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parchmentandflour's review against another edition
fast-paced
3.0
I really enjoyed the 3 intertwined timelines element of this novel. I think the first half of the book is the strongest and I read 150 pages in basically one sitting last night. Another good aspect of the book is that most of the twists and turns were fun too.
However, the ending felt incomplete and fell really flat for me, especially with all the build-up to it. I was really hoping for an ending I could bite my teeth into and instead I felt like I got a bag of chips that was just filled with air.
I never got to a point in their relationships to ever get the feeling of "ok yes, they're in love and all of this makes sense" for a never-ending love that lasts through lifetimes. There aren't any real explanations/tied loose ends, the love felt very surface level at best, and the "villains" never villained?
In my opinion, we needed the first two timelines to have been the main focus with more detail and story dedicated to it so that we could see this epic love story. The modern era was fun but it did not give what it needed to to further the thriller/intrigue of the story. It was just drugs, parties, and a bowl of nothing.
There's also heavy drug use in the book, which is not a problem for me - however our MC had smoked something that makes him very randy and then he gets basically SA'd by someone, only for later on them to say he was actually in love with that guy all along. HUH? Did my copy miss some pages? Any time he pops up he is a bad guy and the MC does not have real feelings for them but then suddenly, lol jk you loved him too in all of our timelines. Made no sense but it did make me mad :)
However, the ending felt incomplete and fell really flat for me, especially with all the build-up to it. I was really hoping for an ending I could bite my teeth into and instead I felt like I got a bag of chips that was just filled with air.
In my opinion, we needed the first two timelines to have been the main focus with more detail and story dedicated to it so that we could see this epic love story. The modern era was fun but it did not give what it needed to to further the thriller/intrigue of the story. It was just drugs, parties, and a bowl of nothing.
There's also heavy drug use in the book, which is not a problem for me - however our MC had smoked something that makes him very randy and then he gets basically SA'd by someone, only for later on them to say he was actually in love with that guy all along. HUH? Did my copy miss some pages? Any time he pops up he is a bad guy and the MC does not have real feelings for them but then suddenly, lol jk you loved him too in all of our timelines. Made no sense but it did make me mad :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Sexual content, and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual harassment
sarahb919's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A wild ride from start to finish!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Violence, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Animal death, Self harm, Bullying, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Colonisation, Gore, and Stalking
Minor: Classism, Suicide, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
abbeghoul's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Death
Minor: Death of parent
moodreadererin's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Homophobia and Animal death
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thanks to Harlequin for the free copy of this book.
- I found THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE to be a gorgeous and frustrating book. The concept is fantastic and romantic, but the execution left something to be desired.
- I loved this conception of fated mates, weaving in ancient mythology, welding this magic with the glitter of modern circuit parties.
- However, we jumped so quickly between timelines that the relationship didn’t actually have much space to grow beyond us just being told that they were drawn together. Any actual reasons or chemistry were absent.
- Some plot threads kind of disappeared, side characters reappeared or didn’t without much logic, and I’m honestly not sure what was happening in the final scenes.
- Side note: I see so many reviews hating on the euphemism “my influence,” but I thought it was funny, lol.
- I found THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE to be a gorgeous and frustrating book. The concept is fantastic and romantic, but the execution left something to be desired.
- I loved this conception of fated mates, weaving in ancient mythology, welding this magic with the glitter of modern circuit parties.
- However, we jumped so quickly between timelines that the relationship didn’t actually have much space to grow beyond us just being told that they were drawn together. Any actual reasons or chemistry were absent.
- Some plot threads kind of disappeared, side characters reappeared or didn’t without much logic, and I’m honestly not sure what was happening in the final scenes.
- Side note: I see so many reviews hating on the euphemism “my influence,” but I thought it was funny, lol.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape
justinekorson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this book
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
This was a very surprising story. Told in three POV's (the same POV's?? they're the same souls who keep being reincarnated) this was an incredible read that blended different timelines into one. I was excited and anxious to read each new part. I enjoyed trying to connect their past lives with their present lives before the story itself told us who was who. (I still ended up being wrong though). I was so intrigued by each chapter and wept a little over its very sad end. I had so much hope for River and Joey in their present life but apparently it wasn't meant to be. I also felt really bad for Calvin in this story who sounded like a really good person who genuinely loved River.
