My Thoughts:
This duology is the follow up to A Magic Steeped in Poison. Ning, the main character, went to Dàxi to compete in the tea/magic competition in order to heal her sister who has been poisoned like many other innocents across the country by poisoned tea bricks. She also befriended Kang and his cousin the princess, but she is scheduled to be executed just when she is so close to finding out the source of the poisoned bricks and the antidote that her sister needs to survive. Although she escapes with the princess and saves her sister, at the end of the first book she is betrayed by Kang, the princess is forced out by Kang's father and Ning is being hunted by real soldiers and an ancient yellow serpent that is able to track her when Ning wields her magic.
In this last book, the four girls, Ning, her sister Shu, the princess and her bodyguard/girlfriend Ruyi must travel the country to try and find allies loyal to the former emperor. A powerful evil is awake and Ning must decide who she can trust. She cannot battle the serpent alone and she needs help from those people she is trying to protect as well as those who have already betrayed her.
Readers will speed through these two books, especially if they like fantasy, mythology, magic, friendship and action. Teachers just need to be prepared to lead students to the next read. If they liked this duology, send the readers to Six Crimson Cranes or Spin the Dawn, both by Elizabeth Lim.
If readers are a little young for these books (violence, evil, LGBTQIA romance, death), they may want to try The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim.
From the Publisher:
A great evil has come to the kingdom of Dàxi. The Banished Prince has returned to seize power, his rise to the dragon throne aided by the mass poisonings that have kept the people bound in fear and distrust.
Ning, a young but powerful shénnóng-shi—a wielder of magic using the ancient and delicate art of tea-making—has escorted Princess Zhen into exile. Joining them is the princess' loyal bodyguard, Ruyi, and Ning's newly healed sister, Shu. Together the four young women travel throughout the kingdom in search of allies to help oust the invaders and take back Zhen's rightful throne.
But the golden serpent still haunts Ning's nightmares with visions of war and bloodshed. An evil far more ancient than the petty conflicts of men has awoken, and all the magic in the land may not be enough to stop it from consuming the world.
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