When Rin aced the Keju, the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies, it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan, was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

It’s been like four days but I already feel like I’ve been reading this book for a lifetime. My being is completely consumed with this magnificent story and the lengths it went to evoke beautiful and terrible things I wasn’t ready to feel after going through such a specter of emotion and experience. My mind is filled with this intangible feeling of pain and complete understating of everything this book is trying to point towards - I am completely and utterly in love with this story of war, pain, and survival.

Modern Chinese mythology? Yes, please.
I died for Kuang’s fascinating world of power and faith, where Empires are constantly at war and there is really no sense of stability. Nikara Empire barely won the last Poppy War and the Mugen are waiting for their chance to ravish the outdated nation once and for all. Mugen is a strictly militaristic, disciplined and ruthless Empire that wants to expand and spread their ways on those they see inferior no matter the cost. They might have all the brute force and numbers, but Nikara has something that might save them after all – faith, although long forgotten, in shamans and their gods. Most of the people believe their gods either dead or just a part of some children’s story, but there are still those who have come to the knowledge and power within it – an ability to host a god and its power, to become one with the god and use their energy to fight back. Rin never would have imagined her revenge and fear would lead her to find art and power that would change her life forever.


It feels like a few lifetimes have passed from the time Rin was studying for the Keju until the end of the book. She went from the fierce spirit and relentless child to such a damaged and broken fighter… but no matter how many times I tried to wrap my mind around this book, I couldn’t figure out how that many emotions and happenings can fit into such a compact and intriguing narrative. This book changed direction and surprised me a dozen times, but each alteration made it even more interesting and painfully realistic. What I thought would be another Hogwartsy school-for-special-kids story turned out to be an epic tale of war, military strategies, magic, and power. Stunning history and culture were mixed with passion and patriotism resulting in a heartbreaking fight between loss and mercy – between revenge and sanity.


This book is about war – an inevitable trait of humankind that will never cease to exist. How the poor suffer when those on top move power like pieces on board. How can a single individual decide the fate of the millions with a single move? There is a terrible price with power, but the ones that pay it aren’t the ones who are asked usually. This book brings up so many problems that have been around forever and will probably remain until the end of time because, well, as long as there is power and want there is no balance.

Runin Fang is probably one of the best and most real characters I’ve had the pleasure to read about. Following her character development, her anger and motivation were one of the wildest and most inspiring experiences this book has given me and I’m desperate for more. Rin’s life has never been fair and she had to fight tooth and nail for every single piece of her future. She has never been given anything and the world just couldn’t wait to put little orphan peasant from Tikany where she belonged. Only Rin didn’t let them.


With the sheer will and determination, she fought her way to the most prestige school in the entire Empire and escaped her adoptive parents who only wanted to marry her off for a good price. She’d been belittled for her gender, accent, and looks but she never let it get to her. Instead, she fueled her anger into fighting and learning something that could help her defend her country one day. For years she has been resisting all the different forces trying to break her until she found the ones like her – the Cike, her new family.
Her relationship with Atlan was one of the sweetest and saddest things in this book. There is so many emotion surrounding their sibling bond that formed between them fueled by their shared heritage and endless well of rage and fire within them. Jiang thaught her peace and power, but Atlan taught her control and rage. I can’t believe how many well-developed characters are there that I’ll never forget.

No romance made this book even more powerful and straight ass amazing, but I’m still going to be a huge sucker for slow-burn enemies to lovers when Nezha *spoiler* comes back xd

CW: sexism, racism, drug abuse, addiction, rape, torture, war, self-harm