This was fine I guess? I feel like there was a bit of a retcon about Li Tao, like he was the straight up villain in book 1 and turns out he's actually super nice in book 2, and I don't know that it felt earned. The series isn't great but it's entertaining enough that I'll probably read book 3 to see how it all turns out. I think it's probably a solid read for when it was published but I'm used to newer stories with more action and speed and spice now. 

🎧 As I said in my review of book 1, I'm not a fan of the narrator. I do feel like she was performing better in book 2 than she did in book 1, but she was still so quiet and sedate.

🌶️ 3/5 There were a handful of explicit scenes but I just don't find the way this author writes sex scenes to be titillating. 

🏳️‍🌈✊ Everyone seems to be the same in this book. Chinese, straight, cis. (There's a "blink and you'll miss him" character who is a eunuch which I suppose it could be argued is gender diversity but that's as close as we get.) Both of the MCs are rich now but came from humble beginnings.

This was an intricate, plot dense historical romance set in the Tang dynasty era China. I was really intrigued by how Lin was going to potentially redeem the villain from Butterfly Swords, who was absolutely a BAD GUY in that storyline. Though, to be fair, he's mostly off page until the last 25% of the book. Well, Li Tao is front and center here. And he's still a cold hearted bad guy who doesn't do much to combat any of the preconceptions associated with his name/legend. His character arc is balanced by the irrepressible, intelligent, and beautiful Ling Suyin. These two really do balance one another out. Every conversation between them was layered and intricate, and Lin goes to great lengths to show that these characters are far more than would meet the eye.

I really liked this, but found some of the plot nuances challenging to follow in the audio format (probably because I primarily listen during the workday). The narrator's performance in this installment was a bit more hushed and whispery in comparison to Butterfly Swords, which added to the challenge with the audio format.

This was everything I could have hoped for in a Li Tau redemption arc! These two characters are compelling from page one, and their push-and-pull, constant power play, and continual negotiation with each other create such delicious tension and heat. The political machinations in this installment are even more complex than those in Butterfly Swords and (thankfully) more integral to the character conflict and development. Lin's prose - and especially her imagery - is rich and propulsive, and I absolutely loved every beat of this. 

Maybe it's just because I read two Jeannie Lin concubine/soldier romances back to back, but I found this to be VERY long and with only minimal amounts of payoff in the third act considering how long it took to get us there. I did love Shuyin's character arc though and I'm determined to read at least as much of Jeannie Lin's work in 2023 as I did of Sarah MacLean's last year.