Another book club book! A huge percentage of the books I managed to read this year have been book club books, but I've also enjoyed the majority of them, so that's great. And this one was definitely worth reading for any reason.
This book starts out with a young girl in a family with her father and older brother, trying to survive a famine in a setting reminiscent of 14th century China. When her father and brother both die, she assumes her brother's name (Zhu Chongba) and even more importantly, his foretold destiny. She then goes to a monastery, causes some trouble and makes a friend, and eventually finds herself in the center of, well, everything.
There's also one of the most fucked up king and lionheart relationships I've ever read, a delightful mistrusted brother figure whose skills aren't valued, and a queer marriage that is somehow straight, lesbian, trans and none of the above, all at once. The political machinations are intense, and it's a harsh world and story that isn't in any way grimdark. It ends at a firm conclusion, but the sequel is going to break apart everything again, and I can't wait.
Grade: A
