Take a photo of a barcode or cover
plumeriade 's review for:
Empress
by Shan Sa
this was an amazing book. the only reason it's not getting a 5 is because a) I agree with the review that says it comes off as a bit impersonal, and b) this book covers from before her birth to after her death, and that's a lot, and time leaps in some places; I think it may have been better if it focused from the beginning to the height of her rule, and used that space to flesh out some more of those things.
THAT SAID, I loved this. love. it translated into English very well, imo. I haven't read the original French version for comparison but I know a lot can be lost in translation and this didn't seem so. the writing is still very lush and beautiful and Empress Wu is ruthless -- and slightly unbalanced, probably, but I think many rulers were back then! -- but brilliant.
THAT SAID, I loved this. love. it translated into English very well, imo. I haven't read the original French version for comparison but I know a lot can be lost in translation and this didn't seem so. the writing is still very lush and beautiful and Empress Wu is ruthless -- and slightly unbalanced, probably, but I think many rulers were back then! -- but brilliant.