deception. I really liked how He wove the fantasy alongside each othe characters and paired a betrayal I did not see coming! Excited for SOUND THE GONG!

Pan Qilin, better known by her soubriquet Zephyr, is a strategist who serves an underdog warlordess. In a three-way battle for the empire, Zephyr will need to outsmart anyone who gets in her lady's way, no matter the cost.

For a book based on an 800,000 word historical epic, Strike the Zither is as efficient and ruthless as its main character at only 80,000 words (with its sequel on the way soon!). This book was a surprisingly quick read, zooming through Zephyr's schemes and betrayals as she paved the way for Xin Ren's ascent. After struggling to get through Joan He's last book, this was a welcome surprise. Even with the quick pace, He takes time to ground her story in the characters and their complicated dynamics with each other, made much more complicated by the midpoint twist.

Speaking of the twist, it was interesting but abrupt in a way that made me wish that there was more groundwork laid to establish the possibility of it. Definitely intrigued by how it'll come into play in the next book.

Finally, Crow is great, and Crow/Zephyr interactions were certainly a highlight.

unfortunately, this book simply wasn't for me. i did not really enjoy it and i felt like it was lacking in many ways. im starting to think the author's writing just doesn't appeal to me personally. this is the type of book i wouldve picked out at a bookstore for its cover but would've let it collect dust on my shelves for months and years. there is nothing particularly special about. not for me.

I hadn’t realized this was a gender bent retelling of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, nor was I familiar with the original story, but this is an awesome military fantasy and has sparked a need in me to learn about the source material and compare the two. Overall I deeply enjoyed the action, bloodshed, betrayal, and twists that kept me on my toes throughout the book.

I think the author did a great job of sharing information about the world in organic ways without simply info dumping or having the narrator hand feed explanations to the reader like most YA books are wont to do. Zephyr feels like a whole, rounded character who tells the story in a compelling and intriguing way.

The only aspect that I felt DID fall into the YA trap was with the supporting characters. They often fell into simple boxes to describe their personalities that took away from their individual depth and realism, and some aspects of the story - particularly the romance - felt forced and unearned. It’s fairly typical of the YA age range, I just expected more from a complex book with so many constantly moving parts.

It’s also worth noting the narrator did an excellent job, her voice was perfect for Zephyr and she really brought the story to life.

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*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*

In a war stricken land, three warlordesses are fighting for control of the continent. Zephyr is the strategist for Xin Ren, the weakest of the three with no land to her name. When Zephyr realizes the Ren is in danger, she infiltrates the enemy camp to destroy it from within.

I thought this was an okay story, but at times I was very bored... which is weird for a book so packed with action. This is a retelling of Three Kingdoms, which I am not familiar with.. .so maybe that's why. But, I didn't care for the majority of the characters, and they all felt too similar to tell them apart anyway. The only characters that were distinguishable to me were Zephyr, Crow, Miasma and Xin Ren - which makes sense as they are the main four of the story. I also found it a bit confusing in regard to some character's actions and how easily they believed others when they're told something (I'm looking a you Miasma...). I mean if my enemy's strategist randomly came over and said they were now loyal to me, I think I would be a bit more hesitant inviting them into my camp...

I did love how almost every person in power was a woman though! I also enjoyed the many plot twists, especially the one that people seem to dislike the most. I hadn't seen it coming, so I was curious where the story would go from there.

I feel smarter just for reading Zephyr's thoughts.

This is a book absolutely steeped in war, politics, betrayal, found family, and subterfuge that was an absolute delight to read! I didn't know until I was finished that this is a retelling of the Three Kingdoms, and while I don't know the specifics about such an period/event, a quick google search shows this will prove to be an exciting series! And with the way that it ended? Trust no one.

Zephyr is one hell of a character. She alone carries the book's political machinations as a strategist and I am obsessed with her mind. Joan He's too, to be honest, since she's the one who came up with this plot. It was such a treat to watch how she worked through problems with this galaxy brain approach. Everyone is thinking one step ahead and she's twenty feet in front of the pack. I also adored how much was held back from the reader. Zephyr has an idea and goes about making it happen, but even though we are inside her head, we get to learn the final result alongside everyone else for maximum impact.

There are quite a few side characters as well that Zephyr meets and turns to her advantage. These included warriors and Lordesses and a pair of brothers. I think my favourite was Crow. The pair were evenly matched, I think, in both being strategists and trying to figure the other out. Mostly though, I feel they had great chemistry. I loved their scenes together and how knowing him messed with Zephyr.

Admittedly, this is my least favourite book by Joan, and that is because of the twist. It's a great twist, don't get me wrong. I absolutely one hundred percent did not see it coming. I just didn't like the direction it took the story. It literally split the book into two separate entities that aren't so much the "before" and the "after" but of different people. I wanted the full book to be like the first half and was shocked with what happened. Part of that surprise too came from the fact that I don't think the pieces were laid out quite right to make me look back and go "holy sh*t, yeah, it's so obvious now."

I may not have realized this was a series when I started it, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for the sequel!

It is a retelling of The Three Kingdoms and as someone who is not familiar at all with the source material, I don't think that context or explanation was given to what on earth is going on. I also felt that apart from Zephyr, it was very hard to distinguish between the rest of the characters. They all felt extremely similar to one another and it ended up feeling kind of monotonous.

Strike the Zither by Joan He, was a YA piece that got my interest as a retelling story.
Unfortunately, the audiobook narrator was very difficult to understand, and I needed to get a library copy of the book to follow the text as I listened. The story itself was very interesting, and I will be definitely getting the sequel when it comes out.

