The Poet Empress

This will be the perfect book for a lot of readers, but I wasn’t one of them. The style leans very strongly into YA, which I wasn’t expecting. Wei, our only narrating character, is 16, so being skewed toward YA makes sense. If I’d known that, I probably would have skipped the book. For the most part, the content feels like historical political fiction, with the fantasy element being minimal. I never felt emotionally connected to the characters or their plights. We learn things about them via flashbacks, which left me wanting more from them in the present. I needed to feel emotionally invested, especially considering the dark topics tackled here. Sorry, but I just wasn’t feeling it at all. DNF at 46% *Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook download.*

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the free gift! This story was beautiful, dark, and haunting, and it’s one I really had to sit with for a while before I could fully gather my thoughts. I went in with an idea of how I wanted the story to go, but this is one of those books that reminded me the author often knows better how the story should go. There are a lot of difficult moments and heavy subject matter in this book, so it’s very important to read the author’s note at the beginning. This won’t be a story that everyone can or will want to read. But for those who can, I think they’ll find one of the most beautifully written stories I’ve read in a very long time. Katharine Chin and Eric Yang were incredible narrators. They painted such a hauntingly beautiful picture with their voices, and their performances added so much emotional weight to the story. I know this is a book my mind is going to keep returning to—not just the story itself, but the feelings it left behind—as I continue to process it.

There really are three sides to every story. Two misguided untruths and then the actual truth. Uncovering the depths of people's pasts in this book was so heart-wrenching. I hated what they went through, but I loved every ounce of storytelling within these pages. This book follows Wei Yin. A girl whose whole village knows the horrors of starvation. A girl who has seen loss time and time again. Who has had to watch her family bury both her older and younger siblings. She's seen five of them pass now, and she would do anything to see that her little brother thrives. When an announcement is made that Terren is looking for concubines, she offers herself. Out of spite, Terren chooses Wei to not be his concubine, but the empress in waiting. Her first impression of palace life was already cruel before that; now it's even worse. Terren is cruel and tortures her in secret. To survive, she has to adapt quickly, figuring out who she can trust. There's so much deception within the palace. I thought for sure at the beginning I was going to loathe Terren throughout the whole story, but as Wei learns his past, I was furious for him. He was still an awful, terrible person, but I was emotionally conflicted. I looooved the way the narrators told the story. Especially those past scenes. I was locked in. If you love tragic but beautiful storytelling, PICK THIS UP!