Judy I. Lin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Magic Steeped in Poison, weaves a dreamy standalone romance about a talented musician swept away to the Celestial Realm by a handsome duke in Song of the Six Realms.

This book had the most gorgeous writing and setting but the plot was lacking.

This book is very slow-paced and despite the interesting world-building, I could not keep my attention on the pages. This is not to say this is a bad book; it just was not what I was expecting.

Review: 3 stars

I don't know what to make of this book. The cover is just so darn pretty, and the synopsis is intriguing....

This story is a beautiful representation of Chinese folklore and homage to traditional Chinese music and poems -the nod to it is brilliant, and kudos to the author for all the research she has done as she weaves this into the story. The vivid descriptions of the lush world-building from the Duke's palace to the delish food descriptions are heaven.

However, because the focus is so much on worldbuilding, the character development suffers, and the plot is just chaos of confusion. After reading this book, I still can't tell what the whole purpose of this main character was —that's how confusing it was for me. The love plot was seriously a side development and there were a lot of instances where the plot dragged and had no focus. There were some moments where the pacing suffered, and there was so much information dumping...

If you are looking for a book with pure aesthetics like a beautiful cover, this will be for you.
But if you are looking for an intense story, I highly recommend you look elsewhere.

Xue is an orphan and an apprentice musician at the House of Flowing Water. However, one night, while performing, she catches the eye of a mysterious lord. He whisks her away to his estate where she discovers that he is actually The Duke of Dreams and that her memories may be the key to saving all the realms!

The premise for Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin sounded promising and Meng's estate felt magical and beautifully atmospheric, but the story's execution fell flat to me.

Pacing-wise, I feel like a lot of the first three chapters could have been cut and gradually revealed throughout the story. Either that, or I wish there had been some sort of stakes or conflict—like competition from the other apprentices or Xue struggling with her lessons, or at least something to make things more interesting!

I was also disappointed in Xue's lack of character motivation. Give us a dying promise from her parents that she's trying to fulfill or some sort of goal so readers can to root for her! I think I found Ning from Lin's first series (The Book of Tea) a more compelling character because she was at least fighting to save her sister.

I typically adore C-drama inspired stories with Demons and Celestials, but this book unfortunately lacked heart to me and I found it difficult to care about any of the characters.

I just finished this after a month, and i think it was definitely better than Judy's last works. The better part of this book was its characters. I found several dynamics with the characters, making the plot vividly alive in my head.

The plot was fine, although there were some personal complaints of the choice of words.

Judy's writing is improving i can tell.

Very interesting world building but the characters were just not doing anything for me. They felt very flat and one-dimensional. I think there is something so I'd read book two for sure.

This new Chinese Fantasy follows a gifted qin musician as she decides to take up an offer from the Duke to earn her freedom but ends up journeying to the Celestial Realm to solve a mystery.

I liked our two main characters and felt that they were interesting. The main protagonist Xue is young and naive but not in an annoying way, while the Duke Meng is mysterious and strange. There is some romance between these two characters but it wasn’t something I felt strongly for or felt like it was a main part of the plot.

The story takes place in a Chinese period drama world with interesting magic types like music and shapeshifting. The author uses descriptive imagery that can be a little flowery to describe this world, which feels very fitting for the setting.

I enjoyed following Xue on her journey and felt like it was interesting and fun to read but nothing that was intense or a page turner. Some of the plot points were a little predictable but there were a few good twists that I enjoyed.

Overall, I enjoyed this slower fantasy read and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Asian fantasy reads or someone looking for a lighter fantasy read.

I’d like to thank Feiwel and Friends and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. I enjoyed it so much, I did purchase this beautiful Owlcrate edition with my own funds. All opinions are my own.

Cawpile: 7.57/10

Thanks to NetGalley & Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Sadly, I DNF'ed at 50% of the way through.

