The Phoenix Empress

September 15, 2018

Two women, both raised with the knowledge that they were bound by prophecy to save their homeland, are reunited after eight years. Wives O-Shizuka and Barsalai Shefali find that distance can exist between two hearts bound to each other. The women's stories alternate between their current reunion and previous years apart: O-Shizuka faces a war that changes her life, while Shefali endures horrible trials as a cursed warrior. Before becoming Empress, Shizuka was heir to an uncle who led the Hokkaran Imperial Army and tried to end her life on a suicide mission. The demons she faces at war cause her to doubt everything. As Shefali battles the dark influence of the curse upon her, a horrible truth is revealed that could separate the women again. VERDICT The second entry in this epic fantasy series (after The Tiger's Daughter) continues the intense worldbuilding and time-hopping prose of the first. While the initial book's use of borrowed and slightly altered Japanese and Chinese vocabulary was hotly debated, readers will find the embattled lovers' tale engrossing and memorable.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2018
The sweeping, lush love story between the Qorin warrior Shefali and the warrior empress Shizuka continues (after The Tiger's Daughter, 2017). Now married after eight years apart, both women struggle: Shizuka is fighting the daily stress of holding the empire together and righting the damage her ancestors inflicted, while Shefali is slowly dying and trying to keep that secret from her wife. Together, they have to protect their people (and themselves) from impending magical doom. Rivera captures the feelings of spouses learning each other's secrets, and learning to forgive. This lengthy and detailed read that depicts what love can conquer builds toward the final installment in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)