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A review by grace_astudentreading
The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang
2.0
Advanced reader's copy review
I am not quite sure what this book was, but it was not my cup of tea. First of all, it was way too sexually explicit for me and I did not know that going in so I was not prepared. I heard all about the beautiful, timeless romance, but all I really got out of the book was meaningless sex confused as romance with a heavy side of toxic relationship dynamics and sexual assault. Secondly, it opened so slow and didn’t really ramp up until the last sixty pages. There was good tension during those chapters that kept me reading, but I wanted so much more from the plot. I will say the writing itself was well done, with clean transitions between points of view that each had their own voice, and absolutely beautiful mythology. There was also a great twist I did not see coming and I did find the characters compelling. So when I was just a few chapters from the end I foresaw this being a three star read. But an entire star was lost because of the ending. It felt like the whole plot dissolved, there was no real resolution, and I was just plain confused. So overall, this was not the book for me.
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and Negalley for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I am not quite sure what this book was, but it was not my cup of tea. First of all, it was way too sexually explicit for me and I did not know that going in so I was not prepared. I heard all about the beautiful, timeless romance, but all I really got out of the book was meaningless sex confused as romance with a heavy side of toxic relationship dynamics and sexual assault. Secondly, it opened so slow and didn’t really ramp up until the last sixty pages. There was good tension during those chapters that kept me reading, but I wanted so much more from the plot. I will say the writing itself was well done, with clean transitions between points of view that each had their own voice, and absolutely beautiful mythology. There was also a great twist I did not see coming and I did find the characters compelling. So when I was just a few chapters from the end I foresaw this being a three star read. But an entire star was lost because of the ending. It felt like the whole plot dissolved, there was no real resolution, and I was just plain confused. So overall, this was not the book for me.
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and Negalley for the free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review