My Thoughts:
When I was looking for more non-white normative fantasy, the only Asian author I knew who was doing fantasy was Julie Kagawa. But Julie Kagawaʻs early fantsy was still using white characters, even if they were not "human." And then there was a whole slew of Asian, mostly female, fantasy writers using their own cultural folklore to create worlds and stories that involved both historic and new protagonists, mostly female. Elizabeth Lim is one of the OGs of this lady's club of writers. Her Blood of Stars duology - Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk is similar to this standalone in that there are no absolutes, beautiful, ugly, demon, not demon, love, obligation. The only absolute in Lim's book is perhaps the idea that all of her characters will need to pay a huge price for what they want, and even then, they may not get what they want.
Finally like all of her books, including the Six Crimson Cranes duology with The Dragon's Promise, Her Radiant Curse will not give you the Disney happy ending/meet cute romance. If that is what you are looking for, she is not the author for you.
For this book specifically, I like that this could easily have been a duology, but that Ms. Lim played out the story instead of chopping it. Channi is so narrowly focused on one thing, that when the unexpected happens and she is not in control of her fate, the book could have easily been over, but it was not. So it may start at a betrothal contest and the sisters trying to save each other, but it is also a quest to destroy a witch, only to find out that these characters are complicated. Some Disney tropes are still here, but filtered through an Asian world view. For example, there is the evil-ish step mother, but she is joined by the biological father, not as evil, but more as weak willed.
Early on, when Channa's mom gives birth to Vanna and then gets very ill, Channa's dad knows that to save his wife, he needs to sacrifice the baby to a witch in the forest. But Vanna is born with a golden glow about her and anyone that is near her falls in love with her beauty and personality. Instead their father takes the older child, Channa and leaves her in the forest as a sacrifice. The demon witch/tiger does not take her. The king of snakes instead bites Channa. The venom scars her face and body while also making her blood poison and venomous. The demon witch does not want Channa but assures her that she will come back for Vanna when Vanna is grown. Channa spends her life training and searching for the demon witch and although they do meet again, it is not as expected.
The takeaway for readers is fairly simple: What is on the outside is not always a good indicator of what is on the inside. I appreciate the author putting all of this in one book. It makes it more complicated, but also more complex, which is good.
From the Publisher:
One sister must fall for the other to rise.
Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts.
Now at seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point.
Weaving together elements of The Selection and Ember in the Ashes with classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Helen of Troy, and Asian folklore, Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching fantasy that explores the dark side of beauty and the deepest bonds of sisterhood.
Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts.
Now at seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point.
Weaving together elements of The Selection and Ember in the Ashes with classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Helen of Troy, and Asian folklore, Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching fantasy that explores the dark side of beauty and the deepest bonds of sisterhood.
Publication Information:
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (August 29, 2023)
Hardcover length: 432 pages
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