Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - The Emperor and the Endless Palace

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

19 reviews

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I got this book early from everywhere (Libro.fm and NetGalley). I was so hype for this book and so appreciative of all the formats I had access to. I used them all while reading and loved every second of the novel and the overall experience.

A reincarnation love story that spans lifetimes, this ambitious tale of connection and destiny and a true feeling follows three iterations of two men who are reborn over and over with a pull between them that cannot be denied. In the year 4 BCE, a young courtier is directed to seduce an emperor, and the two find that, despite the machinations that brought them together, they share something greater. In 1740, an innkeeper in a rural province helps a mysterious visitor, inadvertently releasing a supernatural power. In present day Los Angeles, a college student discovers his identity meets a beautiful stranger that he is inexplicably drawn to. Spanning centuries and settings (palaces, the wilderness, underground raves), these lovers find and refind each other, always looking for a different ending and to finally be fully together.

What a refreshing romantasy! This new subgenre has really been pigeonholed into a certain type of story by the publishing/marketing industry, and I loved this breath of something new/different from that higher industry level. As for me, I just loved it. It totally lived up to the hype I had built for it. The writing was great, in general. More specifically, the three individual stories were interwoven in a way that allowed them to swell and drop in unison, creating a grand scale show of the lasting-ness of this romance, while remaining completely unique and separate in their own character developments and plots. I'm very impressed with the way Huang was able to do both, simultaneously, without sacrificing one aspect in favor of the other.

I have to mention the sex. :-) It's a correctly-marketed romantasy, so...there was, predictably, a lot of it. It was great. Such a variety and jumping right in from the start! It was transactional, with deep emotional connection, casual, under the influence (a variety of them, across the stories), with a goal/aim, brash, manipulated, shy/hesitant, transcendent, and the kind that is deeply satisfying because it comes after longing for it through almost the whole book. Oh, and lest I forget, there was some terrifying sex - I have read a lot, but I have never before read a razor blade blow job! Eeek! Anyhoo, hats off to Huang for this piece as well.

And finally, I *must* highlight the overall vibes. This is like, take angst and bittersweet torment and make it romantic and iterary with a splash of the divine. The anguish was just....so good. And ever present in the best way. And the ending!! I don't know what I was anticipating, necessarily, but this was not it...it was so much more! It subverted *all* tropes and exceeded my expectations; drawing out that sweet agony (for eternity, maybe?!), but still somehow so satisfying! Perfect for the vibes of this story (these stories).

This was just such a mystical reading experience. The reincarnations were so different from each other, which made for a compelling and fast set of narratives. And they were all otherworldly and sublime in their own ways. I kinda loved them all and was left both fulfilled and yearning for more. So, basically, I can't speak enough about how much I loved Huang's debut and I recommend it so hard!

"As my mother once told me, there are few knots that strategic wine cannot unravel."

"Memories are already so immaterial that it only takes a nudge for them to dissipate away, like waking dreams."

"What if I told you, he begins, that the feeling we call love...is actually the feeling of metaphysical recognition, when your soul remembers someone from a previous life?"

"I had fallen asleep upon his prized heritage robe. And so he could leave without stirring me awake, the Emperor had cut off his sleeve." (Idk what it is about this line, but it gave me *feelings.* I cannot get over it. This is *romance.*)

"To Remember is a dubious gift, and a staggering burden."

"An ambitious courtier in an ancient palace. A humble innkeeper in the woods. An artist obsessed with a singular muse. A beautiful mystery to the very end."

Content Warnings

happyeverabigail's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I went into this thinking it would be fantasy but it actually feels more historical fiction and fairytale with a caveat that one POV is in modern times which was such a fun voice to break things up. If you are unfamiliar with Chinese dynasties this never gets in the weeds with presumed background knowledge of details, I felt like everything was described well and the pace moved at a steady clip.

There is an overarching air of mystery. One of the POVs is more fairytale than the others so switching back and forth I could tell there was going to be some kind of connection but I really just had to sit back and let this book happen to me.

Some things that may be helpful to know going in: this is on page intimacy but this is not a romance, and there is consensual intimacy but several SAs or implied SA. I never felt that they were gratuitously written and most fade to black but it can be hard to read when you really care for these characters and feel that continued tension throughout this story. I understand their purpose just wanted to share the CW.

I felt like the author had such a control over their writing. I’m looking forward to future works by them! I looked forward to what was going to happen next on this journey and felt truly immersed every time I picked this book up.

Content Warnings

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was so entertained, turned on (it was barely 4% in and the horniness was going off the charts 🥵) and invested with this story! To me, this is a fantastic debut although some things could've been tweaked here and there like a bit further work on character development in a few characters to make pop even more, but overall there's mastery in Justinian Huang's writing and storytelling which made it such a worthwhile read to me regardless. There were some things I personally didn't vibe with the book re: the way hard drugs use is depicted, but it's totally a me thing, no judgement whatsoever to the author. But I really enjoyed this tale of lust, betrayals, revenge, unfinished love stories which turn into obsessions, past lives, and how being a greedy, opportunistic mf steals actual precious things from you.

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madscanread's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Three men who find each other throughout multiple lifetimes just to repeat the same mistakes in their love, lust, and violence over and over and over again.

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city_girl_writer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.0

What an unconventional romantasy thriller in every part of each genre!

Fantasy = reincarnation in an endless loop like a curse
Romance = multiple love stories throughout time
Thriller = wanting to turn the page to find out what happens next with outside forces getting in the way of these love stories

This will not be for everyone (especially not for romance readers who want a HEA), but it was really cool to see 3 interconnected love stories come together and yell "what the fuck?!" at the end. I will read more from this author in the future.

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gaelstorm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was interesting and unique! I struggled to pick a rating because part of me liked it more than 3 stars but it also fell flat other times.... So I guess I'll settle for a middle of the road 3 stars with a slight leaning upwards. It was a great story concept but I wish there had been a bit more character development and that it had continued with more of the plots than it did. Since we follow 3 different timelines (which I loved), that unfortunately means that each timeline got less attention than I thought it deserved (each one could have been a full novel!). I am so glad I read it though! I flew through it and enjoyed a lot of it.

Warning: this is not a romance book in the sense of the romance book genre. It's a romance in the way that Romeo & Juliette is a romance; the story is all about love and star-crossed lovers. So don't be disappointed when it doesn't really fit into the "romance genre." The genres are more fantasy, mythology-retelling, thriller, with the main plot centering on romance, but not the romance genre.

Content Warning! (I'll put this here as well as in StoryGraph's content warning section)
This book contains a fair fit of sex, and while some of it is consensual, quite a lot of it is either non-consensual or questionably consensual (e.g. drugs involved). However, I don't feel like those scenes were romanticized too much (at least how I interpreted it); it's definitively part of the plot that people are taking advantage and not being great people. At the same time, the scenes also weren't gratuitously violent or super traumatic in my opinion, but read with caution if this will upset you! Like I said above, this is not a typical feel-good romance.

<b>❤️ What kind of romance can I expect in this book?</b>
(no major plot spoilers but still hidden if you don't wanna know)

Genders: m/m
POV: 1st person POV, 3 different timelines, rotating every chapter
Themes & Tropes: star-crossed lovers, unrequited love, mythology retelling, reincarnation
Sex Scenes? Yes
Explicit Rating: R
How Much: quite a lot but not in a way that felt like constant smut, and not all were consensual, see content warnings if you need to

Content Warnings