This was really interesting to read after having just recently read Babel, by RF Kuang. It seems to center around a similar time period, with opium "trade" imminent in Canton. It was really interesting to have a protagonist who was so strong and amazing yet deeply flawed at the same time. It was difficult to know whether or not I should be rooting for her, but I think I did ultimately want her to come out on top. The politics and ethics around pirating was explored quite a bit, and it was also lovely how these myths and folktales of Ma Zou were interweaved throughout the book.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig is one of the best books I read this year. Great plot and main character!

A fierce lady pirate. Need I say more?

But I will. Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is foremost an examination of womanhood and gender roles. It is sprinkled with magical realism, backed by a brutal, historical world of piracy in Asia. I initially expected more of a dark-toned but still swashbuckling adventure, but this story read as quite literary. The narrative is slower-paced and insular, deeply tied to the development and inner turmoil of our pirate queen, Shek Young.

She is intelligent, strategic, pragmatic, but also flawed. She loves but fears just as fiercely. She reminded me a bit of an older, middle-aged Rin (from The Poppy War) might be. Shek Young is ambitious and willing to do anything to survive and succeed, but is also jaded by trauma, buried guilt, and the limitations of her gender. Chang-Eppig considers what it is to be a woman from Shek Young's perspective, and much of it resonated with my own experiences. The ways we are treated, the ways we are expected to act, how then the treatment and expectations influence how we act, and how we rebel. It was realistic, raw, and piercing.

Though Shek Young was supposedly hailed as a legendary pirate queen, I didn't feel as if I got that vibe a lot. There's certainly the pirate, but very little legend or queen in my opinion. However, it does fit into the themes of the overall story--how in the end, she was just a person, before any story told about her. I suppose I just overestimated how much action there was going to be. Another small gripe I had was the pacing. This is more personal preference, but I felt that it slogged a bit in places, especially with the introspective nature of the narration. Finally, I thought the prose was awkward at times, with vocabulary or descriptions that pulled me out of the story. (But this may be edited before publication.) I still loved Chang-Eppig's unique narrative style.

Overall, it was a great read and left me with a lot of thoughts, as good book should do! It is definitely worth the read if the synopsis has drawn your attention!

I might not have been smart enough for this one. I just felt lost, like I never got to the actual story. This is a retelling of the Chinese Pirate Queen and it is a very dark story as it covers the atrocities and violence that Shek Yeung experiences. I really liked the premise of this story (Shek Yeung's husband dies and she makes an agreement to marry someone else to stay in power and keep an alliance. Intriguing!) but did not end up actually enjoying it.

Unfortunately I never full got immersed in this world or story. While books usually pick up at the end, it felt like a struggle to get through the last part of the book. Personally, I just didn't relate or enjoy the characters. I did not really get the main character's motivations... Personally, I would have retired when I could. My issues here could have been me... I usually go for more of the lighter side of fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an eARC of this book.

This book is well written. Read it in a couple settings. Definitely worth the read. It just is not the kind of book that I would normally read. I’m not really into pirates in such.

Action-packed and beautifully written, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a captivating story about a powerful and fearsome woman. The novel opens en media res with a battle at sea and only picks up steam from there. I was hooked from beginning to end as Shek Yeung's story unfolds with depth and compassion. There are legends of a Chinese sea goddess braided throughout, which add even more dimension to this frequently surprising epic tale.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a historical fiction retelling of the Chinese Pirate Queen, Shek Yeung. It is a story of love, loss, family, motherhood, politics, guilt, and grief.

Shek Yeung watches as her husband, and co-commander of their pirate fleet, is killed. Instead of mourning him, she marries his second in command and promises him an heir in exchange for safety for both herself and her half of the fleet. With this new bargain comes new enemies and threats that she must both face and decide whether it's worth the fight.

Overall, I liked the general idea of this story, it had lot of potential but fell short due to structural issues and formatting. The pacing was slow. There was little character development - let alone any information on the characters at all other than the protagonist. The timeline jumped all over the place and it was hard to know what was happening at what time. The author draws many similarities between Shek Yeung and Ma-Zau, a mythical sea goddess, but due to the way the e-ARC was formatted; it was hard to tell when the mythology of Ma-Zau started, ended, and returned to Shek Yeung's point of view.

I think this book could be really good, but it definitely needs some more editing to be done to really bring the whole story together. This book releases June 6th, 2023. I plan on giving this book another chance once it releases with the hope that it's a bit more concise.

I thought this one was really fantastic. One: the cover was gorgeous. I’m going to buy a hard cover just for my shelf because of how nice it looks. The story was recommended by several popular authors I follow. The story was exciting and the tone was set from the first chapter. I will recommend!

A beautiful, meditative, fascinating read. This is exquisitely written and while I knew that the subject would be fascinating, I was unprepared for how much. Perfect for fans of Four Treasures of the Sky.

I am SO glad I requested an ARC of this book!

The cover and title attracted my attention, but the story and absolutely beautiful writing kept it.

Just wow.

The characters, the prose, just everything was so fantastic. I highlighted like 100 passages. This was one of the best books I've read in a long time.

I'll definitely be giving a copy of this away around release day on my tiktok (@hauntedhousebooks).

