This book was just...meh. I went into the Empress of All Seasons with somewhat high hopes from the summary, but was ultimately left disappointed.  Empress of All Seasons takes place in this Japanese-inspired world where there is essentially a hunger games like competition help every time a prince is in need of a wife. We have Taro, a prince, Mari, a yōkai, and Akira, and half-human half yōkai, whose stories are all intertwined. Taro doesn't want to be emperor, Mari wants to be empress but yōkai are forbidden from entering the contest, and Akira who just wants to be with Mari. I liked how we got to see the story from all 3 povs--something that is often attempted and execute with little success, but was really well done by Jean in this instance--because it made the story seem far more three dimensional than it actually was. I believe that this book had so much potential, and that the author did a great job at portraying the feminist themes and making great use of japanese mythology, but it just wasn't fully catching my attention. The pacing was a bit weird with certain parts reading so slow while others seemed too fast, there was quite a lot of insta love which is an insta turn off of me, and, finally, the characters weren't as developed as I felt they should have been. I just found this story difficult to connect to over all, but I still think it is worth picking up if the summary has you really interested. Overall I . give Empress of All Seasons three out of five stars for being full of potential but ultimately falling flat. I would recommend this book to younger readers (11-12ish) who are ok with some more mature themes like abuse and death and such (basically a 11 or 12 year old me) because I feel like they wouldn't be as persnickety, and would truly enjoy the novel for what it is.

Natasha Ngan and Emiko Jean bring subversion of romance tropes and woman empowerment to the forefront of <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> and <em>Empress of All Seasons</em>.<!--more-->

Natasha Ngan’s <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> along with <em>Empress of All Seasons</em> by Emiko Jean radiate not only female empowerment, but women seeking autonomy in worlds where they seemingly have none.  Brought up believing that familial duty comes before their own hopes and dreams, as well as the will of emperors and kings, the characters Lei and Mari defy all odds and break free from the social confines of their worlds. 

I tend to go into a book without knowing much about it, for a reason. I like to go in blind except for the fact that I know what genre, who the author is, and what little I can guess by the cover. I know, I know, I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but with so many breathtakingly beautiful covers there are in YA fantasy it is easy to easily get swept away by enchanting covers. 

Diving into both <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> and <em>Empress of All Seasons</em> was a wild ride to say the least. Both take place in an Eastern setting opposed to Western, which I’m searching out more and more as of late to broaden my horizons and diversify my reading portfolio.

This year my goal was for 80% of my books read to be written by women, which then lead me to wanting to go a step farther and looking for YA fantasy written by women of color. I’m so glad I did, because I’ve found an undercurrent of not only subversion of popular romantic tropes, but plotlines full of smashing the patriarchy from the inside out that I can’t help but want more of. 

<img src="https://www.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/girls-of-paper-and-fire-full-cover.jpg" alt="Girls of Paper and Fire" width="700" height="1057" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-402000" />


<em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> by Natasha Ngan takes place in a rich fantasy world with people different from our own. There are different castes, such as Steel caste which has animalistic features but are mostly humanoid in form, Moon caste which are mostly animal with the ability to speak, and the Paper caste, who are merely human like you or I. 

The Moon caste rules over Ikhara, with the Paper caste being the lowest. The King keeps concubines, all of which are Paper caste, delicate  with little power of their own and almost no autonomy. They are to remain untouched by any except for the King, which is punishable by being branded, sullied from living a normal life. 

<center>[caption id="attachment_403485" align="alignnone" width="660"]<img src="https://www.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Natasha-Ngan-e1541954823309.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="990" class="size-full wp-image-403485" /> Natasha Ngan[/caption]</center>


Lei is chosen to become one of the King’s Paper Girls, thrust into a life full of intrigue and backstabbing amongst the other concubines as they vie for favor from the ruthless King. Along the way, Lei falls in love. I knew that there was going to be a forbidden romance, but as I read I kept waiting for the cliche male to show up, but no such character was being introduced. It wasn’t until farther in that I realized that Lei was falling in love with another one of the concubines, which floored me. Intrigued to say the least after reading many YA fantasy books that seem to follow a standard plotline (which I eat up every time, we all have our favorite tropes), I still can’t get over how <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> caught me so off guard. 

