The Emperor and The Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

TL;DR: No HEA – so perhaps not for everyone but I loved this fantastical romance through the ages.
Source: NetGalley – Thank you so so much to the publisher!

Plot: Two men’s souls recognize each other through the ages as they’re caught in a cursed loop of love and loss.
Characters: We follow 6 men, who are truly 2 men three times in history and each is flawed and toxic in their own way but love each other regardless.
Setting: Three time periods, two in historical China, and the present day which spans from the States to Taiwan. Very lovingly drawn, I enjoyed each one.
Magic/Romance: The magic of it was very subtle, in that we truly did not understand why this was happening but I enjoyed that ultimate reveal. I also loved the romance. It was tragic and bittersweet.

Thoughts:

TL;DR: No HEA – so perhaps not for everyone but I loved this fantastical romance through the ages.

The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a unique and deeply magical story of two men, trapped in a loop of reincarnation. Over 2000 years they find and loose each other and over the course of this novel we watch them through three lifetimes to find out how and why. There is no HEA here, so for my more traditional romance readers, I don’t recommend going in for one. The ending is bittersweet but also holds promise – I would most definitely read a sequel but I’m also happy with where this ended.

Current day we follow River as he goes out after a one night stand, to a club where he meets Joey. The two have a magnetic attraction, and seem unable to escape each others orbit. Meanwhile we follow two other timelines, two other lives of River and Joey. One is the story of a young man and the Emperor of the Endless Palace in Ancient China, the other is the story of a young fox spirit and an innkeeper in China during the 18th century. These stories always end similarly, with death or loss, but are also filled with love as River and Joey seek, loose, and find each other over the course of our present day story.

I also have to warn that this one is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of sexual content, very casually. Drug use is common in two timelines, and attempted sexual attempt happens at least once. In addition there is some very graphic infidelity on page which may make others uncomfortable. For all that, I loved this story. Nothing felt wasted or used poorly. Everything served a purpose and was needed for the story. I highly recommend it for my more adventurous romance reading friends, I loved it so much I can’t wait to have my hands on my pre-order.

5 out of 5 peaches