I did not enjoy this book, which is a shame because I love the three kingdoms and I wanted to love it. I felt the characters decision making and narrative voice left a lot to be desired. Also...I just hated the names. This is petty, but they were just so weird and inconsistent, some would be Chinese inspired names and then others would be like dandelion. And I think the book could have benefitted from *some* men...I'm all for gender-bending, but species- bending...? There's like two or three men even mentioned in this book. Where do babies come from. How are they made. Storks? Just weird worldbuilding.

Joan He has a way of writing stories that really transport you into the time and place the book is set. Strike the Zither follows a badass main character who is so cocky and full of themselves but somehow convinces you to root for them. This was a great start to a series and I'm looking forward to continuing when the subsequent books come out. The narrator added a lot of life to the main character. I am always a fan of Nancy Wu's narrations, and I like that she continues to read novels written by Asian authors.

I enjoyed the second half significantly more than the first half (especially the last 15% or so) as all the little pieces that had been set up throughout the book clicked into place. I will say that I found Zephyr and Crow’s relationship to be rather annoying and uninteresting. Where the story really shines is in Zephyr’s relationships and conversations with the other major players: Ren, Miasma, Lotus, Cloud, Tourmaline, November, and Cicada. It gets especially interesting when we compare interactions between those characters and Zephyr with how they act with other characters like Lotus or Cloud.

It felt a little too much like setup for me to really love it, but the ending definitely has me looking forward to book two.

I didn't have STRIKE THE ZITHER on my radar prior to its selection as a #fantasyfrenemies read, but I would have definitely missed out. I read it via a mixture of audio and visual, and I found that I preferred the latter. I didn't always love the narrator for the audio, and I sometimes struggled to discern whether something was spoken aloud or was internal monologue, but that was a personal opinion, not objective criticism.

The story itself was incredible. Like many other reviewers shared, the twist in the middle caught me by surprise, but I loved it. One of my favorite things about the novel was the emotion it evoked within me, particularly the second half. STRIKE THE ZITHER starts without preamble; the reader is dropped in the middle of a battle, which took a moment to adjust to, but once I did, I didn't want to put the book down. The author's note fascinated me, and in my opinion, it highlights He's sheer brilliance. I have a "book hangover" currently, and I absolutely cannot wait for SOUND THE GONG.

Many thanks to Roaring Brooks Press and the #fantasyfrenemies cohosts for the gifted finished copy and to Tantor Audio for the complimentary ALC in exchange for an honest review.

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I would like to start off this saying that I really enjoyed this book. But I felt like there needed to be some more details in certain areas of the plot. A prologue would have been great and maybe some flashbacks when Zephyr was becoming this war strategist. It’s so hard to review this book without spoiling anything. But there was one major plot Point that shocked me. I never saw it coming. It was insanity and I loved it. I would love to read some more books in this world. I need an entire book on crow and November like yesterday. I would have liked to see a little more build up before Zephyr infiltrated the enemy camp. I felt like there just wasn’t enough time spent around her warlordess in order for me to believe that Zephyr was fighting for Xin Ren because she believed in her. I love everything Joan He has written so far and I will pick up every single book they write till the end of time!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was... okay. I loved the concept. I'm not familiar with The Tale of the Three Kingdoms, but I'll probably research it after this. We start off the book in the middle of some action, but unfortunate this was more confusing than it was exciting. I just didn't connect to any of the characters or their motivations. Some of this may have also been the narrator... I found her rather robotic.

Overall, kind of a middle of the road read, but it sets up a lot for the next book, which I could be persuaded to read.

I unfortunately DNF. The being dropped into the action at the beginning of the book and just thrown names and titles with very arrogant un-relatable characters was a solid no for me. I hate that they were snubbing their noses and basically spitting on the common folk from the start. I am not a fan of a villain origin story that doesn’t build you up to why they are who they are.

Fast paced and enchanting Zephyr was an MC you wanted to cheer on. I was loving the twists and turns throughout. Set in a world a time of the past never made me feel weighed down or lost. This book is perfect for teens with its pacing, character development and world building!

Oh, this was such a fantastic read! I've never read Three Kingdoms, I'd never even heard of it before this book. But to have inspired this book, it must've been pretty great! I absolutely loved reading this book, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Zephyr was ruthless and brilliant, and oh, was she an amazing character to read about! She's the strategist of the underdog, and some of her moves-including ones that make her seem like she's betraying Ren-were downright insane in how she managed to get things to go her way!

That mid-book twist? I wasn't expecting the book to go in that direction, but it made for such an interesting story. I had no idea how things would progress from there, but I loved watching how things unfolded from there!

The intricate plots and politics that were going on where just incredible. This world is not kind to the people, and combined, that just made for an addicting plot. And oh, that ending and that reveal? That was hard, and fantastic, and with certain information know-and others not-it'll be so interesting to see where things go from here!

This was an incredible read, and I need book 2 now!

Zephyr is an interesting character that was an orphan at an early age and finds herself as a strategist for Xin Ren. Ren is passionate and devoted to her cause. Zephyr is completely committed in helping Ren with her quest and finds herself working with the enemy. There are lots of twists and turns within the story and the reader is left wondering who is spying on who, what is the endgame of the various players in this complex game of power.

This is a very interesting story and I liked it. I had a hard time immersing myself in this world. It was slow at times and other times it seemed to move along so fast I had to reread the chapter. I am anxious to see where the story heads next and will continue with the series. For now I give it a 3.5 stars, hoping that the next book reels me in.