Usually, in this type of setting, the female lead falls for the male who is either royal or close to being, or a ‘savior’ to the so called damsel in distress, but in <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em> there is none of that. The girls save themselves, and the royal doesn’t shift sides or become somehow kind and forgiven by the female lead.  

This is not one of those plotlines, not at all. Surprising and refreshing, revolt from within, lead by women is both empowering and exhilarating to read. 

<img src="https://www.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/empressofallseasons-e1541954927665.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="997" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-403486" />


<em>Empress of All Seasons</em> by Emiko Jean, though completely different, was much the same in tone and catching me off guard. In the land of Honoku, there is a tournament that is held that young women enter in order to become the next Empress, winning the Prince’s hand in marriage. A subversion of winning the fair maiden’s hand on its own, I was already sold. 

Prince Taro, though privileged and brilliant, didn’t wish to be Emperor or married off to someone he didn’t care for. Mirroring the normal plotline of that of a female damsel, I enjoyed the subversion of the plotline immensely. 

Mari, a yokai, which is the word for demon in Japanese, infiltrates the tournament in order to win the Prince’s riches to bring back to her village. Yokai are enslaved within the palace, but her village remains free. The Prince and she meet outside of the tournament, and they begin to the normal courtship routine that I enjoy when reading YA fantasy. 

<center>[caption id="attachment_403487" align="alignnone" width="660"]<img src="https://www.hypable.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Jean.Emiko-EH-e1541955022905.jpg" alt="" width="660" height="992" class="size-full wp-image-403487" /> Emiko Jean[/caption]</center>


Though it is subverted, I love the plotlines that have the two love interests meet before they should have and that reveal later, where they see each other the way that was intended and the look of understanding and dread at the fact that who they met wasn’t who they seemed to be at first. 

I’ll never tire of that trope, though again, <em>Empress of All Seasons</em> took said trope and turned it upside down then kicked it around a bit. Emiko Jean did so brilliantly, and Mari’s choices made and determination to win the Tournament of the Seasons solidified how refreshing it was to read a book that took normal, well loved and used plotlines and tropes and turned them inside out. 

Mari choosing autonomy over everything else is something that will stay with me for a long time, as well as Lei’s journey in <em>Girls of Paper and Fire</em>. Both show that change starts from within, that there is hope as long as we fight, and that as women, we have to stand up for ourselves  because in reality we don’t need saving, we merely need to take action.

Empress of All Seasons was a wonderful new fantasy that I couldn’t put down. I’m always hesitant to liken a book to others in case it doesn’t live up to them or they are books you didn’t enjoy. I’m taking a risk here but this book reminded me of Daughter of Smoke and Bone and The Hunger Games with a Leigh Bardugo atmosphere. The story and characters are clever, vivid and unique amoung the fantasy I’ve read lately. It was perhaps my favorite fantasy read of 2018 and definitely made my top ten across all genres.

Mari is a Yokai, a super natural monster, who is going to compete in the trials that choose the next empress. She isn’t looking for love or a throne, she only wants the respect of her people and will do anything to get it. She has a decent chance of achieving that goal if it wasn’t for the fact that yokai are feared, and enslaved if discovered. I loved Mari and her complex friendship with Akira (a half yokai), both of their stories collide with prince Taro in unexpected ways and the result is truly explosive.

The only disappointment is that this is a standalone! I wasn’t expecting that so the ending felt like it came all too soon. I very much look forward to what ever Emiko writes next and I hope her next book is a part of a series.

Thank you for reading my review of Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean. I  hope you enjoyed my insights and look forward to more reviews from me in the future.

