This book was MAGICAL! Such a beautiful and powerful story that was well written and engaging. I found myself unable to put it down and was truly sucked in!

I really wanted to love this one, especially since thr cover is so beautiful! There’s so much potential in the premise, and the blend of Chinese mythology with magic had me intrigued from the start. Lan’s journey of self-discovery, especially her search for her past and the truth of her magic, was compelling.
The worldbuilding here was rich and immersive; the magical elements, from the song magic to the demon gods, felt fresh and exciting. I could really feel the weight of the history and the tension between the colonizers and the native peoples, it’s clear the author put a lot of thought into the lore and world they created.
That said, there were a few aspects of the book that held me back from fully connecting. The pacing was a bit uneven, especially early on, while Lan’s inner conflict was central to the plot, I didn’t always feel like the pacing and character development worked together to propel the story forward. As for the relationship between Lan and Zen — I think the potential was there, but it felt a little rushed at times.
Overall, Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is a solid start to what looks like a promising duology, but it left me wanting more in terms of pacing and character depth. I’m definitely curious to see where the next book takes the story and the characters though

This book has such promise, but it wasn’t for me. The story was complicated & not to my taste. I hear great things about it, so think it’s just my personal preference.

Being a huge fan of the Blood Heir trilogy by Amelie, i dived right into this book but unfortunately have not been able to finish it, i feel that the pacing is a little off for me or maybe i have just been too distracted with many other things going on. I do really want to finish this story as i do love Amelie's writing and with what i did read, the Chinese mythology and folklore, the characters, and the worldbuilding is beautifully written and something i really want to enjoy so i will try this again soon via audio and update my review when i can.

Thank you so much for this early copy, i'm sorry i couldn't finish it

Sadly I've tried to get into this several times now, I've even reread the start several times and I just can't get into it! I'm hoping maybe audio will work better for me, so I'll be checking it out again! It had such an interesting premise and I was loving how the connection between the characters was blooming but I just didn't click with it.
Thank you so much for the early copy, sorry!

The plot follows Lan and Zen as they deal with Elantian conquerors, and Lan's realisation of where she comes from and the magic system within her. There are demon gods, music magic and lots of action - however, this is YA and to a more "mature" reader it does read young a lot of the time. Some of Lan's actions and behaviours are very childish at times and the relationship between Lan and Zen felt very rushed .

Regardless, I did enjoy this and am really keen to find out what happens next

"Song of Silver, Flame Like Night" by Amélie Wen Zhao is a captivating YA fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology.
I loved its lush worldbuilding, beautiful prose, and intriguing magic system.
The story follows Lan, a protagonist with hidden powers, as she navigates a world of colonization and ancient magic alongside the mysterious Zen.
The pacing was occasionally a little slow, and the plot was predictable, but the rich cultural elements and character development offset this.
The book offers a blend of action, romance, and political intrigue that appeals to fans of Asian-inspired fantasy.
With its cliffhanger ending, fans will be eagerly anticipating the sequel to this promising duology.

I'm still not over how gorgeous this cover is! Song of Silver, Flame Like Night is a wonderful read full of magic, mythology and heart.

In a land ravaged by Elantian conquerors and suppressed magic, Lan, once known by another name, navigates life as a songgirl while seeking clues about her past and the mysterious mark her mother left on her arm. Zen, a practitioner with ancient magical knowledge, recognizes Lan's unique power and joins her quest to uncover secrets hidden within the Last Kingdom's forests and mountains. As they unearth truths and face their own hidden truths, they become entwined in a battle for liberation that could either save or doom their world.

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions for me! I mean, it had me hooked from the get-go with its awesome mix of Chinese mythology and magic. Sure, being YA, it had some moments where I could see what was coming, and there were a couple of times I couldn't help but roll my eyes. But overall? Total winner! It sucked me right in with its beautiful writing and kept me glued to the pages with all the action and feels. Plus, even though romance wasn't front and center, it was this subtle, heartwarming thing between Lan and Zen that just made me root for them. I already miss those characters!

Thank you for my eARC of this book. I loved the Blood Heir trilogy so was v excited to get my hands on this book and new series! I really enjoyed his book, and enjoyed The writing style as well as the plot. My favourite thing about Amélie’s writing though is her characters which didn’t let me down! I can’t wait to read book 2!

I adore the influences of Chinese Folklore and I wish we had time to understand the history and lore more. World building and plot development are quickly infodumped between the action scenes. The characters are pushed against merciless colonisers seeking power, and trapped against the desperate cost of the power that can save them. Would you make a deal with a demon god? 🐉

Amélie Wen Zhao is a brilliant writer — I’m a big fan of her Blood Heir trilogy, and I became a quick fan of this book too within a few chapters.

I enjoyed the world building, the magic system was unique and interesting. I liked the inclusion of mythology, I thought it was really cool and was weaved in to the story well.

