booksonawednesday 's review for:

Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao

2.0

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

I really hate giving this book such a low rating when it’s clear that the author put a lot into it, but I have to be honest with myself. This book was not for me. Any book that frequently uses the phrases ‘ta-tas’ and ‘turd egg’ is not for me, and it should definitely never have been marketed as an adult fantasy. It’s young adult at best - the nearly-one-hundred-year-old half-vampire is going on twelve. I didn’t like the main character, I didn’t like the love interest, I didn’t like the other characters, I didn’t understand the world and I struggled with the lack of plot in the first half of the book. I just… didn’t like it. There was potential with the writing, which is probably why I stuck with it and didn’t DNF it, but everything else made it fall apart.