Alexis:
Happy pub day to Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai!
Review:
Deathly Fates is a classic quest YA fantasy book. I really enjoyed learning about Siying’s job as a corpse-driving priestess. I appreciated her personality, her dedication to her family, and her flaws.
I also really enjoyed that the prince, Ren, had a unique personality compared to a lot of love interests in romantic fantasy novels. The banter and conversations between Siying and Ren were great, and I liked the humor mixed in with the more serious topics of death, war, and duty. (I also loved seeing so many ghosts, of course.)
I’m a huge fan of political intrigue in fantasy books, so I really enjoyed learning about the politics of this world and the feud between two nations.
My main criticism is that the fight scenes felt a little clunky to me. I also wasn’t a huge fan of one of Siying’s decisions near the end, as it felt a little too out of character. However, this was a fun read and I enjoyed it overall!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for my e-book copy in exchange for a review!
VERDICT: 👻👻👻👻/5
In other news, my latte was a Blueberry Muffin Chai latte and it was fantastic. 10/10 recommend
Synopsis:
As a corpse-driving priestess, a holy servant paid to guide the deceased home, Kang Siying has never feared death. But when her beloved father collapses due to his declining health, Siying realizes that even she is not free from the cruel grasp of mortality. Desperate to provide her father with the medical aid he needs, Siying accepts a dangerous job that promises a generous commission, and travels to a hostile state to retrieve the corpse of a missing prince.
But the moment Siying places her reanimation talisman on the dead prince’s head, rather than make the corpse obedient to Siying’s commands, the talisman brings the prince back to life. Worse, he won’t stay alive for long―not unless he absorbs enough qi, or life force, to keep his soul anchored to his body.
In return for a reward worth twice her original commission, Siying agrees to aid the frustratingly handsome prince in finding and purifying evil spirits for their qi. But as they journey across the countryside, encountering vengeful ghosts and enemy spies alike, they gradually uncover dark secrets about the prince’s death―secrets that could endanger both Siying’s father and their entire kingdom.
takes two to book review 