The Girl King
Mimi Yu
(Affiliate Links)
Sisters Lu and Min have always understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined to become the dynasty’s first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths. Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved… Alone in the volatile court, Min’s hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set’s reign…or allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and the sisters’ greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.
One of the things I loved about The Girl King was that it focuses on multiple strong female characters. These characters are also distinct with one another, have different traits, relationships and goals. Each of them has a story, a path to follow, and the fight to lead ahead of them.
Min and Lu are sisters, however the book never really touches on the sisterly love most often seen in YA. I felt that this was refreshing, to see a different dynamic than I expected from the blurb. I was completely assuming they would kiss and make up after an initial conflict, and team up. But as the blurb states, they are enemies.
Personally I preferred Min’s storyline, which is odd as Lu is the one going on an ‘adventure’. I loved how Min as a character developed over the course of The Girl King. Whereas I felt Lu did a lot of things, but didn’t change quite as much, and the journey often felt slow and boring.
Talking about slow, the pacing at the start is slow. Although I find that with many books, it takes some time to get into it. Especially when building up an idea of the world. However it doesn’t pay off in the book, because the world building itself was sometimes disappointing.
The world building left much to the imagination. It clearly pulls from Asian culture and the world descriptions fit this well. However at times I struggled to imagine what the surroundings actually looked like. I think at one point we’re in a mountainous or hilly area near a lake, and it just kept changing in my mind for what it could be. This is always a problem for me, as I enjoy large expansive worlds that I can imagine.
I enjoyed Nok’s shapeshifting magic and how entwined with lore it was. It’s a key part of the culture of his people, and it created a lot of interest for me. His story arc was intriguing for me, especially as it’s so connected to multiple characters and the main storyline.
The plot itself can be unfortunately predictable in places. Princesses needing to fight for the throne because of patriarchy and going on the run from banishment feels common place. But to give credit, sometimes there were a few twists and turns and nice additions which weren’t as common.
Positives
- Strong female characters
- Magic, culture and empire traditions
Negatives
- Slow start
- World building disappointing
I received The Girl King by Mimi Yu from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review
