May 26

May 26 The Emperor and the Endless Palace

About the book

Author: Justinian Huang
Publisher: MIRA

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

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Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

The Emperor and the Endless Palace is one of those books that wasn’t on my radar until it was published, and then suddenly I kept getting signs that I needed to read it. And I’m super glad I did, but hoo boy, did it surprise me.

What I expected: a M/M reincarnation romantasy novel rooted in Asian mythology. What I got: a smart, epic, unputdownable, surprisingly literary story that examines the double-sided beauty and potential toxicity of soulmates. Despite the jacket copy and whimsical cover, trust me: It’s NOT a romance. It may be sexually explicit, but Huang leverages sex as a craft tool in very specific and smart ways, some of which are romantic and some of which are very much not. The book also doesn’t follow any of the romance genre’s conventions whatsoever.

But I was not disappointed! The story really sucked me in thanks to several well-placed twists that blossomed into a full-blown plot puzzle that doesn’t quite fall into place until the very end. It also gave me a ton to think about, especially what Huang wants us to take away from the book regarding love and fate. In fact, this would make a really good book club book.