Judy I.Lin honestly just has a way of writing that draws me in and has my every emotion hanging on every word. If you're looking for a tale that manages to be feel whimsical and like a myth of old, this is the tale for you.

If you love studio Ghibli and tale which invoke a dark but whimsical musical energy throughout, Song of the Six Realms gives just those vibes. I don't want to say to much and risk spoiling anything about this tale, but expect twists and turns and a tale that explores the difficulties in making a path for yourself in a world in which societies constructs attempt to pen you in.

I adored Lin's 'A Magic Steeped in Poison.' Her descriptive writing and ability to transport you into the pages of her story is a skill indeed and, while there were parts of Song of the Six Realms I enjoyed, there were also parts I didn't really 'feel,' namely the romance between Xue and Duke Meng, making it an enjoyable read, but not one I loved.

The story is told solely from the POV of Xue, a young woman orphaned as a child and left by her uncle to become an apprentice at an esteemed entertainment house in the city. She starts off as such a bright character with a strong voice, but I felt that she almost got watered down as the book went on. Once she gets to the Celestial Realm there almost becomes a detachment between her character and the reader, in fact I would say that there was a detachment between all the characters. Lin's writing style made it incredibly hard to empathise with her, despite me liking her as a character. The other characters felt under developed and I do feel like Lin took valuable page time away from them to give us a deep dive into the mythology and history of her world, a lot of which wasn't needed to further the story.

You know how much I love mythology and in depth world building, but in this book there was just too much. I slowed myself down, paying attention to every piece we were given, only for such a tiny amount of it to actually mean anything for the story. I almost feel like the author tried to fit two books worth of world building into a stand-alone. But the world building didn't only detract from the characters but the plot itself. Plot wise, this one was certainly a little weak. I think it's meant to be loosely based on Rebecca, but that aspect plays a really small part in the plot. The story really meandered for the first 70% or so, you knew it had to be heading somewhere, but we get little idea as to where until the last 25% or so, and what a last quarter it was. This part made the book for me, it had the action, the drama, the inevitable and bittersweet ending.

I know this has been described as a gothic romance, but I honestly struggled to feel the romance, let alone get any gothic vibes. I guess it has the whole 'first love was murdered', but the mystery around that was such a small part of the story and I really struggled to find any kind of gothic atmosphere. The romance itself was both slow and fast, in fact the pacing in general was really off. I don't feel these two characters had enough interactions to fully warrant the depths of their feelings for one another, let alone as quickly as they did. So I would say if you're going to pick this up solely for the romantic aspect, don't bother. It really doesn't come across on the page, mainly I think because the Duke gets so little page time.

I know most of this review has sounded negative but this book is truly beautifully written and if you're here for studio ghibli vibes and in depth world building then this is definitely the book for you. It's got that whimsical nature to it, and if you liked the descriptions of food we got in Lin's first series you wont be disappointed... these books made me so hungry! I can't say this one was a win for me, but I wont be put off reading Lin's next work because I'm a sucker for her descriptive and lush writing and world building.

Song of the Six Realms is a gothic romance stand-alone YA fantasy that is incredibly rich in its influences from Chinese mythology and folklore. The book features the author's signature, almost poetic, writing style that paints these beautiful images of the celestial world the majority of the book takes place in.

The world building is both complex and simple at the same time. There’s also a surprisingly whimsical tone while dealing with themes of love, grief and family. There’s a feeling of high-stakes to the story as there’s secrets that are a threat to everyone, no matter what realm they belong to or if they’re mortal or celestials. If you want your high stakes plotlines to have a cost to be paid, then this book delivers on that front.

The music is what is the star of the story, and Xue is the one who’s connected to it. While I wish there was more to learn about her past, I really enjoyed her in the present. She’s the only mortal in a world filled with divine creatures, yet her humanity is what makes her so powerful in that realm. Through Xue the reader is trying to untangle the heap of lies, deceptions and secrets that hides in every shadowy corner.

Song of the Six Realms is a romantasy, but it’s unlike other romantasies I’ve read. The reason for this is that Xue is demisexual, and needs to develop a strong bond first before she can fall in love with them. It was very refreshing, and honestly made the slow-burn romance feel very rewarding.