The world is well made and structured well--my main issue was with the flat characters and slow pacing. I really couldn't care less about the protagonist and the main love interest guy--who barely spoke a word and had no chemistry with the protagonist. It's a shame because I did end up liking it but everything moved so quickly...yet also moved at a snail's pace. It just was...dull, for lack of a better word.

First off the most pressing thing I need to share is that this cover is GORGEOUS!!! This book was full of magic and great characters. I really enjoyed reading and finding out what would happen to Xue and the Duke and how their stories were connected. The world was interesting and intriguing plus I enjoyed the musical aspect. I did get a little lost in the magic system a bit but it was still enjoyable.

An absolutely captivating read! This book seamlessly blends compelling characters with an engaging plot that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The writing is eloquent, and the story is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. A must-read for anyone looking for a profound and enriching literary experience. Five stars!

DNF@ 66%

I really wanted to like this, everything about it is something I could love. The writing was actually very well done, the world was interesting. The main issue I had were the characters. They were so dull that I couldn’t finish it. I had no emotion or care for any of them, I didn’t care what was happening to the main character. Even though the world had so much potential, you didn’t really see any of. And when you saw something it was only telling you, now showing you. Romance is a huge marketing tool for this book but there really isn’t any really connection between the two leads that would make this a romance.
I would love to try this author’s other series in hope that I like that one but.

god I love LOVE when authors take mythology of their culture and spin it with their own touches. It allows for a unique touch without fully taking away from the original.

also the cover is GOREGOUS.

I read Song of the Six Realms back to back with a few other Asian-inspired fantasies. What stuck out to me was that it was not an edge of your seat read (not a bad thing here) as compared to the other novels. The pace was slower and less tension-filled. It gave me a chance to soak it all in. It even felt like lighter fare despite having some gothic elements.

Rather than swords, it was words that cut as Xue tried to help discover who was trying to bring ruin to the celestial realm. With a focus on court politics and political intrigue, there was not as much action until closer to the end. Political intrigue is a favorite, so I didn't mind.

While I liked the political intrigue, I also could not help but hope for romance. When it happened, it did not provide the rush I was expecting. I needed more interaction or subtle displays of affection and tension between the characters to fall for them falling for each other.

Overall, this was a good read, and one I easily recommend.

I really enjoy Judy I. Lin's work so I had high hopes for this one -- and it didn't disappoint. It was beautifully written, with characters that you really root for. I'm always one for a romance and this absolutely delivered. I enjoyed it -- even if it felt a bit fast towards the end. Absolutely wonderful, 5/5 stars.

I think that the characters and prose were done beautifully and the emphasis on folklore and music were well done, I think where it fell a little for me was the plot, but otherwise a solid time.

Intricately Detailed With An Interesting Plot

Quote📖
I am surrounded by many splendors, and yet I Am alone.

Thoughts 💡
This was a beautiful story with a detailed world and exquisite details. I loved Xue, she was demi and an outcast so I felt immediately drawn to her. She had dreams and wishes but was extremely pragmatic about her circumstances and tragedy.
I thought it was really interesting how the story was formatted. It was separated into parts with verses with interludes that were distinctly different.

✨Note✨standalone

⚠️Content Warning⚠️
Death of parents (off page), Grief, death of Fantasy Animals

Stats📊
Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙
YA Romantic Fantasy: slow burn, Chinese dramas/folklore, gothic influences, gods and
monsters, quiet longing, who is she to you📘
First Person, Past Tense, Single POV

I adore Judy I. Lin, and ultimately really enjoyed this tale!

Song of the Six Realms is a fantasy that was inspired by various Chinese folktales, and it is utterly enchanting and exciting. I loved all of the songs and folktales that were interspersed within the story, and how they ultimately ended up connecting to the overarching conflict and plot. I loved Xue as an MC, she is both soft and creative as well as fierce and brave. She faces so, so much hardship as well as so many absolutely out-of-this-world reveals and expectations from the beings around her, and she handles it all in an impressive but also reasonable and organic way. I loved how driven she was by her family and correcting history.