3.5 stars - I was very intrigued by the concept and enjoyed the world building quite a lot so the fact that I am not rating it 4 stars saddens me as well. The female empowerment in this story was great and the writing style was pretty decent too.  I liked where the story was going until the ending which I was not satisfied with at all. It was sort of like... that's it? I just feel like there was so much potential in this plotline and where the story could have gone. The ending seemed a bit abrupt to me when I was really looking forward to something entirely different. 

I'd like to thank Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book

I had such high expectations of this. I mean, it sounds so unique and original, and I love reading about unique fantasy worlds. I thought this one would be great.

Unfortunately, that's not what happened. After 25%, I still felt like it hadn't even really started. I really wanted to like it, but nothing really happened. It was boring. I tried to get into it, I really did, but the plot was just too slow for my taste.

I also didn't like the characters too much. They just felt flat to me, which made it even harder to get into it. I just didn't care about them at all, and good characters are really important for me to like a book.

The world-building was great, though. It was different from anything I've ever read before. The world-building was very well-done, and I want to know more about it, which is why I struggled a lot with DNF'ing it. I really didn't want to give up on it, but unfortunately, the plot and characters just couldn't captivate me like the world-building did. I might give it another chance at some point, but for now, I can't get myself through it.

I absolutely loved all of the Japanese elements of this novel and felt that those cultural elements really helped this novel stand out. The characters were a lot of fun and I kept finding myself turning the pages faster and faster. I loved all of the excitement and how action packed the novel was from start to finish. 

There were a few portions of the novel that felt a little jumpy at times and I would have liked to see a few more unique elements to the plot. All in all, it was a surprisingly fun and entertaining read and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy YA fantasy. Thank you to HMH Young Readers and Netgalley for sending this novel in exchange for an honest review. 

Rating 3/5

2.75/5
This started so strong but, overall, it really disappointed me because it had so much potential that it didn’t deliver on. I really liked the concept, but I just didn’t care about the characters.

The insta-love story was just so bad that it ruined the rest of the story to me. The ending saved it a little bit, just because it was an interesting turn of events (not because I cared at all about how things played out), but I still couldn’t get over having to trudge my way through the middle of the book.

I had real difficulty getting through this book. It took me months to on and off read it. As I said, the ending redeemed it somewhat, but not enough for me to regret not DNF’ing it half way through.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s Book Group and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this title to review!

Before I begin a proper review, can we please take a minute to admire that GORGEOUS cover?!?! It is an absolute stand out!

Also, can I just grab a pillow and tissues because HOLY MOLEY THIS BROUGHT ME TO TEARS. The first part had me like,’Okay, a well-written and typical Asian fantasy…’ but in the end I was trying to contain my wretched sobbing because family members were nearby. The book was a  bit slow-paced in the beginning but as things get heated up i feel as though it’s a race against time.

It’s quite a bit difficult to express my feelings after reading this book. I feel happy and depressed and sad and surprised at the same time, laced with tendrils of grief and excitement.

    Sometimes words are so much more difficult to form than fists.

    –Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

There was nothing remotely extraordinary about the characters. They’ve got some well-loved qualities–bravery, pride, cunning, wit, and extreme stubbornness. They’re also fiercely loyal and capable of battling their own demons. I’m actually glad they aren’t some over-exaggerated heroes or pitiful villains. I’m terrified of handing out free spoilers, so I won’t comment on these qualities any further haha.

The world building drew me in! It’s the perfect fantasy influenced by Japanese culture. It’s so vivid and magical and so easy to lose yourself into.

The plot is interesting, but common among Asian fantasy books. However, this one drew me in right from the beginning. The first part was what I had expected, stuff that I’ve read about several times before. But as the story goes on, things get WAAAY heated and I just couldn’ stop reading! By the time I’ve reached the ending, I realized that Empress of All Seasons tells a story completely unique from the other Asian fantasies I’ve read before. And speaking of endings…

This book gave me the feels of a Japanese version of the Hunger Games and the Selection because of the fierce competition and how the contestants literally have to fight for their prince and their own survival…or die trying. Add a sprinkle of yokai monsters and fantasy elements and voila! You have a perfectly brewed Japanese fantasy in your hands.

