Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chung

What I drank prior: About a bottle of wine and two Rose Ciders… damn those are tasty.

Spoiler-free Overview: This book is…. ethereal. The main character Jialing is a mixed race (Chinese and White) girl in the early 1900s China. Her mother abandons her, she’s “adopted” by a prominent family and taken on as a slave/indentured servant. She’s caught the attention of a Fox spirit who looks after her as she grows up.

There’s really not a plot, just the life story of Zhu Jialing. And it’s stunning.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: Damn i needed a character driven story. I’d read a ton of plot driven ones in the last few weeks and this was a breath of fresh air.

Characters: There are a bunch over time. I love Jialing, I think she’s a very interesting and resilient child. She learns to roll with the punches of her life as she is discriminated against, called names, shoved, beaten, etc just because she’s half white and half Chinese. She picks up and loses people in her life along the way. Each one we get to know from Jialing’s perspective and understand them and their characters the way she would. It’s just beautiful.

Plot: I’m going to skipp this because it’s very slow.

Writing Style: THIS IS WHERE THIS BOOK SHINES OH MY GOD IT WAS BEAUTIFUL IF YOU WANT STUNNING PROSE READ THIS MF BOOK.

World Building: I think we’re just supposed to trust this book. We get bits of the world with adventures with the Fox, but like, it’s so beautifully woven in with the story that I didn’t feel like a world was being built before my eyes but rather that it was already built and i’m in it.

What to pair it with: A beautifully balanced white wine.

Rating: 5/5 Shots

COMMENT DOWN BELOW: Gimme the most beautifully written book you’ve ever read.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam