Book of Interest: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

I love finding stories such as Forest of a Thousand Lanterns that have a creative and imaginative take on fairy tales. This seems like an interesting story with a young woman being tempted to following an evil path. I wonder if she will follow through or forge her own path.

I'd really like to read this, so this will be yet another book I will be adding to my list. Why are there so many cool and interesting book out there?

Book: Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress book #1) by Julie C. Dao

Description:

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress—and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.

Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy: dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance. Fans of Heartless, Stealing Snow, and Red Queen will devour this stunning debut.