Following Wu Zetian, we enter a distant world where these giant robots called the Chrysalises are the only ones that can defeat the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. Inspired by Ancient China, Chinese culture and history and China's only female emperor, Zhao creates a masterful sci-fi story with amazing world-building, an amazing set of characters, an equally stunning romance and of course masterfully weaving East Asia myth creatures. Zetian is a strong female character who, despite all the obstacles years of history and the society has put up against her, gets what she wants in the end and wins, despite it all. Following the premise of The Handmaid's Tale, the treatment of the girls in society will definitely open your eyes. Zetian is aided by two male characters who then are entangled at first, in a sort of love triangle typical in YA: both boys are in love with the girl and the girl has to choose. Zhao, on the other hand, puts an even better perspective on it: she makes it a polyamorous relationship, something rarely seen in YA but she weaves it into the story so incredibly well that you don't even need to blink twice.
I really enjoyed this book and Zhao's writing is so powerful and they really manage to capture female rage through Zetian because of the lies that the leaders have been telling the society. It is incredibly masterful, I loved all the characters and the story was so rich and imaginitive and definitely different than that of what I usually read. I didn't even realize it was 400 pages long, I just got sucked into it and now I want more tbh.
**Thank you the publisher for sending an ARC in exchange of an honest review**