The conclusion was like…BOOM! THE END! I still could not believe it when I realized I had finished reading the last word in the last sentence in the last chapter of this book’s story. The shock hadn’t probably registered then, but eventually it did, shortly followed by ugly crying. And after that came *mild* depression and the urge to just curl up and hug myself. Which is exactly what I did.

Also, let me point out that this book shows us that not all women are sentenced to housework and men. It is a Japanese fantasy embodiment of feminism and equality.

    “We’ve been pushed around and forced into quiet rooms our whole lives. Nobody’s ever asked us what we wanted. The prize isn’t the prince. It’s the power.”

    –Emiko Jean, Empress of All Seasons

    “‘What is too much? Love? Equality?’ He said, ‘Yes. You are pretty. That should be enough.'”

My point is, you guys should read this book, and if you don’t like the first part, PLEASE PLEASE TRY reading until the very end. You (hopefully) won’t regret it, promise.

Man, oh man, did I want to love this more. Truthfully, this started out really well. I love the non-Western mythology and folklore, I loved how fierce, defiant, and yet loyal our main character, Mari, is. I even enjoyed the romance between her and Taro, though I did find them falling a bit too quickly for one another. This book simply fell flat for me, and I can’t pinpoint exactly why.

I really liked Mari and Taro’s budding relationship, how they pinned their respective hopes on one another. I won’t say what happened specifically because it’s really spoiler-y, but I definitely felt a bit gypped. I also thought the book ended too quickly, and just as I started to feel like the characters were really building relationships with one another… Again, that was swept right out from under my feet. The relationship between Mari and her mother is also strained, and she puts these very perfectionist and cliche expectations on her daughter, telling her that she’s not beautiful but plain, and the only thing she has going for her is to fulfill her duty as an Animal Wife and steal from the prince. In truth, it became a bit disheartening, and Mari herself struggled with her identity. The former caused me confusion toward the ending of the book, and I’m not quite sure where Mari’s loyalty lay, to be honest.

I enjoyed learning about the different yōkai and the magic the priests used. I loved the stories, too, about the gods and goddesses, and how those intertwine with the story. Mari’s struggle with who she is versus who her mother wants her to be is a story that has the ability to resonate with many readers.

The writing style was good, but I didn’t find it exceptional. While this book wasn’t necessarily one of my favorites, I did enjoy it, and I’ll keep an eye on this author in the future.

I absolutely loved the concept for Empress of All Seasons! The mythology was so fascinating, I want more stories featuring yōkai.  The characters were also great. I loved how many different types of strong females were featured. Additionally, the different viewpoints really added depth to the story. The world-building was both intricate and easily understandable. In general, I really enjoyed the plot and found this to be a quick read. But the ending was quite sudden, which was a bit jarring. I think the short epilogue would have made a fantastic sequel if it was expanded. I’d recommend this one to fans of YA fantasy who are looking for a fun and engaging read set in a fantastic world.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I loved the Japanese influenced world building, mythology and setting of this. My main issues were pace and characters. Things were slow at times and then madly rushed in places, mainly the ending. Plus some of the more interesting characters weren't featured enough and the main ones lacked a certain something that meant I didn't care as I should have when the climactic events occurred. Fair play though to the author, this went in unpredictable directions towards the end that I didn't expect and I enjoyed it overall. 

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I really tried to like this but no matter how many times I quit and picked it back up, I just never could get into it. I usually like this type of book so it's definitely all on me. I must not be in the mood for fantasy right now.

Empress of All Seasons is a young adult fantasy that is themed from Japanese folklore. In a world where humans are enslaved by creatures of the night. Mari the main character has the ability to shapeshift... but her duty is to marry the prince to make sure her secrets are safe and steal his fortunes. 

This book was a joy to read. Full of fantasy, and a lead role who kicked ass. 
A definite must read.

Empress of All Seasons is a beautiful tale of Japanese heritage. I was extremely excited for this story and while I loved most of it, it definitely had a few setbacks.

