Reviewed by: Kaia
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
12+
Brief Insights: Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin follows Xue, an orphaned musician who seizes a rare opportunity to serve Duke Meng and earn her freedom, only to be swept into a mysterious, magical world. The novel features rich world-building and emotional depth as Xue navigates grief, strange supernatural events, and an enigmatic estate. While the atmosphere is beautifully crafted and Xue is a strong protagonist, the plot progresses slowly and ends abruptly, with underdeveloped romance and a rushed climax.
Xue (the protagonist) is an orphaned young musician who has grown up with an apprenticeship to an entertainment house and a loving Uncle. When her Uncle, her only living relative, dies unexpectedly in a bandit attack Xue is devastated. Her parents committed treason and were executed when she was young meaning she is bound for a life of servitude. When she performs for Duke Meng, he offers her a position to be a musician at his manor for a year and then she is free to go off on her own. Xue dreams of a life without being contract bound so she grabs the chance. Though shortly before leaving Xue and the Duke are attacked by seemingly supernatural monsters, posing the question – is anything really as it seems?
Soon Xue is whisked away to Duke Meng’s estate, a place she has never heard of before. The whole first half of the book is incredibly slow, not much happens. It has amazing world building which paints a clear picture of the estate and the world the book is set in. This makes the first half engaging enough to read but didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat, although I was a big fan of the characters. Xue is brave, sweet and curious; making her the perfect main character with plenty of depth. Duke Meng is a mysterious character; he is unwell for the majority of the book so his character doesn’t have much depth.
The majority of the book is simply Xue and her thoughts and feelings surrounding her new environment and her grief over her Uncle’s death. I enjoyed the small element of mystery where Xue is trying to find out where exactly she is and why the Duke is always unwell. The book is almost whimsical; the descriptions make the reader feel like you are right there at the grand estate. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Xue playing the qin (a Chinese zither instrument). I could almost hear the beautiful melodies she was playing because the descriptions were so detailed.
Unfortunately the end of the book was incredibly rushed. The climax happened near the end and it felt as if everything was crammed together. It was hard to follow exactly what was going on. New characters were introduced near the end. I feel like there could have been a sequel or the action should have started earlier on in the book. I also found the romance wasn’t very well developed. There was a lot of longing and possibility but very little kissing or actual expression of love. The ending was also unsatisfactory. It didn’t feel complete but sadly the book is a standalone.
Though the book sounded originally very engaging to me, I found it overall somewhat disappointing. It had great character development and the world building was incredibly detailed and painted a wonderful picture of a whimsical fantasy world. Unfortunately at times the book got confusing and was hard to follow. I also did not find the ending satisfactory. In my opinion the book is for ages 12+ because of many mentions of violence and scenes with supernatural violence throughout the book. Finally, I would give this book 3 stars. It had some exciting elements of adventure and mystery, but it had a lacking plot and poorly developed romance. If you’re looking for a light fantasy read this book is a viable option.
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