Review of Empress of all Seasons- Emiko Jean

Empress of all Seasons- Emiko Jean

"Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy.

Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast.

Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy."

Published: November 2018
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

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** CONTAINS SPOILERS**

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

It literally pains me to give three stars to Empress of All Seasons. When I read the synopsis, I was pretty much hooked. I mean, if Japanese mythology, princes, imperial politics and samurais aren’t enough to entice you, what will??

The story is set in the imperial city of Honoku, an empire where humans prosper while oppressing yōkai- supernatural monsters, spirits and demons. It follows the POVs of Mari and Akira, both yōkai, and the crown prince Taro. I have to say that Emiko Jean did a great job with the world building and fantasy elements of Empress of all Seasons. I absolutely adored the small snippets about the gods and goddesses, it really complemented the story and added the more mythological/folklore flavour to the story. What I enjoyed most about Empress was the seasonal rooms. It was exciting to find out what awaited Mari in each room and how she would ‘conquer’ it. The riddles that accompanied each room were a fun quirk that I loved. On top of that, I loved how she combined feminist elements into the story through the ‘Animal Wives’, who seduce potential husbands, marry them and steal their fortune and reside in a female only village. I loved how the women took pride in what they were and are depicted as strong and independent women.

“Men are conditioned to take. Women are conditioned to give... Long ago, our clan decided to stop giving and start taking.”“Our bodies are not ornaments; they are instruments”

The characters were quite interesting as each had their own internal conflicts they were dealing with. I loved Mari right from the beginning. She was so badass but at the same time I loved her vulnerability and uncertainty in her future with the clan. Her conflict of having to choose between love and being with Taro and her family and her honour was particularly interesting.

As for Taro, I was intrigued from the very moment he was introduced. I especially liked how he didn’t want anything to do with the throne and preferred to tinker in his workshop making delicate creations such a birds and butterflies. It was a clear nod to what he yearned for and what he was truly like in the inside.

“Every time I create something, I put a part of my soul into it”

Which brings me onto Mari and Taro’s relationship. It’s pretty much made clear that Taro does not want to stick around for the contest. But, somehow that all changes when he meets Mari. You’re telling me that you drop all your plans at finally pursuing freedom just because you’ve met a girl who didn’t recognise you and punched you?? I gotta say, pal, it was kinda dark when you met her...

Akira. Oh man, I really wanted to like Akira. And I really did. When he first appears, I was akin to him already. You could tell that he and Mari cared deeply for each other. Akira’s back story made me feel for him. BUT! Akira, when a girl says no, she means NO. I would’ve liked to see Akira be motivated by reasons other than Mari throughout the book.

And finally, what irked me most about this book was the pacing. We pretty much got right into the plot and it became a page turner as soon as we got to the seasonal rooms. However, as you reach the end of the novel it becomes an absolute shitshow, like the pacing goes from 0-100. In the beginning of the novel, Emiko Jean does a great job of crafting sentences that portrays Japanese culture but also world builds at the same time.

“The stars looked like rice sprinkled on a tami mat”

But as we neared the end, the beautiful writing instead became awkward and clunky. This happened a lot during the action scenes and I just couldn’t envision what the characters were doing. In the last few chapters, we get a variety of scenes: from what I assume is a epic battle, character deaths, characters coming back alive to characters who, by now, I thought wouldn’t be returning. I was seriously starting to think that Empress was a duology. There were a few loose ends that bothered me, such as the samurais pledging allegiance to Mari despite her being their dead emperor’s worst enemy? I feel like there could’ve been a second book where we see Mari reclaiming her empire and the yōkai resistance succeed, instead we get an epilogue summarising the events. I kinda feel robbed in what could’ve been a fantastic story exploring more of Japanese mythology and imperial court politics.

All in all, I did really enjoy this book. It’s a real page turner and the plot/characters are really unique. It’s definitely a fresh outlook on fantasy YA books. I also loved that it was an own voices and was immersed in Japanese culture. While the pacing may give you whiplash, I think it’s worth a read!