When I tell you this book has every. single. thing. I look for in YA fantasy, I really mean it has everything:
✓ a strong female lead who would let the world burn for her family
✓ a heavy-handed dose of mythology
✓ a captivating will-they-won't-they romance (that doesn't remove our heroine's agency!!)
✓ a plot driven by court politics
✓ prominent sapphic rep(?!?!!!)

Here's what you need to know:

This is an enthralling, fast-paced book set in the kingdom of Dàxi. The political state of the kingdom is rapidly deteriorating: the emperor has been in hiding for weeks with a mysterious illness leaving his teenaged daughter, Princess Ying-Zhen, to act as regent, there has been a deadly rash of tea poisonings across the country sowing seeds of distrust among the common people, whispered stories of two mysterious figures, the Banished Prince and the Shadow, have inspired fear across the countryside...

“The astronomers all speak of change in the stars… It is a period of shifting alliances and fickle natures.”

Enter Ning. She is blunt and pragmatic and courageous.

“I am prickly and restless, more at home with plants than with people.”

(relatable tbh)

And, she is responsible for the recent death of her mother and serious ailment of her younger sister.

“I used to look at my hands with pride. Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."”

When given the chance to enter into the Princess Ying-Zhen's competition for a new court shénnóng-shi (an advisor and magician adept in tea magic), Ning jumps at the opportunity to secure the prize—a favor from the Princess herself. Procuring this favor will give her the chance to save her dying sister before there is more blood on her hands. But, entering this competition throws Ning into a world of politics and magic like she's never before encountered.

But here is what you really need to know:

This is the first book I've read in well over a year that made me audibly gasp. And laugh. And even snort once. The plot twists were truly twists. Every time that I thought I knew where things were going, Lin masterfully reminded me that she was the one holding the reins.

Ning is a truly loveable character, who might be the first protagonist I've read about with "chosen one"-level abilities that actually make sense to me. Every talent she has is an extension of deliberately developed character traits and skills. And her weaknesses? They are actual weaknesses. This is no over-powered Mary Sue. This is a smart and adaptable MC with hard-earned skills that translate well into the magical world.

The side characters are some of the best developed and most loveable I've ever encountered.

Spoiler

I want the sapphic Princess and Bodyguard trope to be in every book I read for the rest of my life

.

Perhaps my favorite part of this novel: the description is beyond reproach. Lin makes it easy to immerse yourself in the setting with her vivid but not over-wrought description. I highlighted at least ten instances of phenomenal nature and food description. Like, I will probably be referring to this book as the Miyazaki of YA fantasy.


Did you want to eat the steamed buns from Spirited Away as badly as I did when I was a kid? That's now how I feel about this book's sweet-and-sour fish and pink gao.

Thank you so, so much to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Feiwel & Friends for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am exceedingly grateful for this opportunity. This book has truly been added to my list of favorites of all time.