Song of the Crimson Flower

September 30, 2019
Tam Huynh never visits his betrothed, Lan Vu, and won’t set a wedding date. Lan maintains that Tam is just shy and prefers to show his devotion with nightly serenades. In truth, the songs come courtesy of an orphaned physician’s apprentice, Bao, who lives with the wealthy Huynhs. When Bao confesses, it shatters Lan, who dismisses him as a peasant. Bao then seeks out a river witch to erase his memories so that he might more easily “start a new life far away,” but instead, she curses him to spend eternity inside his flute, unless he can find love before the full moon. A remorseful Lan finds the instrument, temporarily frees Bao, and joins him on a perilous quest to reverse the witch’s spell. Dao’s latest fuses beats of Cyrano de Bergerac with elements from her Rise of the Empress duology to create an East Asian–influenced tale of love, greed, politics, addiction, and found family. The plot is slight, and the bulk of the conflict comes late, but nuanced characters and tender romance buoy the book to a gratifying conclusion. Ages 12–up.

October 1, 2019
The return to the kingdoms of Feng Lu relies heavily on the richly detailed East Asian worldbuilding. Eight prosperous years after Empress Jade and Lord Koichi completed their quest to defeat the evil Empress Xifeng, a terrifying bloodpox outbreak and the illegal trade of forbidden black spice has left the kingdom on the brink of war. Bao is a gentle-spirited orphan and a physician's apprentice whose heartbreak over Lan, the royal minister's marriageable daughter, drives him to seek out a river witch. The witch turns out to be his vengeful aunt, who curses Bao with blood magic--casting a spell that traps him in his beloved flute. Lan deeply regrets her harsh words to Bao and vows to help him break the curse. A sincere declaration of love before the next full moon will break the spell, so the two embark on an epic journey to find answers. Lan and Bao's story is a stand-alone tale, but fans of the Rise of the Empress duology will appreciate the entourage meeting up once again with Commander Wei, Wren, Jade, and Koichi. In this latest quest, characters are literally and figuratively transparent, and mentions of the long-dead Xifeng's rise to villainy only makes readers long for more intriguing characters. Unfortunately, this companion title is weak in character development and engaging dialogue. An ambitious premise that does not live up to previous entries in complexity and depth. (Fantasy adventure. 12-16)

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October 1, 2019

Gr 7 Up-Bao, training as a physician's apprentice, is an orphan with no family or property to his name. Despite this, he loves Lan, the daughter of a wealthy nobleman, who is certainly destined for an advantageous marriage. Lan, meanwhile, dreams of finding love and a proper marriage, and she has her sights set not on Bao, but on the physician's son. When Bao falls prey to a witch's spell, he must set out on a journey to break it and Lan, despite their differences, insists on accompanying him. Meanwhile, the mysterious bloodpox is spreading, and along with it rumors of dark magic that may somehow be connected to Bao's mysterious past. On their journey to break the spell, Bao and Lan meet characters familiar to fans of Dao's other novels and learn to rely on themselves, on others, and on love. In a fairy-tale world based on Vietnam, familiar tropes are explored in new ways and though characters are imperfect, they grow and change. VERDICT Powered by quiet, satisfying prose and a sense of magic and wonder, this will appeal to lovers of fairy-tale retellings and new fantasy worlds. Standing apart from Dao's other works, prior knowledge of the world is not necessary to enjoy this lovely tale.-Zoë; McLaughlin, Michigan State University, East Lansing

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2019
Grades 8-11 Lan, the wealthy daughter of a government official, turns down the affection of Bao, a poor physician's apprentice, when she discovers he has been masquerading as Tam, the boy she thinks she is going to marry. She immediately feels bad when she discovers Bao's empty boat floating by her house. Inside is Bao's most prized possession?his flute. Not understanding why Bao would have left it behind, Lan decides to take it into her care and protect it. She soon learns that Bao crossed an evil witch who has cursed him, trapping his soul inside his flute until true love will set him free. One problem: he has two weeks to find that true love. Despite her fear that Bao hates her for how she treated his revelation of love, Lan sets out to help return Bao permanently to his human form. This is an intriguing Vietnamese twist on Beauty and the Beast, though readers might get the most from this love story if they have familiarity with Dao's companion series, Rise of the Empress.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)