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Book Review of Daughter of Xanadu (Daughter of Xanadu, Bk 1)

Daughter of Xanadu (Daughter of Xanadu, Bk 1)
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If youve never read anything about the Mongolian empire, then pick DAUGHTER OF XANADU up. Writing in a style easily accessible to modern readers, Dori Jones Yang tells the surprisingly deep story of a girl caught between warring desires, who learns that dreams may change and that things are hardly ever what they seem.

Emmajin undergoes an incredible journey of self-growth, from a girl with a single-minded determination to be a soldier to a young woman with far more complicated feelings and desires. To tell the story of Emmajins self-discovery, Dori Jones Yang gives us a world full of marvelously fascinating details, first among the artificial glamour of court life, and then among the gruesome reality of mortality on the battlefield. This transition of her soldier aspirations from dream to reality truly affects Emmajin in ways that we who live many centuries after her time can still empathize with. I was in tears for the last few chapters of the book, so wrapped up in Emmajins development I was.

DAUGHTER OF XANADU is a great book if youre looking for a story featuring a strong female character set in a fascinating other world. Expand the range of POC books you read with this one, and be swept away.