Mari is an Animal Wife, a yokai that transforms into a horrible monster and can trick men easily. Animal Wives are known for their beauty, but all Mari has heard her entire life is that she is plain. Knowing her fate, Mari chose to train to become an empress, but in order to do so she must first pass a competition where fierce female warriors are sent into four rooms where they have to battle against the elements of Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring to prove that they are the equal match for the prince and deserve the honour of being Empress. The problem is that the emperor despises all yokai and demands all yokai in the palace to be enslaved by collars that cause immense pain and drain their powers. Mari must hide her true nature while winning the trust of the prince, and becoming the empress of all seasons. 

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit dissapointed in the direction this story went. In the first 3/4 of the book, I fell in love with Mari and the world that the author created. The story is very unique and quite interesting. Not only do you get a strong female character but also a very creative fantasy world. The writing, and the characters were perfect. At first I thought I was going to hate the competition part of the story, as I believed that it would be another tale where women have to fight against other women, but one of the rules were that the contestants couldn't harm one another, and we actually get to see Mari make friends and work with other contestants to get ahead. I was so incredibly impressed by this story I thought this was going to be a 5 star read for sure.

In the last quarter of the book, the story took a huge turn. It went from being a beautiful tale to a cliche story that made you roll your eyes because you knew exactly what was going to happen next. The ending felt incredibly rushed. There were parts of the story where we skipped a day or two in the timeline because the characters were "setting up." It felt like an essay you would write during an exam where you write an amazing first half and then once the teacher yells that time is almost up you write whatever comes to mind and don't really plan anything anymore. The last quarter was an absolute mess, that didn't fit the style of the beauty of the beginning. It really turned the book off for me.

I will definitely continue to read this series because I do love Mari and the world that the author created, but I sure hope that the author takes her time and slows things down to go back to the beautiful story as was in the first part of the novel.

A well-inspired novel from Japanese folktales. This book indeed gives me an entertaining and worthwhile adventure to the world of yokai and room of seasons. The knowledge about yokai is creatively introduced within the story so even you aren’t much familiar or well informed of them, well, it is ok – the book can provide you that even not much of details but a description would be fine. There are bunch of class of yokai that been named in the book and one of them is the ‘Animal Wife’ where Mari is included and so much more as you further read it. Also, some Japanese languages have been used that are not hard to understand hence the book itself will teach you the meaning of it. An intelligent way of using context clues. I’m really impressed actually of how magnificently this story is exploited. Empress of All Seasons is bewitchingly attractive from telling various kind of yokai to the spectacural plot of it.

Empress of All Seasons has three POVs from Mari, Taro, and Akira. Among all the three, I like the most Mari’s side since her story is much seems to be what everyone could feel and understand. To be free from the tradition of their clan and makes a difference to oneself. Mari is so much brave and fierce which I like from her even she has deficits of her kind. Actually, I find some metaphors within the story like from Akira’s side story. He is rudely discriminated and the scar of his face is somewhat defined, as for me, the symbolism of it. Though for Taro, I kind of not been attached to him. Actually he plays his role great.

An Asian Young Adult Novel. A Japanese Mythology. Yokai. Great Fantasy Read.

This book is fantastic in every way. You’ll be immersed to its monster-human world, emperor and empress, gods and goddesses, and its origin.

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren’t hiding a dangerous secret, she’s a yōkai! As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast.


The short review...

One of my biggest complaints when I have an unpopular opinion is that I just couldn't relate to the protagonist. And that was true with Mari. I really wanted to like her more than I did... She is a YOKAI after all!! (GAHHH my favorite!) And she has strong female empowerment ideas! I would say Mari embodies the question of sexual identity that many people today question in themselves. At various times Mari seemed to cycle between different sexualities when with or thinking about different characters in her life. It was quite confusing for me as a reader! Someone who is experiencing that themselves would perhaps relate better than I did. I also didn't really agree with her decision to just do what her mother wanted her to do. That confused the issue even more.

