Name: Strike the Zither
ISBN: 9781250258595

Joan He

Strike the Zither

We're all so transient. We live and we die; we forget and we're forgotten. The earth claims our bodies and strangers claim our names.

"It's a bad habit of mine, liking ruinous things."

"As you made the heavens rain arrows,  I realised that the two of us could not coexist in this world."

Kaitlyn

"Do you think I'd have lived to the ripe old age of nineteen if I took an arrow for anyone?”

"Worry not," says Crow. "I have plenty of time to woo you. I could even take another arrow if I need to."

It feels so real. I'm living, He’s living. 

But for just another heartbeat, I stay. I sit beside him at the desk. I relearn his face even though I never forgot it.

I didn't imagine it; he really does look more unwell. Like something died inside of him. 

A dazzling new fantasy from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, Strike the Zither is a powerful, inventive, and sweeping fantasy that reimagines the Chinese classic tale of the Three Kingdoms.

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.


Kingdom of Three #1

ngl this was a rough start. there wasn't really an introduction where i felt like we were thrown into this unknown world with so many different names and characters. i was even confused with whether the book is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person - i was probs confused with who the main narrator was tbh (which i figured out later)

anyways the world is still interesting with the warring empresses and their strategists. it was fun seeing zephyr infiltrate the enemy camp and encountering her rival strategist which leads to an underlying romance with good banter. however, my initial confusion from the clustered info dump is clouding my enjoyment for this romance. it's so frustrating bc i feel like i would've loved zephyr and crow but i literally got to a significant part in their romance and i felt nothing. also i felt like there wasn't really any genuine buildup to their romance like all of a sudden you love this man??

also i hear ASTHMA every time the audiobook mentions one of the characters' names which is ALL THE TIME and i'm so annoyed

ngl this was a rough start. there wasn't really an introduction where i felt like we were thrown into this unknown world with so many different names and characters. i was even confused with whether the book is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person - i was probs confused with who the main narrator was tbh (which i figured out later)

anyways the world is still interesting with the warring empresses and their strategists. it was fun seeing zephyr infiltrate the enemy camp and encountering her rival strategist which leads to an underlying romance with good banter. however, my initial confusion from the clustered info dump is clouding my enjoyment for this romance. it's so frustrating bc i feel like i would've loved zephyr and crow but i literally got to a significant part in their romance and i felt nothing. also i felt like there wasn't really any genuine buildup to their romance like all of a sudden you love this man??

also i hear ASTHMA every time the audiobook mentions one of the characters' names which is ALL THE TIME and i'm so annoyed

unfortunately this book isn't for me

SOUND THE GONG OUT ON APRIL 30TH🗣️🗣️🗣️

Christine

idk what I expected but it wasn't this I'm stupid I didn't realize it was based on Three Kingdoms 
i don't really know what to think ab the entire thing tbh other than I want more of Crow!!!

nina 

I’m not sure exactly why but this book made me so sad? lol there really isn’t even any sad scenes but the rivals to lovers to??? aspect has me some sort of heart broken for some reason 😂. There’s more I’d like to say about something but I’d totally give a lot away and obviously don’t want to do that. I’m not familiar with the story that this book is based off of but I had no problems getting into the book. It actually started off with a bang and continued to until about the middle-ish and that’s kind of where the book started to lose me.

A lot is going on, I’ll admit I was kind of confused and there’s also a few twists that had me like?!? If it sounds like my feelings are all over the place.. that’s because they indeed are lol.

Overall, I’m a bit confused which makes me want to pick up book two even more? I also would like the magic system and gods expanded on more in the next one.

Courtney Passio

I’m not sure exactly why but this book made me so sad? lol there really isn’t even any sad scenes but the rivals to lovers to??? aspect has me some sort of heart broken for some reason 😂. There’s more I’d like to say about something but I’d totally give a lot away and obviously don’t want to do that. I’m not familiar with the story that this book is based off of but I had no problems getting into the book. It actually started off with a bang and continued to until about the middle-ish and that’s kind of where the book started to lose me.

A lot is going on, I’ll admit I was kind of confused and there’s also a few twists that had me like?!? If it sounds like my feelings are all over the place.. that’s because they indeed are lol.

