Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix

I really enjoyed the stories in this book. The last book though well written really didn't strike a chord with me. This was very well done, and could have been a stand alone.

Though the book is well written, I felt the heroine to be too saintly. It did not have the captivating quality of the previous book but got a little boring at times. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns was really wonderful though. Keep writing Julie!

Unfortunately, I just didn’t like this as much as the first book, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns. What I really loved about Forest of a Thousand Lanterns was the anti-heroic female lead, Xifeng. I love me a good anti-heroine, and Xifeng more than scratched that itch. But Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix changes protagonists and switches to having a straight-cut heroine for a lead. Somehow, that’s a lot less exciting.But let’s back up a moment. This duology retells the story “Snow White,” with the first book being about the rise of Xifeng, the evil queen, and this second book switching focus to Jade, the step-daughter of Xifeng. Jade is a kind-hearted girl raised in a distant monastery, but the novel opens with her being summoned to the palace. Quickly, her eyes are opened to the problems besetting the kingdom and Xifeng’s lust for power. Jade has never wanted the throne… but she wants what is best for her people. Overthrowing Xifeng will involve a quest across the kingdom to gain the aid of the gods themselves.Xifeng was unique and new, powerful and unforgettable. By comparison, Jade is a pale shadow, forgettable. She’s just such the cookie-cutter, YA fantasy heroine. I do appreciate kind heroines, but I still want them to be memorable and distinct. Jade wasn’t. I knew Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix was switching the story over the princess, and I figured that this might make for a less compelling protagonist. Knowing this going in didn’t help any.Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix also turns into a very classic quest plotline, which I’m not that interested in anymore. Look, I’ve read or watched plenty of stories where a rag-tag group of heroes and heroines has to rush about to collect magical objects that will help them defeat the evil overlord. Originally, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix looked like it would be more court intrigue, which is a plot type I prefer. Then the quest arrived almost to the half-way mark, and it was hard not to lose interest in the plotting.Anyone retelling “Snow White” has a problem: the original story relies on an element of passivity in the heroine, and the defining moment of the story literally involves her being asleep. Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix tries to deal with this, but I still felt like Jade was side-lined during the climax of her own story.Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix may be the only “Snow White” retelling I’ve ever read where the love interest/prince has dwarfism. I started questioning why I hadn’t seen this before (it seems obvious for a “Snow White” retelling), but I quickly was like, oh right, ableism. Anyway, if you’re looking for a story where the romantic hero has dwarfism, that’s Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix!A while back, I swore that I would always mention in my reviews if a book didn’t acknowledge queer people existing. Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix doesn’t, which really sucks because Jade’s friend Wren could so easily have been queer.Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is a very different sort of book than its predecessor, and it was less to my taste. Maybe it’s one of those things where I’m just not the target audience for YA novels anymore? Maybe actual teenagers are less bored of quests for magical objects. Anyway, this book is still worth reading if you want a follow up to Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, but it shines less brightly than its predecessor.