Taro seemed a little stereotypical at first as a prince at odds with his father's harsh, bigoted thinking. I figured that I would like him well enough even though he wouldn't probably blow my mind... This poor fellow... The author sure put him through the ringer! The extremes of this boy's emotions would turn women off of men forever if a person was really like this. I just didn't buy it one bit. I couldn't relate to Mari sure but I could understand the thinking behind her choices. Taro though turns into this crazy person that is the worst of the worst... a hypocrite. And the instalove made me groan and roll my eyes, on both of their parts! (It actually ruined the whole sexuality thing Mari had going on...)

Akira was the character that I loved! He's partially why this book got stars at all. I was enchanted with the idea of this yokai that didn't really fit in either world. He was plagued just for how he looked, that wasn't even taking into account he is yokai yet! I found it really hard to believe that Mari didn't have any feelings for him. He did quite a lot to support her way of life and it further disenchanted me about her. I get that you like who you like but girl, you were using Akira!! I really loved his journey to improve himself (even if it happened unrealistically fast - within a week?!) and how his role turned out at the end.

While the end was contrived and hurried I do applaud the outcome of that end. Actually armies are rather easy to control if there is a line of authority that dictates where its loyalty lies. That Mari had the ability to take advantage may stretch my suspension of disbelief it still was an outcome that we need to see more of. An Empress is made.


Cover & Title grade -> B+

This isn't a bad cover at all. It gives a flavor of Asia and has Mari's weapon of choice on the cover. This is one of those times that I wish an Asian cover had been used. There are tons of light novels about Yokai and they all use almost graphic novel type of covers with characters featured on them. It makes for a fun way to visualize a character without putting a photograph on the cover which can be quite a turn off. Still this is a pretty cover and I love that it features blue rather than the typical red.


Why was Empress of All Seasons worth reading?

-The secondary characters!
I loved and adored Akira, one of the three POV characters. He is what kept me reading from the very beginning of the story. He is one of the yokai but actually has a human father! His nickname is to do about nightmares... he's had a rough time of it until he met Mari. Then there is Hanako! She is so super neat, her backstory was the most interesting in all the book, I so want to read more about her! She along with Akira, both deserve their own stories!! Asami was another secondary character that I loved and was rooting for through the story.

-The Yokai filled world!
I think it's safe to say that the world building is the best thing about this book. Emiko Jean used every opportunity to flesh out the world and teach us a little about what yokai are... for that reason alone I think this is worth reading!! We learn about the animal wife that Mari is, we learn some about the ghost yokai that Akira's mother is, and we also meet a yuki-onna, oni, kirin, kappa, and jorogumo with some amount of detail. There are also many other side characters, all yokai that I just loved. This all adds up to give us a real taste of what it means to live among yokai.

-The four seasons rooms!
Along with the yokai there was this idea of magic that could be used to create seasons inside of rooms that could contain the magic. It's a really neat concept and it was executed very simply but with some great effect. Yes, I wish these chapters were longer and the plot more complex, BUT it was just so neat too. In fact, this magic could have been really developed and pitted in more of an opposition to the yokai, but as it was it made for a fun and fast competition!

Empress of All Seasons is a quick, fun and yokai filled battle through the seasons. You will meet all manner of yokai and will be better for it! It's not a deep or moving read but the underpinning female empowerment at the heart of the story will win over many a reader's heart. Despite its flaw Empress of all Seasons is worth reading if you enjoy Asian culture and eschew romantic ends.

Empress of All Seasons is a Japanese folklore inspired, that tells a story of Mari, who is half-human half-yōkai.

Mari’s mother, Tami, prepared and trained her for the competition. The competition is held each time the prince in line is ready to marry whoever conquers the four-season room. Her clan is known as Animal Wives, and they lured men through their beauty. She is an executioner and very skilled in using naginata. Akira, on the other hand, known as Son of Nightmares, is half-human half-yōkai and Mari’s friend. He believes and trusts Mari in every situation. Taro is human and the prince of Imperial City, where yōkai are slave, and collared and killed if the Emperor command it. He has a soft spot for yōkai, and creates animal metals and give its life.

