Reading Diary: Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong

Here is a synopsis from the author's website:

Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.


Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back.


But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people?


When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself.

This is a wrap on the Secret Shanghai series, the pair of duologies that started out as Romeo and Juliet meets Sci-Fi meets historical fiction and ended up with the characters (the second duology within the series takes its initial steps from As You Like It) on the cusp of World War II, with a dash of Captain America-style super soldiers. Really, that's the main conflict. Sisters Rosalind and Celia and brothers Orlando and Orion split their families between Communists and Nationalists in China's civil war, while Japanese powers creep in to conquer. There is literally a super serum. There are double and triple agents. There are star-crossed lovers! Teenage assassins!

Now that I've read the whole series, I can say that, while this isn't the best-written series I've ever read, I had fun reading it. There was a lot of action and shooting and double-crossing. The series wraps up with the characters in a moment of peace, and I found myself hoping that they could all run off somewhere before the war really gets bad.

Reading Diary: A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee

Here is a synopsis from the publisher's website:

In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter.

But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again.

With her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she’ll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her… and perhaps never did.

The publisher calls this a book fantasy that's perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli, and I agree. It's set in a Japanese-esque fantasy world. Miuko reminds me a little bit of Chihiro in Spirited Away, although this book is darker than that film. I think the most Ghibli-esque thing about this story is that the protagonist needs to dig down into her own well of power to save herself and those that she loves. But Miuko also learns to have friends, to allow them to take care of her and help her even though she must ultimately make the biggest sacrifice.

One of the things I enjoyed about this story was the footnotes explaining various aspects of Awaran mythology and culture. I also enjoyed that Miuko's character arc and growth didn't end with a romance. She comes into her own power and her family and friends come to accept and love the things about her that made it difficult for her to fit in at the beginning of the novel.

I zipped through this book in a week. It's a standalone, so I recommend this if anyone wants a compelling fantasy story.