Name: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
Rating: 3.89344262295082 (61 reviews)
ISBN: 9781524738297

Julie C. Dao

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world, this reimagining of the Evil Queen legend is about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

Kaitee Tredway

I don’t want to say too much because, though I knew this was a retelling, I just picked it up without any additional information so I didn’t know exactly what fairytale this was playing with. WHEN I FIGURED IT OUT… it was a perfect reading moment. I don’t want to take that away from anyone. What I will say is that Xifeng is one of the most complex characters I have encountered. I could understand all of her reasoning, and disagree with all of her actions, and STILL root for her. 

Julie Dao knows how to spin a story weaving the threads of destiny and fate, love and sacrifice into a breath-taking fantasy. I love that the world of Feng Lu is inspired by East Asia. It made the retelling very special for me, which isn’t any kind of surprise.

If you loved the flavor of The Lunar Chronicles retellings, or Spin the Dawn, I think you’d like this book. Also, the audio book is excellent.

Jennifer

I have wanted to get around reading Julie C. Dao's books for months and I finally got around reading Forest of a Thousand Lanterns recently. Long story short, I'm quite taken away by the way Dao's atmospheric & effortless prose as well as the concept of the East Asian retelling of a fairytale. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the various venues & places in this fictional world, as well as the East Asian elements in the worldbuilding.

Even though the potential is promising, I can't help to notice the noticeable drawbacks in the actual execution of the novel: the worldbuilding felt a tad incomplete, the characters are quite tropey, and the actual plot lines are pretty predictable (hence the overall storytelling isn't very strong nor substantial). 

Concerns aside, I do appreciate that I didn't have to struggle getting into Forest of a Thousand Lanterns on my iPad because Dao's prose quite engaging. I also think the clever incorporation of the East Asian elements and the atmospheric prose are both worth mentioning. So if you want a quick East Asian inspired read & a fairytale retelling, this might be something to look out for. 

N.B. This book contains following content warnings: emotional blackmail, violence, blood mention, drowning, poisoning, illnesses, death, and loss of loved ones

Judy McClure

Kelsey Holtaway

3.5ish! Excited to continue on with this series

Judy Hudgins

Interesting story. Shows that there is a bit of evil in all of us. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Nikki Sojkowski

I was living for this anti heroine MC, why can’t we have more fantasy like this? You can feel her slipping in the wrong direction but you get all of her emotions and understand her reasonings. Four stars because it didn't have a traditional climax/resolution, not necessarily a bad thing but for me I was left hanging for the next book without a experiencing a cliffhanger! However, I'm super excited for Book 2 as it feels like it’s going to be fantastic. 

I never thought that I’d be rooting for the Evil Queen but she’s such a strong independent women and I can get behind that!

Celia Adams

I'm not gonna lie, I don't get the ibsession with villanous characters. Especially in cases like this. I love fairy tale retellings, and I'm all for villain origins stories- but why does she have to be so unlikable? The character of Xifeng is so vain and manipulative; this isn't the story of how a woman becomes the Evil Queen, it's the story of an evil woman becomes queen.

Now having said all that I really like the world-building and writing, Dao is absolutely enchanting in her descriptions and storytelling. All the characters are complex and interesting and I loved that every part of the story hinted at something deeper.

Wren Hardwick

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

How could I not fall under the spell of this book? HOLY BATMAN I cannot express how beautifully dark this book is. This book is a typical-folklore fairy: beautiful and hypnotizing and just brings you in with your words... but it’s super creepy and probably going to kill you. 

Xifeng is a victim of abuse. Her aunt took her in once her mother was out of the picture and looked into her future. She saw that Xifeng was destined for greatness and that she could even become Empress of Feng Lu, if she played her cards right; those cards being completely dark and doing whatever she needs to do to get to her destined throne.

“She would bloom where she was planted and let her roots close around the throats of her enemies.” 

The character building for Xifeng is literally out-of-this-world. She is so meek in the beginning and believes the horrible things her aunt tells her. She believes her beauty is the only thing she has going for her and she must protect her face at all cost. But then she realizes she doesn’t have to do things her aunt’s way... she can do things without her. And then she does and things get really complex and abstract from there.



She wasn’t confident in herself. But as the story goes on, she becomes more and more confident that she can do anything and that is what makes her the most threatening person in this book. She is an anti-hero; if you don’t know what that is, it is when the main character is not a good person but you find yourself loving and cheering for them anyway. And I had my pom-poms out the whole time in this book.

“If my beauty is my greatest weapon, vanity is the shield that protects me.”

The world building in this is so beautifully woven into the story. There is no world-vomit and there is no confusion. The East Asian setting was just jaw-dropping and vivid to the mind. I wish more authors would take this way instead for settings more often. I don’t really know a lot about this culture, but this has really peaked my interest. 

I don’t want to give things away, but things like heart-eating and step-mothers and clawing anyone who threatens her being the fairest of them all are a part of this story. She goes about getting the throne in a completely different way than I thought she would, which was really refreshing.



If you love creepy, unexpected, anti-heroes and surprisingly well-done retellings: this is for you. 

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I did not expect this to be the prettiest most dark book of my 2017 reads. Heck, I forgot it was a retelling and jaw-dropped when I reread the synopsis and then I died. RTC. 

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36% | This slow burn intro is everything I don’t want but everything I have needed. I’m going to be wrecked and I’m so ready. 

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I heard this was antihero... and it just came in on my overdrive/library... I need this to be my most favorite read of 2017 please.

Manon van Heumen

I loved this story! It had such great characters, and it was well-written, easy to follow. Can't wait for the next one!

Casandra Sandu

This was an enjoyable read, but I wasn’t very invested in it. I loved the concept and idea behind the story, but I felt like the writing lacked something- either the plot, the character development, or the romance that felt unreal. It was definitely a unique and surpassing book, totally different from what I expected when I first picked it up. I think I might be reading the second book as I’m intrigued to find out what happens next.

Lisa Beasley

I really enjoyed this. I wasn't sure at first but I thought the writing style was good and the characters were interesting and detailed. I loved the world building and it was fascinating to see inside Xifeng's head as her story progressed. Very much looking forward to the next one.

Liz Griffin

A heart-pounding version of Snow White’s Evil Queen, but set in a richly built fantasy world! This might be the coolest version of an unreliable narrator/protagonist I have ever read. I need to get my hands on the sequel ASAP!

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

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