A review by onelemonylime
The Girl with No Face by M. H. Boroson

adventurous challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A skillfully blended tale full of colorful characters and Chinese-American history. Look forward to ghost trains and an eerie reconstructed Song-era palace in the midst of late-1800s San Francisco. The story also touches on some uncomfortable situations that reinforce the tenuous social position that women occupied in that period, including but not limited to a complicated father-daughter relationship.
It was a little difficult to follow the parallel plots unfolding between the vampire tree and the Ghost Magistrate, which
IMO were only loosely connected. The ending resolves one but sets up the other for the next installment in the series.
Some of Li-Lian’s leaps in logic were also a little hard to believe…
Some highlights: the fight against that big jerk Biaozu; Mr. Yanqiu (as always); Mamian and Niutou. Hope the latter get the happy ending they deserve!!
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