"Song Of The Six Realms" is the third book I've read by Judy I. Lin. The other two (A Magic Steeped In Poison & A Venom Dark And Sweet) are some of my favourite fantasy books I've read this year so I was excited for this one, too. The start was promising - Lin's books are heavy with Chinese mythology, which I adore. We follow Xue, an orphaned musician, while she navigates a life of servitude as an outcast, until she meets the ML. I liked their dynamic and budding friendship. As in the other two books, the romance is very sweet and soft and slow, and not the main focus of the story, but so lovely nonetheless. Starting around the middle of the book, there was just so much going on and Xue felt more like a puppet than a protagonist - things were just happening to her, some events felt rather random and crammed in. There was a part where she questions if humans truly have a free will if their fate has already been decided by the gods, and it seems that the answer to this question was a big No. The fight at the end felt a little anticlimactic (and we get a Deus Ex Machina situation in a way), but the ending itself was very hopeful and sweet. "Song of the Six Realms" is a standalone book, which I only learned after finishing it. I was hoping for a second part, and I think it would have worked better as a duology (like Lin's first series), so some things could have been fleshed out more. Nonetheless, I had fun reading it and can recommend it to fantasy lovers!

Ich kann diese Buch einfach nur jedem empfehlen. Es ist überwiegen Fantasy ( auf chinesischer mythologie basierend) und hat genau den passenden Anteil an fluffy und cuter romance. Auch schön ist, das es eine Art Glossar in der Ausgabe gibt ( ich hatte allerdings die Owlcrate Ausgabe)

Judy I. Lin let's you float into a fairytale-like world congenial to the title of the book. The musical theme can be found throughout the whole story and carries the reader like notes carry a song. However, when reading I do preferences a little but more tension than there was in the Song of the Six Realms, which is why it's only a 4,5 Stars - Book. Also, what I really enjoy about Judy's books is the culinary adventure she provides to the reader, leaving them query if there's ever gonna be a cookbook written by Judy or a restaurant dedicated to the meals described in her novels.

I enjoyed this book a lot, good world building and great storytelling. It was easy to get into and l'd definitely recommend it if you want to get into chinese mythology, as there are lots of books with a similar genre. It's also slow burn romance which I really love toh! It was heavy on arts like music and poetry, especially the poetic aspect I thoroughly enjoyed. The book has an open ending and because of that and the mythology aspect, I think, it reminded me a teensy, tiny bit of Song of Achilles.

Der Anfang des Buches war sehr süß und die Welt und Geschichte sehr interessant. Zur Mitte des Buches fiel es mir dann immer schwerer noch dran zu bleiben und bis zum Ende hin musste ich mich leider etwas quälen. Alles kam auf einmal ganz schnell und ging Schlag auf Schlag und mit den ganzen Verschiedenen Gottheiten war es wirklich zäh. Auch die Liebesgeschichte, wenn man sie denn so nennen möchte, war sehr zart. Was auch ihren Charme hat, aber von gar nichts zu wir sind verliebt, war es für mich dann doch ein großer Sprung. Für den Anfang des Buches und das Setting gibt es die 2,5 Sterne.