You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

A review by yourbookishbff
The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really struggled through this one. I loved the premise and was really enjoying the non-traditional romantic set-up for our two main characters - one the servant to a courtesan and the other a highborn, spoiled nobleman who is either truly a fool or just playacting as one for unknown reasons - but their arc hit some really frustrating points for me, including a pretty upsetting sex scene where the female main character disassociates through the experience and the male main character is oblivious, and an overly extended concubine conflict that had me gritting my teeth. Their romance in the second half involved a lot of exposition, where Lin told us about their revelations without really showing us their growth, and it was hard for me to root for them (Yue-ying deserved so much better). I also started to lose interest in the murder mystery about halfway through and had to really push myself to finish this. My least favorite of Lin's books I've read so far, but I'm going to continue the series in hopes I find the other character dynamics more compelling!
Expand filter menu Content Warnings