I did find some of the world building confusing, just keeping track of all the in-world history was a bit baffling, especially when so many new things kept being revealed — I found it hard to keep track of everything!

I liked the characters, I thought they all went on interesting journeys and it was interesting to see some of them progressively get more associated with villainy and others with heroism. I liked how the relationships developed, as well, how we had reluctant friends.

All in all, really enjoyed it and I’m already on to the sequel.

This book is inspired by Chinese mythology and folklore. The writing is so lyrical. The world building is so atmospheric. The magic system is intriguing. There is a lot of mystery that unfolds as the story progresses. It is a magical read.

i want to love this book so bad because the premise sounds so promising and i love anything east asian inspired fantasy, but this one didn't agree with me much and i got somewhat bored and frustrated 30% in. but still i push through, and it ended up being okay. i think this book would be good for some people, but sadly not for me

I will start by saying this book was beautifully written. I really enjoyed the prose and the worldbuilding! The plot was maybe slightly predictable, but that's not always a bad thing! I enjoyed this book and read it fairly quickly, although admittedly, I enjoyed the first half of the story more than the second half.

Overall, it was a good read and I look forward to reading the second!

Lan is stuck in servitude to the very people she hates and that colonised her home land and killed so many people, one of which was Lans mother

All Lan has left of her mother is a mysterious scar, that only she can see, and she is trying to dig into the origins of this more, with little luck.

One night, as she is working at the Teahouse, she fears she is going to be a victim of an Elantain soldier, when she crosses paths with Zen, another Hin.

Through a series of events, Lan and Zen find themselves travelling to a place for Lan to learn more about Qi and The Way, and hopefully allow her to learn more about this mysterious Mark as well!

Little do they both know how much their lives will change on this quest and they will soon learn just how power can either save or corrupt!

I loved this story, set in a lush Chinese mythology inspired world and with loveable flawed characters.

So glad I have book 2 to dive right into after that ending!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the reivew copy!

This was brilliant world building, I really enjoyed the ride this took me on. Once in the swing of it, it takes me a while to get into new worlds, it was a story I really enjoyed

Lush worldbuilding, beautiful prose, and a protagonist you want to root for. This was maybe a bit on the younger side for me (I prefer upper-YA), but it didn't lack emotional depth and I believe it would appeal to a wide range of audiences. The magic system was fun, and the characters had charm.

I found the plot to be generally quite predictable, but for teen audiences I don't think this will pose any problems. There's a decent amount of travelling/exploration, and we get plenty of opportunities to learn about various folkloric creatures during these chapters. Readers looking to be immersed in a rich Asian fantasy landscape will not be disappointed.

Really wanted to adore this one but it’s taken me nearly a week to finish reading it. I really struggled with the pacing and intricate levels of world building. I loved the premise of it but couldn't seem to gel with it. I can see how some people would absolutely love this but unfortunately wasn’t for me.

If it weren't for an Illumicrate-Edition, I probably wouldn't have picked this up. But I am glad I did. I started it before my Illumicrate arrived and it took me a while to finish it, due to some private distractions. Lucky me, that means I do not have to wait very long until the sequel comes out, because I really do not want to wait any longer. A magical read indeed.

“Power is always borrowed, never created.” #SongOfSilverFlameLikeNight #AmelieWenZhao

Books: 1/2

Publisher: @HarperCollins // January 2023

Genre: #AsianLiterature / #YAFantasy / #Mythology

I was surprised that after a big scandal around authors first trilogy #BloodHeir we get to see new duology come to light. I will be honest this was purely cover pick and the fact that fantasy is based on Asian mythology.

Did I like it? Well, it was okay for a one time read. If you have read authors like Sanderson (Mistborn) or S.Tahir (Amber in the Ashes) you will find a lot of similarities, I had a constant feeling that I had read it before and many times. And there was so much from Kung Fu Panda too. :D

Many events felt rushed and, in some places, predictable.

But let's talk about the positives. There is a lot of repetition thought the book, in some placed author repeats what has been said few pages ago.

I did enjoy the worldbuilding, I won’t say it was complex, but it was nice travelling through different places, and exploring hidden locations, which the author has described well. I would like to add here that this is a very Westernized book, even though it is based on Chinese mythology. Many people have called this a proper #XianXia , I would say it’s far from it and a lot of mythology has been re-made for the author’s own accord.

Book reads quickly, especially if don’t pay attention to details and are able to completely ignore bits that inspired author for this book.

The end of the book has some pretty good plot twists, that gave more hope that author might fix some plot holes in her book two.

Main characters, standard enemies to lover's trope.

My favorite character of the book was the villain, as he has clear goals and is evil, and is not as predictable. He surprised me a couple of times. However, the whole Elantian race, seems to have been inspired by Europeans, Monsorian by Mongols and Hin – Han. And this brings us to all the issues authors went through in her first trilogy.

I have included a synopsis of the book in the carousel.