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legs_n_chins 's review for:
The Emperor and the Endless Palace
by Justinian Huang
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Did I need this book to absolutely blow me away? No. I needed a queer story starring Asian men and, damn it, that’s what I got! Sure I had my issues with it, but I’d still mark it as a fun, exciting read and completely worth it if you’re looking for a gaysian romance.
I don’t know if this was the intention of Huang when writing, but I definitely felt like River was given the most attention as a character. Even though all the POVs were first person, River seemed the most real to me. That said, though, I did appreciate that each character still had their own distinct personality. I like that Huang balanced the overall conceit of the story with actually taking the time to consider some smaller traits that could set the characters apart from other counterparts. Not huge things that would fundamentally change them overall, but bits and pieces that really worked in the reincarnation aspect. They are the same and yet different! And I really admire how Huang was able to set them apart from each other.
I’m honestly quite delighted with the villain characters in this book. They’re good villains to be sure and I also appreciated how they were set apart in the lifetimes. Like with the leads, the villains had their own way of appearing in the story that still carried a strong through line without being exact replicas. There was a proper menacing energy they both gave and I like how insidious both were.
I’ll admit that I found some aspects of this all quite contrived. Like, the story itself plays into a few noteworthy tropes of the genre, but that didn’t really bother me. Because I went into that expecting those things. It was more the discussion of the feelings the leads shared and some of the poetry. Sure I get how it plays into everything and, with the poems, I’m sure they come across better in Mandarin (I’m assuming Mandarin since there’s a brief mention of River not knowing Canto), but it just felt like it was trying too hard to be deep. I didn’t want to be taken out of the story, but I did have to role my eyes more often than I liked.
I will say, and probably this is extremely my problem as an asexual who teeters between extremely sex neutral and somewhat sex repulsed, the sex scenes were. Very much not to my taste. Word choice and description just weren’t working for me, it didn’t feel at all titillating. In fact, I said ew multiple times out loud as I read some of the scenes. I’m sincerely hoping that wasn’t Huang’s intention because that just seems like a weird choice to be off putting in sex scenes in a romance book, but that’s how it came off to me. It also, and this sounds so mean even as I think it but I haven’t a better way to describe it, read sort of like the stereotypical fanfic sex scenes that my friends and I make fun of… There was a tangle of tongues and everything (iykyk) 😬
That aside, I did still have a good time with this book. It frustrated me a little bit at a few points — general writing style that sometimes made me feel like the author didn’t trust his audience, some plot beats that made me go “really?” — but, like I said, I wasn’t looking for this to blow me away. I wanted something fun and queer and inescapably Chinese and I got it. I got exactly what I needed from this book and I had a cozy, relaxing time reading it during a snowstorm and it gave me the tropes I like in the exact right amount. It met my expectations and I’m not disappointed.
I don’t know if this was the intention of Huang when writing, but I definitely felt like River was given the most attention as a character. Even though all the POVs were first person, River seemed the most real to me. That said, though, I did appreciate that each character still had their own distinct personality. I like that Huang balanced the overall conceit of the story with actually taking the time to consider some smaller traits that could set the characters apart from other counterparts. Not huge things that would fundamentally change them overall, but bits and pieces that really worked in the reincarnation aspect. They are the same and yet different! And I really admire how Huang was able to set them apart from each other.
I’m honestly quite delighted with the villain characters in this book. They’re good villains to be sure and I also appreciated how they were set apart in the lifetimes. Like with the leads, the villains had their own way of appearing in the story that still carried a strong through line without being exact replicas. There was a proper menacing energy they both gave and I like how insidious both were.
I’ll admit that I found some aspects of this all quite contrived. Like, the story itself plays into a few noteworthy tropes of the genre, but that didn’t really bother me. Because I went into that expecting those things. It was more the discussion of the feelings the leads shared and some of the poetry. Sure I get how it plays into everything and, with the poems, I’m sure they come across better in Mandarin (I’m assuming Mandarin since there’s a brief mention of River not knowing Canto), but it just felt like it was trying too hard to be deep. I didn’t want to be taken out of the story, but I did have to role my eyes more often than I liked.
I will say, and probably this is extremely my problem as an asexual who teeters between extremely sex neutral and somewhat sex repulsed, the sex scenes were. Very much not to my taste. Word choice and description just weren’t working for me, it didn’t feel at all titillating. In fact, I said ew multiple times out loud as I read some of the scenes. I’m sincerely hoping that wasn’t Huang’s intention because that just seems like a weird choice to be off putting in sex scenes in a romance book, but that’s how it came off to me. It also, and this sounds so mean even as I think it but I haven’t a better way to describe it, read sort of like the stereotypical fanfic sex scenes that my friends and I make fun of… There was a tangle of tongues and everything (iykyk) 😬
That aside, I did still have a good time with this book. It frustrated me a little bit at a few points — general writing style that sometimes made me feel like the author didn’t trust his audience, some plot beats that made me go “really?” — but, like I said, I wasn’t looking for this to blow me away. I wanted something fun and queer and inescapably Chinese and I got it. I got exactly what I needed from this book and I had a cozy, relaxing time reading it during a snowstorm and it gave me the tropes I like in the exact right amount. It met my expectations and I’m not disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gaslighting
Minor: Chronic illness, Murder