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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Legend of the White Snake is an emotional and romantic historical Chinese fantasy--a twist on one of China's four great four great folktales (more specifically, it appears to be based on the Chinese opera version of the tale). It tells the story of a prince (Xian) who falls in love with a snake spirit he believes to be a stable hand (Zhen). Xian and Zhen's potential romance is complicated not just by Zhen's secret that he is a snake spirit, but that Zhen may be the key to saving Xian's mother, who was bitten by a white snake ten years earlier and has been sick ever since.
While in the folktale, the snake spirit is always a woman, here, the snake spirit is a boy. Indeed, Legend of the White Snake takes place in a queer-normative world (the book touches on ancient Chinese history where some emperors were known to have had male consorts). Legend of the White Snake reads like a fairy tale where magic and spirits are real, but clearly contains references to actual Chinese history. For this reason, it felt like a camp fire story, one passed along by oral tradition rather than in the written word. Just to be clear--I enjoyed the style very much. I am not as familiar with Chinese history and folklore, nor do you need to be to enjoy the book. Explanations for words, objects, traditions, etc. are seamlessly woven throughout the story.
At its heart, Legend of the White Snake is a young adult book. Both Xian and Zhen (who are supposed to be around the age of 17) go through a journey of discovery about themselves. There is a definite boy to man character arc for the both (or young snake spirit to young adult snake spirit for Zhen, as it were). It contains a couple of closed-door romantic scenes between the two, but the romance is based more in emotion than physicality. I would recommend Legend of the White Snake for any young adult (or young adult at heart) who has a love for history and folktales. Rating: 4.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read the e-arc for this book in exchange for an honest review.
While in the folktale, the snake spirit is always a woman, here, the snake spirit is a boy. Indeed, Legend of the White Snake takes place in a queer-normative world (the book touches on ancient Chinese history where some emperors were known to have had male consorts). Legend of the White Snake reads like a fairy tale where magic and spirits are real, but clearly contains references to actual Chinese history. For this reason, it felt like a camp fire story, one passed along by oral tradition rather than in the written word. Just to be clear--I enjoyed the style very much. I am not as familiar with Chinese history and folklore, nor do you need to be to enjoy the book. Explanations for words, objects, traditions, etc. are seamlessly woven throughout the story.
At its heart, Legend of the White Snake is a young adult book. Both Xian and Zhen (who are supposed to be around the age of 17) go through a journey of discovery about themselves. There is a definite boy to man character arc for the both (or young snake spirit to young adult snake spirit for Zhen, as it were). It contains a couple of closed-door romantic scenes between the two, but the romance is based more in emotion than physicality. I would recommend Legend of the White Snake for any young adult (or young adult at heart) who has a love for history and folktales. Rating: 4.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read the e-arc for this book in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
3.5!
Legend of the White Snake was a cute story that was easy to read, and was very fast paced and hit its beats well. Lee’s writing was easy to read and while I did find the story to have developed too fast for my personal taste, it was easily carried by the dialogue and relationship between characters outside of the romance. I don’t know how much I bought into the relationship by the end, but I thought he overall characters arcs were good and the ending made sense. The second half of the book didn’t feel as tight as the first half and some of the reveals felt a little… silly, I guess, but despite my little nitpicks, I thought that the overall story was fun and worth the read.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes