Hi everyone! I’m beyond thrilled to be on the blog tour for FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS. This is easily one of my most anticipated books of this year because that cover! Evil Queen retelling! Asian main character! If you didn’t realize, I’m very excited for this. Here’s a bit about the book:
Series: Rise of the Empress #1
Publication: October 10th 2017 by Philomel Books
Length: 384 pages
An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress–and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?
Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins–sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
Since FOREST is a story about an anti-hero, I’m talking about my favorite villains & anti-heroes today!
1. Adelina from THE YOUNG ELITES
THE YOUNG ELITES is one of my favorite series, and it revolves around Adelina, the anti-hero of this story, who is also a disabled woman of color (woohoo for diversity!)! Her actions are questionable, but I can’t help but to root for her.
2. The Darkling from the GRISHA trilogy
Don’t @ me but I like this boy. Maybe too much. I don’t know what it is about him because I know I was rooting for Alina and the Darkling kept on getting in the way with an evil agenda, but I can’t help but to be drawn to him.
3. Count Olaf in A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
Count Olaf was one of my favorite villains when I was reading Middle Grade, and he still is. I overall love this series and all the characters, so I can’t help but to have Olaf on my favorite villains list.
4. Bellatrix Lestrange from HARRY POTTER
Alright, this girl is full out evil and borderline insane, but I LOVE HER. Helena Bonham Carter was absolutely amazing in the movie role, and she’s definitely one of my favorite Slytherins.
5.RQ spoiler // Maven from RED QUEEN
My goodness, Maven was such a trip. He’s charming, bloody, and deceptive, and while I haven’t finished GLASS SWORD (I put it aside a while ago), I’m reading it and looking forward to what he has in store.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julie C. Dao (www.juliedao.com) is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York. She studied medicine in college, but came to realize blood and needles were her Kryptonite. By day, she worked in science news and research; by night, she wrote books about heroines unafraid to fight for their dreams, which inspired her to follow her passion of becoming a published author. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns is her debut novel. Julie lives in New England. Follow her on Twitter @jules_writes.
Giveaway Details:
Enter for a chance to be one (1) of three (3) winners to receive a hardcover copy of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie Dao. (ARV: $18.99 each).
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Enter between 12:00 AM Eastern Time on October 2, 2017 and 12:00 AM on October 27, 2017. Open to residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia who are 13 and older. Winners will be selected at random on or about October 30, 2017. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.
Check out the rest of the tour!
Week One:
October 2 – Alexa Loves Books – Author Guest Post | Inspiration Behind FOATL
October 3 – No BS Book Reviews – Review
October 4 – The Young Folks – 10 Reasons to Read FOATL
October 5 – Chasing Faerytales – Author Guest Post | On Villains & Backstories: What Makes Them So Interesting?
October 6 – Arctic Books – Favorite Villains & Anti-Heroes
Week Two:
October 9 – NovelKnight – Review
October 10 – The Book’s Buzz – Author Q&A
October 11 – Across the Words – Author Q&A
October 12 – What Sarah Read – FOATL Mood Board
October 13 – One Way or an Author – Tour of the World of FOATL
Week Three:
October 16 – MrsLeif’s Two Fangs About It Book Reviews – Review
October 17 – Twirling Pages – Author Guest Post | Julie’s Writing Starter Pack (aka items that got her through writing FOREST)
October 18 – Mundie Moms – Review
October 19 – Book Nerd Addicts – Author Q&A
October 20 – Little Lillie Reads – Review & Playlist
Week Four:
October 23 – Tales of the Ravenous Reader – Author Guest Post | Julie’s Dream Cast
October 24 – The Eater of Books! – Favorite FOATL Quotes
October 25 – A Page With a View – Author Q&A
October 26 – A Perfection Called Books – Review & Mood Board
October 27 – Xpresso Reads – Author Guest Post | Talk about anything fun/bizarre she discovered while writing the book.
Alice is an 18 year old college student who loves the oxford comma, television shows, and the company of dogs. She finds writing in the third person odd yet enjoyable. You can find her scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, and forever organizing her shelves on Goodreads.
arctic books 
I CAN’T WAIT TO READ THIS BOOK!!
the darkling and bellatrix are my favourite “villains” too 😀
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I’ve been hearing lots about this book recently. Very cool that this book takes place in China (where I grew up). The synopsis of this book reminds me so much of the tv shows I used to watch, so I am going to read this book when it is released 🙂
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I can’t wait to read this book, it’s been everywhere lately 😀 I also love the Darkling, and as much as Bellatrix terrify me, I can’t help but in awe of her!
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I’m looking forward to reading this book myself. Bellatrix and Maven are two of my favorite anti-heroes.
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This book sounds AMAZING!!!!! (Also Maven, yes!! He is so bad but I love him xD) Great post, Alice ❤
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The buzz around this book has been making me crazy excited!!
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I also think Count Olaf makes a great villain and Voldemort is on the top of my list.
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I love me some anti-heroes, can’t wait to read this! 🙂
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