I know this isn't the final version of the book and that the actual final draft is much longer so I'm excited to read the physical book (which I've already bought a copy of) and meet the author (I'm going to do this at an event soon). I'm going to have so much fun reading over the story again and I can't wait!!
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
This was a very surprising story. Told in three POV's (the same POV's?? they're the same souls who keep being reincarnated) this was an incredible read that blended different timelines into one. I was excited and anxious to read each new part. I enjoyed trying to connect their past lives with their present lives before the story itself told us who was who. (I still ended up being wrong though). I was so intrigued by each chapter and wept a little over its very sad end. I had so much hope for River and Joey in their present life but apparently it wasn't meant to be. I also felt really bad for Calvin in this story who sounded like a really good person who genuinely loved River.
I know this isn't the final version of the book and that the actual final draft is much longer so I'm excited to read the physical book (which I've already bought a copy of) and meet the author (I'm going to do this at an event soon). I'm going to have so much fun reading over the story again and I can't wait!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Toxic relationship, Drug use, and Gaslighting
izzyrbell's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Drug use
Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cancer, Animal death, Mental illness, and Death of parent
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Much more sex than I had expected, but this was a fantastic reimagining of the Cut Sleeve story (featuring classic characters like Huang Jiulang and Dong Xian, as well as a third present voice) that takes you across centuries.
Told from three perspectives, we see the characters journey through three reincarnations with you guessing a bit on who's who and why. With masterful storytelling, the narrative is addictive and heady, fitting the toxicity and greediness of the romances well.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that this story was fast-paced, full of both budding romance and toxic love, a little mysterious, and a bit magical. Some character arcs surprised and dazzled me, while others felt like a betrayal (in the best kinds of ways). This book didn't feel like a debut, especially because of the writing. The Emperor and the Endless Palace is so well-crafted, and the stories so intricately tied to each other, that you won't want to look away!
TW: sexual content, death, injury detail, alcohol consumption, infidelity, sexual assault, drug use, drug abuse, homophobia, animal death (not dog), ableism; mentions rape, death of a parent, cancer, vomit
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
eBook gifted via Edelweiss by MIRA via HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Told from three perspectives, we see the characters journey through three reincarnations with you guessing a bit on who's who and why. With masterful storytelling, the narrative is addictive and heady, fitting the toxicity and greediness of the romances well.
I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that this story was fast-paced, full of both budding romance and toxic love, a little mysterious, and a bit magical. Some character arcs surprised and dazzled me, while others felt like a betrayal (in the best kinds of ways). This book didn't feel like a debut, especially because of the writing. The Emperor and the Endless Palace is so well-crafted, and the stories so intricately tied to each other, that you won't want to look away!
TW: sexual content, death, injury detail, alcohol consumption, infidelity, sexual assault, drug use, drug abuse, homophobia, animal death (not dog), ableism; mentions rape, death of a parent, cancer, vomit
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
eBook gifted via Edelweiss by MIRA via HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Drug use, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Ableism, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Vomit and Alcoholism
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Rape
srm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Bittersweet love story spanning millennia with a nice helping of smut. What's not to like?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Death, Blood, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
bonriki's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I had really high expectations for this book after reading the blurb, I read a lot of danmei so a book set in ancient China with a reincarnation plot (my favorite romance trope) sounded like it would be right up my alley. I was hoping for an emotional slow burn romance across multiple lives but unfortunately the execution of this story really didn’t work for me.
The story is split into three timelines: one involving the emperor and a clerk in ancient China, one involving an innkeeper and a fox spirit in China in the 1700s, and one in modern day LA. The historical timelines were much stronger than the modern timeline but the story was plagued throughout by shallow characters, wooden dialogue, and a plot that felt more like an idea than a fully realized final draft.
At no point did the relationship between the MCs feel like anything but infatuated lust. This is a very sex-forward book with no believable romance or emotional intimacy built into the story, no times that the characters actually had a connection unless they were boning (the characters even referred to it as “the true feeling” in one scene). And boy, those sex scenes were not fun to read. Most of the sex scenes aren’t between the MCs and there are lots of comically unsexy phrases such as “he impaled me victoriously”, “blanketing me in his meat”, or “pounded his pink plum”. The MCs feel very self-centered and immature which I found off-putting. Basically, I was rooting against their relationship and by the time a love triangle subplot became revealed I was well and truly over it. I started this book with the wrong expectations and wanted to DNF but it was an ARC so I felt obligated to read to the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Gore, Rape, and Death
Moderate: Ableism