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 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.