Book Review: The Zheninghai Chronicles Part 1...
Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses...
Introduction…
Continuing my reviews of Anastasis Blythe’s books…The Zheninghai Chronicles are a series of 6 books that can be split into three arcs…or parts…three stories basically…all are set in a place called Zheninghai where people with powers are required to go to an Academy where they learn how to best serve the empire…The first part is comprised of only the first book…Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses…it was a quite enjoyable read…not my favorite…but that’s just because the others were so much better…
The Story…
Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses is a story about a girl, Liena, who discovers her powers much later than most people and when she goes to The Academy has to find her place even though her powers aren’t impressive and she is very behind…but along with enemies, she makes friends who help her through the year…it was quite an interesting story and you could really sympathize with Liena and her struggles…there was a lot of feeling in the book and a couple twists to make it interesting…
The Characters…
The characters were interesting and each had their own personalities…you could sympathize and understand them and their actions even when they were doing wrong which I feel is important…
The Romance…
The romance was incredibly sweet…I really can’t think of another way to describe it…it was sweet…kinda forbidden…but it was wonderful…there was a bit of a love triangle…but it was resolved quite well in my opinion…
Content Warnings…
It’s quite clean…the author recommends it for 12+…but the only things are some kissing and violence…it really isn’t intense…
In Conclusion…
Maiden of Candlelight and Lotuses was simply a sweet and cozy book with only a little peril…I really enjoyed it and I’ve read it at least twice…
I'm curious, how balanced would you say the plot and the romance are? Does the plot get going for a while, only to be interrupted by the romance? Does the romance start and then the plot? Or do they start at roughly the same time and each get equal focus?
Oooo . . . Love the cover art! And it sounds like a great story!