Sincere TY for letting me arc read and I wish you much success on the release.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea was a true treasure. Strong female lead, dramatic and adventurous plot. It had all of the components you want!

I really enjoyed "Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea," though I kept constantly picking it up and putting it back down again due to my school schedule. Shek Yeung is a phenomenal protagonist, and following her throughout the novel was an absolute treat. The Ma-Zou chapters were great, and the prose overall was gorgeous.

Overall, I would say that the pacing felt weird due to the timelines jumping around from before piracy to the current timeline, but that also could have been due to me reading this off and on.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for an arc!

I wanted to enjoy this one but I found the plot, story, and characterizations hard to follow and not really resonate the best for me at times.

Together with her late husband, Shek Yeung created an alliance of pirate ships to counter the Chinese imperial forces. When Portuguese forces overtook her husband, his dying wish was for Shek Yeung to continue the alliance. Shek, along with new husband, continue leading the alliance while rationalizing murder feeling that heaven would overlook whatever crimes one committed to survive.

This epic adventure on the high-seas had me glued to my kindle. Hands down one of my top books of the year!
I just reviewed Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig. #DeepastheSkyRedastheSea #NetGalley
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"Why do you need all this power?" Wo-Yuet asked her.
"So that others don't have power over me," Shek Yeung had answered.

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is, at its heart, a story about inequity and how much more difficult it is for a woman to make it to a leadership position than a man. The story is of Shek Yeung, a pirate in the South China Seas, and how she came to be one. She endures kidnapping, rape, slavery, and much death. As she finds herself leading a pirate army, she rationalizes that it is the government's fault that not everyone has enough to eat. She tells herself she is working to take down the centralized power.

This story had all the aspects I usually like in a tale: a strong female lead making it a male-dominated world, aspirations of taking down the centralized power, woven in cultural stories and myths, and a historical timeframe. However, it didn't quite come together for me. I enjoyed the first half and completely lost interest in the second half. The pirating activities blended together too much and didn't register as distinct events that moved the plot along. Overall, I was disappointed.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my review.

Book Review: Deep As The Sky, Red As The Sea
By Author: Rita Chang-Eppig
Review Date: January 21, 2023
Reviewer: Trương Thị Hoàng Chi

Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing, and Netgalley for granting me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warning (CW): Extreme Violence, rape, prostitution, and other sexual situations.

Shek Yeung was the heroine and pirate who controlled half of the ship and fleet during her first marriage to the Captain and continued her command after his death at sea.

The novel captivated me at first but its extreme violence and stories of piracy, battles and many strategic relationships lost me. The novel could have won me over with less gory details and the many side stories.

I couldn't relate to the main character with her choice to continue the murderous life when she could have retired when her husband died. Her reasons didn't seem realistic to me. She turned to piracy by force but she didn't have to continue when she had an out.

Recommendations and Rating: 3.5/5 stars. I had trouble staying interested past half of the book, and didn't care for all the bloodshed. I like historical fiction but this book is better suited for those who enjoy reading about the lives of pirates and their brutal acts.

https://www.chibeingchi.com/book-reviews

I was initially drawn in by the unique premise of this novel, but it unfortunately didn't meet my expectations.

"Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea" is a different take on a historical fiction/fantasy novel centered on protagonist Shek Young, a female pirate who loses her husband in battle with a Portuguese sailor. To protect herself and her husband's fleet, she immediately approaches her husband's second-in-command (and former lover) Cheung Po, offering him an heir in exchange for her safety and half of the crew. Not only does Shek Young have to worry about maintaining her own position over her crew, her husband's death means she has to deal with the threat of the Chinese emperor as well as European forces, and there's a constant barrage of new enemies and threats that she must face.

While I loved the opening of the novel and having a strong, Asian female lead, this novel became heavier and slower the more I read. The pacing is surprisingly slow given the plot, and new characters and forces are haphazardly thrown in with little background or introduction. Much of the writing is focused on the fighting or action scenes, but as I reader, I wanted a little more character development and backstory. Chang-Eppig also draws parallels between Shek Young and Ma-Zou, a mythological sea goddess, but Ma-Zou's stories are disjointly told and especially with the formatting of the ARC, its hard at times to tell when the mythology ends and Shek Young's perspective returns.

While not one of my favorite reads so far this year, I think some readers will enjoy the unique genre and writing.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the advance reader copy of this book.

I loved every thing about this book. A strong female in a male dominated field? Count me in. This book was beautifully written and incredibly intriguing. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author in the future.

CW: rape, drug use, murder

Shek Yeung watches her husband get cut down in front of her. Pulling together her courage and spirit, she decides to not mourn him, and marries the second in command of their pirate fleet. This tale is interwoven with lots of folklore about Ma Zou, goddess of the seas, and the choices Shek Yeung must make in order to survive as a pirate leader.

I was so excited to read this ARC! Shek Yeung is a figure in Chinese history that is always downplayed by a patriarchal culture. I really liked that it explored her origin story and her connection with the goddess throughout the whole tale. I did have an issue with the way the story was told. I hate to say it, but I felt bored, and the main plot line always seemed to be just out of reach. I think my favorite scenes were the naval battle scenes, but it mostly focused on how she viewed motherhoof and how people thought less of her because of her gender. It is a good book, and if you want to learn more about this awesome Pirate queen, you should definitely pick this up.