Alexis:
The Poet Empress follows Wei, a poor girl from the rice fields of her kingdom who becomes a concubine to the Azalea Dynasty’s heir. The Azalea Dynasty is struggling: the emperor is dying, the heir/prince is violent and cruel, famine is striking the land, and poetry magic is lost to all except the powerful.
Wei must learn to survive in a world cruel to women, even if it means learning poetry magic herself to craft the most powerful spell of all.
What I Liked:
I bought this book because it sounded similar to A Song to Drown Rivers, which was a devastating book that I loved, and I was right! However, be warned that, no matter what marketing you see, The Poet Empress is not a romantasy or romantic fantasy. It’s a dark, political, historical fantasy that explores the theme of love—and suffering.
(Also, as an aside, the cover is completely covered in sparkles, which I was not expecting! It was a fun surprise).
I love a good political fantasy, so I was glad to pick this one up. It’s a brutal, often depressing read, yet I found myself rooting for Wei and hoping she would be able to navigate the cruel world of court intrigue without losing herself.
Tao’s writing is gorgeous, and I found myself impressed that this is her debut! I definitely look forward to reading more of her books in the future.
The poetry magic, called literomancy, was such an interesting concept, and I wished we got even more of it.
I love how Tao explores humanity. She does an in-depth exploration of how decisions and your upbringing can affect your life, and she truly shows how no one is perfect or wholly good.
What I Didn’t Like As Much:
The pacing was sometimes a little off. When I got to the middle of the book, I found myself waiting for more plot points to happen. However, everything else was so well crafted that this doesn’t affect my overall rating!
VERDICT: 🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶/5
takes two to book review 