Welcome to Litsy!

February wrap up! Not a bad reading month. My favourite was the tagged. Let's see what March brings.

I had confused this with the Empress of Salt & Fortune - but a happy mistake as I found this absolutely hilarious. It starts with a brawl in a coffee house ending with the waitress, a nun of the order of the pure 🌕 reflected in water tracking down a group of bandits & angrily asking to join them on their travels. Trouble is never far behind - I did get a little lost in the names (there is a handful of bandits to keep track of) in the audiobook.

I was not prepared for this one to be all the emotions!!!
I would like to point out that the back of the book jacket has 'Praise for Zen Cho' (the author, not the book), and amongst these is the quote from John Scalzi “fun and full of adventure“. I'm thinking that's probably in reference to a different book. There are hijinks and high action moments, there is banter, 1/?

I mean, if you're going to have a religious order, ensuring your nuns can kick ass if necessary just seems practical. 💁🏼‍♂️

Just found my favourite new threat! 😵😏

Ah Kheng would like to not be at work, now please. 🤦🏼‍♂️😆

A group of bandits and a nun work together to smuggle some mysterious objects to their buyer.

This was a fascinating little story. Not too much world building, and an interesting collection of characters that I wasn‘t totally invested in. We kept getting hints of bigger things, but the characters really stay on the outside. & it felt like there was a romance out of the blue at the end. I was just left wanting more fleshed out. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

#WyrdAndWonder day 22: bite size delight
(expect catch up posts for the days I‘ve missed)

Today I‘m featuring Zen Cho‘s gorgeous novella of monks, outlaws and magic - I loved The Order of The Pure Moon Reflected In Water 💕

I‘ll be celebrating another Zen Cho novella on the blog in today‘s Fantastic Five and over on Twitter I‘m giving away a copy of Black Water Sister! (UK only, sorry)

https://twitter.com/imyril/status/1528299628210229248

A nun joins up with a group of bandits after losing her job as a waitress only to discover that some of the objects they're smuggling have a connection to her past. I really enjoyed this novella and the dynamics between characters. I'd definitely be interested to read more in this world.

I wish it were longer! I don't feel like I had the best grasp on the political situation, but I liked the leads and was intrigued by the titular order.

A surprise addition to my Asian Readathon TBR, I'm with Ken Liu on this one. This is no ordinary bandit story. It left me wanting to see more former nun main characters, of all things.

⭐: 5

(Photo in the background belongs to Faizah Othman)

Finished my reread of Ruin & Rising. Planning on starting the new Veronica Speedwell book tomorrow morning so picking up this novella

Am ded already 🤣

This book was highly entertaining. I do like this author a lot. My only complaint is that it was too short. It works really well as an #audiobook. I hope she turns this into a series.

1. The tagged book, The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson and Death by Shakespeare by Kathryn Harkup.
☠️
2. Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln‘s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart
☠️
3. So many! At the moment I really love butterfly bushes for outdoors and baby bunny bellies for indoors.
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

A nun teams up with some bandits to deliver a package across a war-torn country. I had trouble with the narrative logic on a couple of points, but as light adventure it's fun, and closes with hints at a series I would welcome.

Finished this in the after Christmas chaos! It was a delightful, adventurous, funny, and queer story about a nun who joins a group of bandits planning to sell religious artifacts. Lots of fun Malaysian cultural details too. The characters and their relationships with one another are wonderfully drawn and the banter is truly hilarious. I do have slight doubts about the trans representation though. I'm interested to know what trans readers think.

Christmas Eve read by the fire! Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating ❄🎅🌲🕯

Been eyeing this book for some time now bc LOOK AT THAT COVER and finally got through it and just...is there more?! It's a decently paced story about a nun who ends up traveling with some “bandits“ as they go about trying to make some money. TBH it ends pretty inconclusively but I just enjoyed the character interactions and world!

Listen on Libro: http://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm135487

#awesomeaugust @andrew65
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

A short novella about identity and the trauma that comes from being a victim in the middle of a war. There's not as much wuxia feel as is sold in the book description, maybe the opening part. But further in things get serious and you really start to get the character's back stories. Very enjoyable with characters I cared about.

#fantasy

A bandit walks into a tavern and...what happens is exactly what you expect to happen and honestly, that‘s okay. This novella, described on the dust jacket as a martial arts movie with “characters drawn from the margins of history,” is just that. It‘s a fun, humorous story about a group of thieves, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, a sacred object, and lots of trouble. Another quick, enjoyable read.

Oops, I did it again. I went to work and came home with another ARC. I snagged this one as soon as I saw it—several authors I like have raved about it...so surely this book must be great too, right?!? Well, I‘m about to find out!

*”The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water” by Zen Cho*
4 out of 5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Recommended for fans of martial arts

This wuxia fantasy, set in a war-torn East Asian nation, depicts Guet Imm, a young nun, as she joins up with a group of bandits as they team together to save a sacred object of her order, the Pure Moon, with some adventures along the way.
1/2 ⬇️

Such a beautiful cover...

I find everything Zen Cho writes so soothing, and even though this is a bit different, you can still feel her style. This mixes wuxia tropes with faith and identity and a queer love story, all wrapped in a novella format. Lovely. Out in June. #arc #fantasy

Received to review! It's a fun Wuxia adventure; I wonder if being more familiar with Wuxia and where this used tropes and where it played against them might have helped, though.

Novella break! Another fantastic read from Zen Cho. I was hooked from the first page and didn‘t want to put it down until the last. Well-paced with great characters whose different histories lead to conflicting worldviews - and ultimately believable connection. #AdvancedReaderCopy

This I have a mighty need for!

ICYMI, I was on All the Books! with Liberty this week, nerding out over so many cool books coming out in 2020! Bookriot.com/allthebooks

omg. how gorgeous is this cover?! this would make my most anticipated of 2020 list based on the cover alone, but also it's Zen Cho. excited!!

out June 2020

📷 tor. com twitter