Strike the Zither by Joan He
Series : Kingdom of Three #1
The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A
puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured
into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim
the continent for themselves.
But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.
Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate
by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving
under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress
is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her
cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where
one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to
infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from
being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an
opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there
are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.
An epic YA fantasy about found family, rivals, and
identity, from New York Times and Indie bestselling
author Joan He, inspired by Three Kingdoms, one of the
Four Classics of Chinese Literature.
It's been a while since a fantasy book wow-ed me like this but I'm
very happy about this one!🤩 There's nothing I could love more than a
calculating and arrogant protagonist in my books! I'm a Zephyr fangirl
now 😆 I also love sickly love interests so that was an added bonus!
This one is a genderbent reimagining of Three Kingdoms set in a realm
with many warring factions and Zephyr is the strategist for Xin Ren, a
warlordess with her own set of principles. Zephyr is determined to win
the war for her, even if it means that she'll have to pretend to
betray her while infiltrating their enemy Miasma's camp. She also
wants to secure some alliances for Ren and is ready to make some
sacrifices for it. But things don't always go according to plan, do
they? And Miasma's strategist Crow seems to see right through her and
he has some surprises hidden up his sleeve(pocket?😂)
I loved the writing and the characters in this one! Zephyr(one of her
many sobriquets) is a multifaceted character with her arrogance,
intelligence and talents. She's quite ruthless at times - to herself
and others, but her loyalty to Ren is unshakable and that makes her
very interesting! I also loved Ren and her swornsisters - Lotus, Cloud
and Tourmaline. They were all very different in character and in their
relationship with Zephyr too(varying from like to dislike) but they
have such close knit bonds!
There was constant action and the political intrigue had me turning
the pages! There were some nice twists in the second half and towards
the end too! The hints of romance with Crow had me smiling but I'm
hesitant to hope for more as I don't know how things will work out in
book two after that ending. Safe to say, I'm very excited to read
Sound The Gong now!
Also, love the character illustrations and artwork in the paperback
version!❣️✨
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
Joan He was born and raised in Philadelphia but still, on occasion, will lose her way. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that storytelling was her favorite form of expression. She studied Psychology and East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania and currently splits her time between Philly and Chicago. She is the bestselling author of The Ones We're Meant to Find, Descendant of the Crane, and the Kingdom of Three duology, which includes Strike the Zither and Sound the Gong.
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