The world in Empress of All Seasons gives me chills. It is like I am reading a manga and it has animé feels. In this book, it introduces many yōkai such as Animal Wives, Oni, Winter girl, jorōgumo, etc. The most striking yōkai for me is the Animal Wives wherein in their village they are all alpha female. FEMALE DOMINANCE. They are trained use their beauty as a weapon to lure men. They value their clan and believes in duty first before theirselves. 

Moreover, because of the Emperor’s irrational way of treating yōkai, The Resistance were formed. Their objective is to be free from the Emperor and to live freely alongside with mortals. The principle of the Emperor and priests that yōkai are evil, should not rule, must be chained/ collared/ punished, should not live with humans is like ethically wrong. However, the dilemma here is that, if they are free, some might abuse their power, they might harm human because of their supernatural powers. But the thing is, since they are being collared they are treated like slave and has lower rank than human. 

Going back to the story, I think each room is not presented well. For me, it lacks of detailed description and action part when Mari compete in each room. I was looking forward to seeing Mari in action in each room. Further, I feel betrayed of Taro because of his reaction towards Mari when he found the truth. The twists and revelations put me on edge and most are I’m speechless. However, there is one twist that I predict correctly. 

The story about god and goddesses in each part of this book is very catchy and interesting. The lesson in each story questioned my moral principles. 

Moreover, I never thought that Empress of All Seasons would be a stand alone book. I was hoping until today that there will be a sequel to this book. 

Empress of All Seasons is page-turner, captivating, engaging and again, it gives me animé feels. Highly recommended to those who love animé/manga, fantasy, thrilling and female dominance story.

The prince has come of age and it is time to host the competition that will determine the next empress of Honoku.  In order to marry the prince, a young woman must survive the four seasons in the enchanted rooms.  Everyone is eligible to compete, except for those the emperor has determined to be unworthy.  Mari was not a beautiful girl, so her mother had her spend all of her time training to compete for the title of empress.  She is ready and should be able to beat all of the other contestants, but Mari is hiding a secret that would not only disqualify her from the competition, but it could cost her her life.  Will Mari survive and become the Empress of All Seasons?  What changes will she instigate along the way?

Empress of All Seasons is a stand-alone fantasy novel that is full of adventure and intrigue.  Jean has crafted a world that is full of vibrant characters and interesting backstory.  Since this story is developed and completed in one volume, readers will easily enjoy putting their reading effort into the character’s plight; no long dragged out epic story here.  Empress of All Seasons will be enjoyed by all fantasy readers and might actually be one that will need to be read a second time.

The Empress of All Seasons is very unique and I couldn't put this book down! The writing is amazing.

Mari is part of the animal wives, a group of female yokai, who take advantage of men (using their beauty and then their ability to turn into deadly animals) and live in the mountains, entirely among their own kind.  

Akira is The Son of Nightmares, a half human, half yokai, who befriended Mari at childhood and then continues to love her, even though it's unrequited.  

Taro is the son of the emperor.  He was responsible for the collars that the yokai have to wear, yet he is not as cruel as his father when it comes to the yokai and their freedom.  

Mari and Taro's worlds collide when Mari enters into the competition to win Taro's heart-- and the role of the empress-elect.  

It took me awhile (maybe about 40% in) to get into this book.  I thought the world building was very interesting and done well.  It's a bit complicated, but it never got boring learning about the world.  The issues I had were the dialogue (pretty bland) and then the characters were also lacking.  I feel like their core characteristics were just there, and they had no depth.  I also abhorred the insta love and then the relationship that stemmed from it.  It didn't make any sense.  

While it was not an absolute favorite, I think that a solid 3.5/5 stars makes sense.  I think that there are some other readers who would be able to look past the love story and characters and truly and fully embrace the world.  Also, the ending was superb beyond belief.  That boosted it up that half point for me!