I’m honestly a bit sad that it is a stand-alone, as I would have loved to stay longer in this world.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

Song of the Six Realms is a whimsical story that I unfortunately dnf'd @ 25%. Having previously read and absolutely adored Six Crimson Cranes and Daughter of the moon goddess, this was one of my anticipated releases. I love Chinese mythology and this failed to capture my attention. Aside from some minor and not so minor editing mistakes (use of past tense mixed to present) I wanted to love this but alas, where do I start?
I'm so over heroines that are TOO good at ANYTHING they do. Give them flaws, make them relatable. No, feeling shy to the love interest when YOU KNOW that you're EXCELLENT is not good enough to keep me interesting.
Show Xue STRUGGLE with her qin. Because we musicians, however talented we are we keep STRUGGLING with our instruments. Show me her passion for her music, for her qin. Her having the best qin instrument and have her say to me that she's best at it, IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH. I mean, Obiviously her qin is a means to an end, right?
Yeah, just, no.

First off, the cover of this book is gorgeous and that's why I had to read it! I liked the premise of book and how the story was told. You get to know the MC Xue very well since it was told from her pov. But I wish we got more of the Duke of Dream and was expecting more romance to be honest. Overall a good read but it didn't live up to my expectations.

This book is so beautifully written, i loved how immersive it felt whilst reading. It is thought provoking YA Romantasy that i will think about for some time! i loved all the poetry included in the book from Tang dynasty poets, I can't wait to see where how this story develops.

I let myself be queer-baited by this gorgeous cover (that’s on me for hitting request without even reading the description!!), thinking this was going to be a lesbian story, so God saw fit to immediately punish me for it. I’m simply his favourite little lamb most likely to be slaughtered. But even after I learned that the main relationship focused on a straight couple, I was willing to persevere; too bad I didn’t enjoy myself in the process.

Listen, the setting is gorgeous, though left a bit unexplored. Xue lives in a world of which the Mortal Realm is but only one of several realms, existing alongside five other realms including the Spirit Realm, the Demon Realm, and the Celestial Realm. It is the latter she is whisked away to in a manner openly inspired by du Maurier’s Rebecca, though this novel’s gothic atmosphere is severely limited and restricts itself to a secluded, in-parts broken-down mansion. Unfortunately, the very limited setting that only ever focuses on two major locations, the before (the House of Flowing Water where Xue grew up) and the after (the Meng family estate), led to relatively weak worldbuilding so that besides the story’s focus on music, nothing really stuck with me. The fictional world the characters inhabit, as well as all characters aside from Xue, really, were all rather shallow.

Told from Xue’s first-person POV, we naturally get a lot of insight into her mind, but even the friendship and eventual romance developing between her and The Duke of Dreams never lifts off the page since the narrative doesn’t grant him the attention he should get in order for us to care. For everyone who DOES plan to pick this up because of the romance, don’t bother (I didn’t mind, but others who choose to read the novel based on its promised romance only will end up disappointed). It’s very sidelined, granted next to no space to properly develop, and is dealt with in as few words as possible (Then again, if you pick up a Rebecca retelling because of the “romance,” it’s kind of your own fault).

The same thing goes for his friends, which eventually end up being Xue’s friends, too. Chenwen is flirtatious and egotistical, Linwei is kind but intelligent. There really is no further characterization to speak of beyond their respective two traits.

The second trapping that following the gothic novel tradition provides is the plot. True, most of the famous gothic novels can be very quickly summarized, but what they live on is atmosphere. As readers, we don’t mind spending chapter upon chapter with Rebecca who is stuck in the same house for months on end since the atmosphere directly contributes to a constant feeling of fear and uneasiness that never lets up and keeps you turning those pages again and again. Now, if your gothic retelling novel doesn’t have that atmosphere and has more of a “this being whisked away business isn’t so bad since the setting is beautiful, the food is good, the company is great, and only my maid is being a bit rude” vibe, readers WILL notice the missing plot.

