Published: February 25, 2014 by William Morrow Paperbacks
First Published: August 20, 2013
I've read a few historical books about China, and each one feels like it takes place 100 of years ago regardless of when the events acutally occurred. I don't really know a lot about China history so I have no way of placing each book within the timeframe of European history I'm more familiar with. Except this wasn't quite the case with this. This book takes place in the 1930s with the modern world starting to become a part of Chinese culture. Except even though there were modern touches, the majority of the book feel timeless as if it could have easily taken place 100 years ago. It was definitely an interesting mix of two worlds coming together which is an aspect I loved about this.
I thought the way the book was told was really special. It's a young woman looking back on her life and the mistakes she made after death. And that isn't even a spoiler since you know in the second sentence that our main character, Leiyin, is dead. What is also interesting is that Leiyin spends much of her time interacting with her three souls (hence the title), which was a neat touch of Chinese culture.
It's interesting because this wasn't necessarily a book that I couldn't put down, and yet I always wanted to be reading. It reads easily, and beautifully even, that I'm a little disappointed to be finished with it. There was actual one scene in particular that brought me to tears, if only because I wish certain experiences in it could actually be true. This is the author's first book, which gets me a little excited because I can't wait to see where she's able to go from here!
5/5
Disclosure: I was provided this book through TLC Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.
Wow, this sounds really beautiful! I think I've read two books that take place in China- Bound by Donna Jo Napoli which is a traditional story that takes place sometime in the past, and North to Beautiful which is Shanghai today. Of course, I learned the most from Mulan (; It really has a fascinating culture which I'd live to read more about- thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteEsty @ Boarding with Books
I haven't heard of either of those two, but I'll definitely have to look into them. But of course, I have seen, and love, Mulan!
DeleteI don't know a lot about China either but I do love to read about cultures that are different from ours. This sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way! And the more I read about China, the more books on it I want to seek out!
Delete"this wasn't necessarily a book that I couldn't put down, and yet I always wanted to be reading" That is so very appealing - I don't want to be so absorbed in a book that I can't get anything else done, but yet I want to WANT to pick it up again asap.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being on the tour!
Have you read "Wild Swans: Three Daughters Of China"? That is also a good book to check out, but a bit older.
ReplyDeleteI haven't even heard of that one, so I'll definitely have to look into in. In general though, the only books on China I've read are by Pearl S. Buck and Lisa See, both who I've really enjoyed.
DeleteThis looks good, starting with the cover and ending with your 5 rating!
ReplyDeleteI hear you, this wasn't a book which I couldn't put down, but it kept me interested enough to read it through (http://manoflabook.com/wp/?p=10202), I also like learning about Chinese culture.
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