Overall, I’m a bit confused which makes me want to pick up book two even more? I also would like the magic system and gods expanded on more in the next one.

Sickening. Stressful, beautiful, lush, action-packed.. I need more. Now.

Holly

Those who loved this book and will not hear anything against it, scroll away.

So many brilliant authors left glowing reviews of Joan He's writing and I have been deceived on multiple, personal levels. The story itself gets one star. Overall, it gets 1.5 stars because the illustration of Ren could turn the most conservative women unstraight. 

I did not enjoy this book and I was willing myself to just skim over every page since the first chapter just to get it over with. Zephyr is insufferable. Ren is hot. Crow is ridiculous. This story desperately wants to be The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang but failed, miserably. This is the exact same story as Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye, just framed to look like a retelling of an old Chinese story.

Those who loved this book and will not hear anything against it, scroll away.

So many brilliant authors left glowing reviews of Joan He's writing and I have been deceived on multiple, personal levels. The story itself gets one star. Overall, it gets 1.5 stars because the illustration of Ren could turn the most conservative women unstraight. 

I did not enjoy this book and I was willing myself to just skim over every page since the first chapter just to get it over with. Zephyr is insufferable. Ren is hot. Crow is ridiculous. This story desperately wants to be The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang but failed, miserably. This is the exact same story as Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye, just framed to look like a retelling of an old Chinese story.

Yes I,m giving almost every book high scores for writing. If I have no issues with it it's a 10

It's been a long time since i've read an entire book in one setting. It was great how women were in positions of power. I really loved part one. Although I don't understand how Miasma just believed that Zephyr defected. It was unconvincing. I'm not familar with the work Strike the zither is based on so part two did catch me off guard. Looking back there was foreshadowing. Ngl I do miss Zephyr in her Qilin form. Backstabing Cicada 😒. Curious to see how this unfolds. Also I'd like more Crow please.

4.24 stars


Characters: 8/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Plot: 9/10
Worldbuilding: 8/10 
Writing: 10/10
Yes I,m giving almost every book high scores for writing. If I have no issues with it it's a 10

It's been a long time since i've read an entire book in one setting. It was great how women were in positions of power. I really loved part one. Although I don't understand how Miasma just believed that Zephyr defected. It was unconvincing. I'm not familar with the work Strike the zither is based on so part two did catch me off guard. Looking back there was foreshadowing. Ngl I do miss Zephyr in her Qilin form. Backstabing Cicada 😒. Curious to see how this unfolds. Also I'd like more Crow please.

Powerful. Poignant. Accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with the Chinese classic, yet filled with nods and homages to Three Kingdoms for those with more background knowledge.

The protagonist, Zephyr, is all wit and no brawn, which is so refreshing in a sea of tough, badass protagonists in the genre.

The multiple twists took me by surprise in the best way. Cannot wait for book 2!

Liz Griffin

Powerful. Poignant. Accessible to readers who are unfamiliar with the Chinese classic, yet filled with nods and homages to Three Kingdoms for those with more background knowledge.

The protagonist, Zephyr, is all wit and no brawn, which is so refreshing in a sea of tough, badass protagonists in the genre.

The multiple twists took me by surprise in the best way. Cannot wait for book 2!

Amanda

I found this book pretty boring unfortunately. It got really exciting midway when there was a big reveal, but then that reveal was just used for a character change and the story went on as it had done in the first half. It reads like a middle grade book and probably should have been formatted as such, leaving the Big Reveal as a surprise ending and making the second half a new book. I see that this is the first book in a planned duology, but it would probably read better as 4 or five shorter books.

This book really suffers from the usual YA "people under 20 who've somehow gained decades of life experience in order to be at the top of their fields" nonsense. Our lead (and all of the other side characters really) has apparently studied under the tutelage of several masters, for long enough that she misses them, all in about 4 or 5 years. It's nonsensical. The author wrote a middle grade story about adults who she then aged down in order to make it a YA novel and add (off the page) sex.

2.5 stars, rounded up for the wild midpoint reveal that I did not entirely see coming, I suspected something but not that

Strike the Zither

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