A. Y. Chao
(Book one in the Shanghai Immortal trilogy)
Synopsis:
Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper – with varying levels of success.
So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them, once and for all.
With the help of a gentle mortal tasked with setting up the Central Bank of Hell, Jing embarks on a wild chase for intel, first through Hell and then mortal Shanghai. But when her hijinks put the mortal in danger, she must decide which is more important: avenging her loss of face, or letting go of her half-empty approach to life for a chance to experience tenderness – and maybe even love.
This richly told adult fantasy debut teems with Chinese deities and demons cavorting in jazz age Shanghai.
My rating: ★★★★
Categories: fantasy, romance, historical, mythology, adult (but reads like YA)
Content:
Language: frequent use of minor language, semi-frequent use of stronger language (mainly "b" and "s," as well as one or two uses of "f")
Violence: Mentions of wars and bombings, attempted murder, descriptions of children and others arriving in the underworld and their process through the afterlife, descriptions of bloods (mostly in regards to the main character's vampiric cravings and diet) and corpses, a kidnapping, and a few similar instances. Some characters are mythical creatures who can feed off of what I understand to be human like force (called qi in the book, I think) and there is some light description of that.
Sex: Allusions to sex and kissing, nothing explicit. Two characters sleep in the same bed in their underthings, but there is no kissing or sexual touching. There are also some discussions of nudity and modesty.
LGBTQ: Not present
My Review: Honestly, I did not expect to enjoy this as much as I did, especially after my reaction to the first few pages. Jing (the main character) came off as too immature and "not-like-other-girls" in a loud, brash way, but by the end of the first chapter the tone had already shifted (where it settled for the rest of the book) and I had gotten a better grasp of Jing. There were a few times throughout the book where she would say things that had me cringing, but I truly enjoyed Jing's character overall. Her development was great, and this is only the first in the series (though I'm not sure if the other books are necessary; I went in thinking this was a stand-alone and a few more chapters could easily make it one).