I wasn't as grabbed by the LI, the Duke. There isn't anything strictly wrong with him by any means, I just didn't find him to be as interesting as Xue. I also, likely as a consequence of this, wasn't feeling all that jazzed by the romance. It felt like it moved too fast to believable, and that honestly lends itself to what was overall my least favorite part of this book. It just felt... very rushed. The last 50% moves SO very fast, and its not just action, its a lot of dense world building and reveals as well. I found myself feeling overwhelmed and confused sometimes throughout, and eventually just kind of had to get okay with the fact that maybe it wasn't going to make perfect sense. The writing style is still absolutely stunning all throughout, even in the more fast-paced second half, and the action is incredibly engaging. I just think this probably would have benefitted from being a duology.

Regardless, I am honored to have gotten an eArc for another of Judy I. Lin's books. I adored a lot about it, and really just think the downfalls come from it being an ambitious standalone (especially for one that isn't terribly long.) I think if you are a fan of Chinese-inspired fantasy, beautiful prose, action and folklore, you'll still really enjoy this! My actual rating is 3.5. Thank you to Macmillan Children's, Feiwel & Friends, and NetGalley for this eArc!

While I finished reading this book a while ago, it’s taken me this long to write this review and tbh, even now, I don’t have the right words to describe my feelings about this book which is definitely gonna make my top favorites list at the end of the year.

I’m usually more of a wuxia fan and haven’t actually watched more than a couple of xianxia dramas. But this book is like my kind of xianxia drama in prose - serene and poetic with just enough angst and a low key romance between two demisexual individuals. I could totally see everything playing out in front of my eyes, which really shows the beauty and vivid nature of the writing and the Cang Lan Jue vibes and a minor nod to Wei Wuxian completely have my heart.

The world the author creates is very interesting, with mortals and celestials and demons, their politics and enmities, the hypocrisy of these immortals who look down on mortals for their “emotions” but are equally susceptible to all kinds of corruptions themselves. We get to meet all kinds of immortals - the ones who are entrenched in their power and can’t see reason, ones who can be persuaded and finally ones who can see the truth and treat all beings - mortal and immortal alike.

And among all these characters are our MCs - lonely, orphaned Xue who can mesmerize anyone with her qin playing, and the mysterious Duke Meng who keeps a lot of secrets but is slowly creeping into her heart. It’s a slow building of trust and friendship between them which I appreciated, slowly turning into love for the ages and lifetimes. There are revelations and twists aplenty in this story, with little tales and legends in between that both help flesh out the world building and also weave the complete narrative together.

I know this review doesn’t really showcase how much I loved this book but I promise you, if you are a xianxia fan, you’ll love this. Despite the angst and the very typical cdrama ending, I was only left feeling satisfied at the end of it. Now all I need is a qin playlist for the book which I’ve already requested from the author, and hope I’ll get to listen to all the musical pieces the author feels will go well with this amazing story.

I loved The Book of Tea duology so my hopes for this book were high. I went into it with high expectations and it did not let me down. I couldn't put the book down.

Song of the Six Realms was a clear winner for me! It was beautifully written, with great characters and perfectly developed romance that kept me glued to the pages. It has enough intrigue and vivid world building that I found myself easily transported to the story once I came back to it. Plot wise, I think it was very well crafted albeit the ending was a bit too much as everything came to a head. I like how throughout the story, we see how Xue contrasted against the Celestials with her way of thinking, talent, and emotions. I also like how it shows that the demons and the Celestials all experience the same emotions and tribulations the mortals have, despite trying their best to be above it all. I would say that technically, the romance between Xue and Jinglang isn’t really slow burn by the normal standards. There were some push and pulls yes, but with time doesn’t have a marker here the story could take time within days or weeks. However, I just feel like it has the perfect slow buildup as they really spend their time getting to know each other, both past and present.