Greetings readers!
This review has been sitting in my drafts for MONTHS and it is now finally getting its time to shine.
Let’s just say that I had so many things to say about this book, but I never could find the right way to say anything. Go figure. Nonetheless, I found myself wanted to express my thoughts and the time has come to share it with you all!
So bear with me as I chaotically tell you all about how AMAZING THIS BOOK IS and why you must read it!!
Many thanks to HBG Canada for providing me with a review copy!
The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by K.S. Villoso
Pub Date: May 4th, 2021
Publisher: Orbit Books
The stunning finale to the Chronicles of the Bitch Queen trilogy where the queen of a divided land must unite her people against the enemies who threaten to tear her country apart. K. S. Villoso is a “powerful new voice in fantasy.” (Kameron Hurley)
Queen Talyien is finally home, but dangers she never imagined await her in the shadowed halls of her father’s castle.
War is on the horizon. Her son has been stolen from her, her warlords despise her, and across the sea, a cursed prince threatens her nation with invasion in order to win her hand.
Worse yet, her father’s ancient secrets are dangerous enough to bring Jin Sayeng to ruin. Dark magic tears rifts in the sky, preparing to rain down madness, chaos, and the possibility of setting her nation aflame.
Bearing the brunt of the past and uncertain about her future, Talyien will need to decide between fleeing her shadows or embracing them before the whole world becomes an inferno.
THE REVELATIONS HAD ME FEELING SOME TYPE OF WAY
The first half of this book is just discovery after discovery. Revelation after revelation. I was so shook. Secrets from past books are no longer secret which means that all of Yeshin’s ploys he had set beyond the grave get uncovered. In a way we sort of get into his head and wow what a place to be. Honestly, it was a perfect way to plot an intense and incredibly suspenseful book! Trying to connect all the dots of every ploy and scheme in this book really had me feeling like this ^.
And the aftermath of all these revelations is bloody. Uncovering these secrets comes with hard decisions and sacrifice that honestly leaves the pages drenched in blood.
THESE INCREDIBLE CHARACTERS ARE THE HEART AND SOUL OF THIS SERIES.
If you like messy human beings, then you need to read this book.
Tali: I just *scrunches up face* I just love her. The messiest of all queens, she is simply a phenomenal character. In my review of book 2, I asked if Tali will ever see herself as more than Yeshin’s daughter and my oh my I got my answer. This entire book was here to give me an answer and WOW Tali’s reckoning with her identity, her reputation and her father’s ghost all came to push every one of Tali’s boundaries.
Khine: Literal messy perfection takes form in Khine Lamang. I said, what I said. I dubbed him my forever man. Forever haunted by the mistakes of his past. Forever dedicated to the people that he chooses to care for. And forever the most resourceful character in this book. A brilliant man, yes I love him.
Rai: So this book asked me to have a little empathy with Rai and ugh I think it worked!!! Don’t get me wrong I still detested this man for 85% of this book. He can be a real despicable mess BUT I must say there is an intense 15% where I feared for Rai and felt his every emotion. I can only attest this to the brilliant writer that is Villoso.
And I’m just going to say it – no character is unimportant in this book. Not even the ones you think are just passing by. Everyone had a role in this story, they all legitimately had a purpose and gosh darn it I was IMPRESSED.
And on that note I would just like to add that the stars of this show were WOMEN!
Every woman in this story was simply iconic in their own unique way! Did I love them all? Absolutely not! But that’s not the point, is it? The point is that these women were chaos-makers, revenge-seekers, and power-wielders. They were ambitious and fiery and passionate. Don’t even get me started on the different tiers of mother-daughter relationships because I will literally turn into a MESS. To keep it simple: Keep an eye on all the ladies of this story. Whether you love them or hate them, they are the game changers in this book!
THE NARRATION WILL FOREVER BE THE MOST ICONIC ASPECT OF THIS BOOK SERIES
Tali writing down her own story will always put me in my feels. Finding out why she started writing and WHO pushed her to start writing will forever have me on the FLOOR IN TEARS. This novel reminds us that history books have a way of blurring what actually happened, of missing important details and of painting figures, especially women, in certain ways that give into misogynistic traditions. So taking it upon herself to write her story, to tell us about her life as she lived and experienced it will forever be the most iconic move she (really Villoso) made. I just loved it.
WE GOT MORE MAGIC AND DRAGONS AND GHOULISH CREATURES.
If I thought book 2 was chock full of magical beings, this book upped the ante by like five levels! This final installment gets us closer to this mysterious agan that has been so far in the periphery of the story. With this third book, we get to dive deep into the lore of this magic and find out how it is connected to dragons, the land and the people. And you’d think that the looming threat of a magical bomb would lull people out of their political squabbles, but no. Of course not, *See “Messy characters”* But this squabbling just made the book all the more intense and stressful to read which is exactly what I wanted to feel. I mean it’s a political plot in combination with a magic doom, plus a mad prince wreaking havoc, a son in hostage, people trying to kill the main character on every page and the knocking consequences of a long deceased father’s decisions IT’S A LOT! And I love it.
LOVE. DUTY. SACRIFICE.
Three words that make up three major themes of this book. There is no singular meaning to any of these words, each means something unique to different characters. You can find these themes so closely woven into every corner of the story as characters are tested to find out how far people are willing to go to gain power, save a nation, find a loved one and even obey a long dead war lord. Shooketh to my very core doesn’t even begin to cover the sheer brilliance of the story. And all of this magnificence comes from Villoso’s excellent writing. Icon moves only!
IN SUMMARY
I love this book. I love this series. The detail and the emotion Villoso put into creating this world and characters is wonderfully evocative and gut wrenching. I’m so glad that we are getting more books in this world and more work from Villoso!!
Rating: 5/5 stars! ALL THE STARS!
Recommend: HELLS TO THE YES!!
Let me know what you think! Have you read this series yet? (If no, go do that now!) Are you excited for more books set in this world? Have you ever been at a loss for words when writing a review for a book you love?
Happy reading!
~ Rendz
Reading with Rendz 
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