As a consequence of being a mortal entering the Celestial world, Xue must prepare to convince the Ruler of the Celestial Realm to allow her to keep living by impressing him with her musical skills. This SOUNDS like a very important and consequential plot line that sees Xue preparing and worrying about it for weeks, but the trial comes and goes without having any impact whatsoever on the rest of the story. More like a filler than anything else, said plot point mainly gave me the feeling of having been included to stretch the book’s length.

My main problem, however, is with the writing:

1. Though written in the past voice, there are more than a dozen instances of some sentences written in present tense, some written in a weird mix of present tense AND past tense. I can’t tell if this is on purpose or not, and I don’t know whether they’ll be edited before publication, but the unwarranted and sudden switches in tense sound wrong even to my non-native English speaker ears.

"I forced myself to move forward, one step at a time, until I found the stool on which I was supposed to sit. I wished I didn’t feel so terribly out of place. Jinglang nods in her direction, and with that silent command, Danrou was gone (…)"

"It didn’t look like it had been wholly neglected, for the path could still be seen, making its way through the garden. Some of the trees and the shrubs have been cut back and piled against the wall (…)" (how come there's past perfect in the first sentence and present perfect in the second sentence for no reason whatsoever??)

"The tea and the pastries were a welcome distraction from the mysteries of the duke’s past. My brief interaction with Yingzi confirmed for me that the other staff of Meng Manor may not be so opposed to my presence, that perhaps it is only my maidservant who found me particularly distasteful." (okay so "it is" but also "found"?? make it make sense)

In general, the very wildly applied and thrown about mix of present tense, simple past, present perfect instead of past perfect, may instead of might, etc. made the novel read like it has never seen a copy editor in its life.

2. As for the writing style itself, it is the opposite of flowery. The sentences are short, clipped, staccato-like, and tediously uninspired. A heart beats “so rapidly,” Xue feels “as if it would burst” from her chest. Moonlight is silver, everything looks like “something out of a dream,” stars are described as “distant and cold,” and not a singular creative, daring, or original expression is to be found in this book.

3. Entire passages felt like they have been written by a very tired, uninspired high schooler forced to describe a photograph in an exam:

"Under our feet were white pavers that quieted our footsteps. There were white statues of various birds, carved in meticulous detail, interspersed in the space. There were peacocks, swans, …" (wait, let me guess, the next sentence also starts with "there were")

"I tried my very best not to gawk, but I couldn’t help but look this way and that as we entered the interior courtyard."

"Under my feet were white paving stones. I was on a bridge, with white stone banisters. The bridge let to the foot of a mountain." (damn, that's some bland writing)

4. Other times, repetitions repeat themselves:

"Then from his palm, there emerged a shoot. A tender green vine that emerged, winding itself around his arm. Buds popped from the branches, growing into leaves before me. From his palm, another tendril emerged…" (where was the editor????)

5. There are descriptions that make little to no sense:

"The deer opened its mouth and let out an inhuman scream." (like yeah, of course inhuman since deer aren't human?!!)

6. There’s the classic telling instead of showing:

"I placed a hand upon his arm, reminding him he was not alone."

7. And a general clumsiness when it comes to descriptions:

"[she] looked as if she would love the opportunity to bury it somewhere in [name] where it would hurt." (1. if and would in the same clause?? "somewhere where it would hurt" okayyy)

This list isn’t comprehensive but should be enough to give you an idea.

What Lin IS good at is writing about and describing Xue playing her qin and what each song sounds like, something that can be incredibly tough to put into words. Often enough, the very real poems (some of them originally written by Tang Dynasty poets, as stated in the author's note), are included in the text, followed by a “translation” of what each poem symbolizes and what it stands for. This, as well as Xue’s deep connection to music and its importance for the narrative, was beautiful to read. Additionally, some of the songs in their original Chinese characters are included in full at the end of the book, alongside a glossary that includes the pronunciation and meaning of every Chinese term used throughout the novel. I loved seeing the Chinese characters stand right next to the English ones and appreciate the work the author put into not only creating the glossary but transcribing the poems from their original language into English.

