Song of the Crimson Flower Book Tour
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Title: Song of the Crimson Flower
Author: Julie C. Dao
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published November 5th 2019 by Philomel
Synopsis:
From the acclaimed author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns comes a fantastical new tale of darkness and love, in which magical bonds are stronger than blood.
Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician's apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman's daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao's prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.
Together, the two travel across the continent, finding themselves in the presence of greatness in the forms of the Great Forest's Empress Jade and Commander Wei. They journey with Wei, getting tangled in the webs of war, blood magic, and romance along the way. Will Lan and Bao begin to break the spell that's been placed upon them? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives with black magic running through their veins?
He might not know how the rest of his life would look, but he knew he would never be alone again. They would figure it out together.
Julie Dao’s latest book Song of the Crimson Flower deeply surprised me! I wasn’t expecting that my heart will be invested right at the end of the book. It’s fast-paced that you can definitely enjoy. I admit from the beginning I did not like the characters at all.
You really don’t need to read the first two books, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and Kingdom of Blazing Phoenix. But it would be helpful and more enjoyable to read if you were able to. There were some context on Song of the Crimson Flower which goes back from the very beginning, Xi Feng and Jade. It feels like coming home to those characters that I loved!
Song of the Crimson Flower introduces its readers to Bao and Lan. Two characters which are not from the same cast. Bao is an orphan and Lan is a daughter of Minister Vu. You can see the clear picture that their family status are worlds apart. At first, I did not see how these characters will develop themselves along with Bao who was suddenly casted with a curse. Now, this made me really curious how they will progress.
What I infinitely love about Julie Dao is how she expresses her Vietnamese heritage. The worldbuilding always amuses me. She knows how to pinpoint to her readers what are the greatest view into the world that our minds can perceive easily.
Even though it is fast-paced, Bao and Lan’s relationship is gentle and slow on their expedition to cure Bao’s curse. It is melodic actually. I can see the nuances of their feelings. And it was a wonderful sight to me. Seeing both of them defy all odds about love is one of the highlights of this book. Finishing Song of the Crimson Flower enchanted me effortlessly about love, compassion, forgiveness and bravery. Once more, Julie Dao wrote another suprising book to dive in her readers to a Vietnamese YA folklore. This book is more than just breaking a spell, it shows to its readers how love can blossom from time to time no matter what the circumstances are.
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