43rd book of 2017 - (1 star) ~finished september 15, 2017~ 
 i went into this book with pretty low expectations to begin with. i wasn't even planning on reading this book, but i was at the library for a while, and decided (for whatever reason) to pick this book up. to say that i was disappointed would be an understatement. i remembered really enjoying richelle mead's vampire academy, and with the disappointing reviews of the midnight jewel (her new series), it's sad to see her writing decline, especially because her covers are getting better (see bloodlines series covers for examples). 
 the main problem with this book is that it's just PLAIN BORING. i think that the fact that it was only about 240 pages was what kept me going; if it was another 200 pages, i think i would've dnf'ed. 
 there is no worldbuilding, basically no plot, but guess what? there's the biggest case of INSTA-LOVE i've seen in a while. yup. doesn't everyone love instalove? fei is crushing on li wei the first time we see him. 
 the fact that this is inspired by chinese folklore is pretty darn insulting. i didn't see a reference to a single chinese myth, and the names are the most generic chinese names ever. like other reviewers have said, you could've just replaced the names with bob and jack and susie and there wouldn't be any difference. 
 all in all, read this at your own risk. it's not worth it, but if you're severely bored, i guess you should give it a try.