All in all, a story that tries to be too many things at once, failing to succeed at most of them. One star for the queer representation and one star for the beautiful descriptions of the food and music.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you have read or watched Lan Zhan playing the guqin (zither) in The Untamed/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and desperately wanted to see a girl playing that glorious instrument and vanquishing her enemies, this is what we've been waiting for.

Song of the Six Realms is beautiful beyond words. Judy I. Lin weaves a breathtaking story that will never leave you. Prepare to be swooned by the dreamiest romance of the year!

Our main character is Xue, an orphan girl who was raised by her uncle before she was taken to the House of Flowing Water. There, she wasn't mistreated or abused or bullied. However, she was a descendant of a family deemed as traitors by the Emperor; thus, her family records were erased, and she was left with no rights at all. She dedicated herself to the art of guqin, mastering her understanding and playing of that instrument that I believe is the most beautiful of all. Xue is a smart girl who thinks before she acts, who consider her options and their consequences before she proceeds. I loved that about her! She isn't naive, she's practical and such a thinker.

Jinglang, our love interest, is the best. Sure, he lied and withhold some parts of the truth at the beginning, but he never misled. He may have omitted some parts of the truth, but Xue would have made the same choice anyway, because the reasons behind it were true. Xue would have gone anywhere with him if it meant to solve the mystery of her uncle's death and her uncle's bond to Jinglang. I loved Jinglang. He's such a good person; selfless, righteous, and so polite. He's one of the most moral characters I've ever seen, and I have longed for someone like him. We often see the tall, dark, handsome, broody and secretive type *which I love* and Jinglang does fit the description, but he's not broody and secretive. He has his secrets at first, but he shares the truth wholeheartedly and apologizes and explains for his actions. He's a very tall sweetheart who believes in his friends to the very end, who believes in justice, and who loves his family and Xue above all.

The romance was swooning! A slow-burn, beautiful, dreamy romance that will capture your heart. They respected each other from the very first page, and I loved it. It's so refreshing to see the respect bloom first and foremost, and then evolve to love without losing a single thread of that admiration. He has a title, she does not, and the outsiders may treat them differently because of that, but when it's the two of them, you don't see the imbalance because Jinglang is courteous and respectful and treats Xue as his equal, as his partner he dreamed upon the stars to get.

The worldbuilding is breathtaking. It's so vivid that I could picture everything. If you've watched a historical c-drama and wondered how that would be expressed in a book, here it is. I loved, loved, LOVED everything about this book. I have to add here that some parts of the magic system rely on music (in non-expert words, "magic" occurs if one infused qi with their masterful playing of an instrument), and it was masterfully written. Playing those ancient instruments wasn't about hitting the notes, so to speak. It was about understanding the story behind the melody, the emotion behind the creator's intent. And it was brilliant in this novel! I asked the author if she studied music because it clearly showed in the text that she has a deep and nuanced understanding of music and the history of playing the guqin. She said that she plays the piano, so her knowledge stems from that, in part. Like I usually say, if it's authentically written, IT SHOWS. (If you fumble your way through it, it also shows...)

There's, in fact, LGBT rep in this book! There's a side m/m romance. We don't often see LGBT characters, much less couples, in books similar to this one. Think Lan Zhan and Wei Ying after the end of the novels/show, without MXTX's spice. And I loved how the author wrote their relationship!

The plot took some very surprising twists and turns! I loved how the author explored the perception of who is good and who is evil, as well as the mortals' perception of their gods and the immortals' perception of the mortals.

It's a standalone, but I can definitely see a sequel/another book in this universe in some way. I sincerely hope so because this book ruined for any other. It's become one of my all-time favorites.

This is for all of us who love Lan Zhan playing the guqin, Strike the Zither, and any historical c-drama especially The Imperial Coroner for the mystery-solving duo and analytical love interest.

*If this is a monthly book box pick, don't hesitate to RENEW.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. Although I do not typically enjoy YA reads as much in recent years there is the occasional gem that I really enjoy, and this is one such book. This is largely due to the immersive world building which gives the story more depth. Highly recommend for readers that also enjoyed Daughter of the Moon Goddess, The Girl That Fell into the Sea and other similar titles.