Review: The Empress of Bright Moon by Weina Dai Randel

Title: The Empress of Bright Moon
Author: Weina Dai Randel
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publish Date: April 5, 2016
Source: Library

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "In the captivating sequel to The Moon in the Palace, Mei must protect her people from a murderous empress

The second book in this stunning duology, The Empress of Bright Moon follows Mei as she struggles for power within the Emperor's palace, risking her life to dethrone the murderous Empress and establish herself as the new female ruler of China.

After Mei's lover, Pheasant, is crowned Emperor, a power struggle erupts between Mei and Pheasant's wife, Empress Wang. Both women are desperate to secure their name and rank. But when Empress Wang takes their feud to a new level by murdering Mei's supporters, Mei realizes that she must defeat the bloodthirsty Empress—not only to save herself, but also to protect her country."

My Two Cents:

"The Empress of Bright Moon" is the second book in a duology. This is the continuing story of Mei, a concubine who rises up to be the new potential empress in ancient China. In this book, Mei is now more confident in her skills and power. When her lover becomes the new Emperor, Mei knows that she must force her way to the top any way that she can. She knows that she will be better for Pheasant than any other women, including his current wife.

Like I said, this is the second book in a duology. Definitely go back and read the first book! It will give you a lot of insight into the various characters, including Mei. Mei has definitely changed since the first book. She is now more confident and able to get what she wants. I loved watching her transformation between this book and the previous book. She is such a fascinating character!

Again in this book, the historical detail will make this a true treat for any historical fiction lover. I loved the detail about court life in the first book but even more so in the second book. The stakes are higher for Mei in this book and she must even more carefully navigate the in's and out's of court life in order to stay on top. It is incredibly intriguing!

I was not ready for this book to end and will definitely be looking for more from this author in the future!