I waited so long for KOBP to come out after reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, and was so sad and annoyed after I finished it. My biggest issue: This book's protagonist is remarkably dull in comparison to Xifeng from FOTL. Before the book was released, Julie said Jade would be a sweet 'cinnamon roll' to contrast Xifeng's evilness. I was excited about this! I love gooey cinnamon roll characters! But I was horribly let down, and Jade was an unseasoned pastry dough at best. I also know the author wanted to use a classic journey arc for this book, but it really worked against her that many of her fans' favorite parts of FOTL were the intense court politics and the adrenaline of a woman rising to power against all odds - parts that were absent from KOBP. The journey narrative seemed uninspired and directionless in comparison. The plotting felt ill-fitting and...flat. I did enjoy the smaller 'folktales', occasional magic, and VAGUE cultural references to different parts of Asia, but that's kind of it.Dull protagonist: The princess in this novel is definitely kind and good, so much so that the narration bashes you over the head with this fact. She doesn't grow much either, just set-in-stone good. Jade doesn't struggle with finding herself or the choices before her, like with our previous protagonist. And why would she? She's the beloved long-lost princess who everyone in the kingdom wants back on the throne (with a god-given right to rule, as if there could be any less going against her). There were some obvious and super shallow attempts at character conflict, though: Jade musing, 'Oh, my stepmother is evil and deserves the worst!' followed not two sentences later with 'Oh, but I must remember she's a person! And she was once 18 like me, and had to make decisions like me!'. It was honestly this never-acted-upon inner dialogue over and over again, which is not compelling character development. I feel for Jade, the author doesn't allow her to be bad for more than .3 seconds.Revisiting Xifeng: I really loved seeing Xifeng again in the earlier chapters - getting a glimpse of the cruel, powerful, and tortured woman she'd become after decades of her evil ways (at least SHE was still complex). We're distanced from her as the book goes on, which is understandable as this isn't her story, but the throwaway ending she got was unforgivable. I'm not mad about Xifeng being defeated (it's a Snow White retelling - we all expected it), but the dullness and easiness of her death was undeserved. She is truly fearsome and evil, someone who has survived decades in a male-dominated empire by using fear tactics, manipulation, cruel magic, and the literal ingestion of hearts. I don't want to spoil too much, but the way she's bested seems so silly and unrealistic in face of all this. I would rather have read that Jade makes the hard decision to kill her for the good of the kingdom, or even the classic villain-dying-by-refusing-help-from-the-hero trope (as predictable as that would be). That's how bad and anticlimactic her death was. Our girl deserved better.Shorter review: Boring protagonist who grows very little. You can guess exactly how the story will go and end by just reading the first few chapters.

I thoroughly enjoyed Forest of A Thousand Lanterns. Xifeng is one of the most interesting and well written characters I've read in recent YA fiction. Watching her slow decline into desperation and madness was very entertaining and thought provoking. I marveled at the craftsmanship the author brought to the creation of her main character, her backstory, and the inner workings of her mind. Xifeng is clever, conniving, persuasive, intelligent, and so much more. She has a good side, but her ambition drives her in opposition to it, and nothing is more important to her than obtaining the power she feels she was born to weild- not even the people she loves most. Her internal conflict is excruciating to witness. She is complex and believable as a character. The same is not true of Jade. She is everything you think of when you picture the Disney version of Snow White. Kind, pretty, and really nothing else of import. There is hardly any depth in Jade and she falls flat in comparison to Xifeng. Perhaps she is an improvement on the Disney Snow White. She does experience internal conflict and she does grow somewhat as a person, but Dao should have pushed her much harder and fleshed her out more. If she could do it with her antagonist, she could have done it with her protagonist. The backdrop of the story was gorgeously imaginative and so rich. It is a shame the main character was not a proper match for the tier of her surroundings or her antogonist. I read the whole book hoping things would improve, but I was disappointed. The writing was just as good as the first novel and the story itself was almost as good. I just couldn't get past Jade's two-dimensionality.

Intelligent and creative retelling!Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao tells the story of Jade. Jade lives with and has been raised by the monks, being prepared to accept her rightful place as Empress. Jade is summoned to the Empire by soldiers and she meets Xifeng, the Empress that holds Jade’s fate in her hands. Xifeng is cruel and self-absorbed to the point that she’s the only person that matters. Jade makes saving the kingdom from Xifeng her mission and she’s sent on an adventure that takes her through the mythical stories she was raised on, learning how helpful the tales truly are. Julie C. Dao has created an interesting series, with the transformation of Xifeng, that I want to binge read so I can get the most out of everything the characters experience in both books. Intelligent writing, a mythical atmosphere and charming characters earn 5 stars!

Loved the first one, and was very very eager to read the second one. Just as good as before. I could say Snow White meets Chinese fantasy but I could also just tell you its a classic story of good vs evil. The characters are easy to root for and it's a great adventure all around. I do wish the book had more Xifeng's perspective, as that was what I loved about the first one. Hopefully the author will write more stories from Xifeng's perspective or the same events from Xifeng's perspective as the sequel.