Fantasy books are something I love, but it’s always intimidating when you know you’re going to be starting another series. That’s why The Poet Empress caught my eye. The story sounded amazing and it’s a standalone. Today I want to tell you all about this book and what I thought.

A big thank you to Netgalley and Bramble/Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ALC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way!

Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.

In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic lost to all except the powerful.

Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel heir of the beautiful and brutal Azalea House.

But in a twist of fate, the palace stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei trapped in its center…at the side of a violent prince.

To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself. Even if it means becoming a poet in a world where women are forbidden to read—and composing the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of death…and love.

The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores darker themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all readers. Please see the author’s content note at the beginning of the book.

Review

I’ve been in my fantasy reading era and The Poet Empress caught my eye. The synopsis sounded unique. I will say I was a little hesitant, because fantasy stories aren’t always easy to fit into a standalone. Shen Tao didn’t have a problem with that at all and I will be thinking about The Poet Empress often. Eric Yang and Katharine Chin also helped bring this story to life and made my reading experience even better. I feel like they really brought these characters and story to life!

First of all, Shen Tao set up this world in such a way that it was vivid and I could grasp the horrible things going on, but not feel like I was getting one big info dump either. You felt for the people in this world and really hoped Wei was able to help at least someone by offering herself as a concubine to the heir of the infamous Azalea House. The authors way of describing this makes you feel for Wei and not really be sure who you can trust.

None of our characters are perfect. Not even Wei and I think that makes this story even more amazing. Everyone is flawed. Some try and make the world a better place for others and some only for themselves. From the start I wasn’t sure what to think of Guan. He’s clearly the villain of the story, but we never quite know what his motives are. Throughout the book we do get his backstory. Some books then make us want to feel bad for the villain (and I did feel bad for Guan), but The Poet Empress didn’t make us want to forgive him for all of his sins. That made me so fascinated by everything.

The idea of poetry magic was very interesting and I loved seeing it come together. I will say that I wish the author had spent just a little more time on this aspect of the story, but it didn’t take away the fact that I loved this book. We also get politics and side characters you don’t know if you can trust. I will say, don’t expect a romance going into this book. You won’t find what you’re looking for, but that didn’t affect this story in any way. In fact, I don’t think it would’ve been fitting.

The Poet Empress is dark and leaves an impact. I didn’t see some twists coming at all and I will be thinking about this book often. I will be surprised if this doesn’t end up in my top ten books of the year. It’ll be exciting to see what Shen Tao writes next!

I have a feeling that Shen Tao is going to be an author to keep an eye on! Have you discovered any new authors you want to read more by recently? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!