Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lim [Historical Fantasy Review]

Summary 💬

Jingwen spends her nights as a showgirl at the Paramount, one of the most lavish clubs in Shanghai, competing ruthlessly to charm wealthy patrons. To cap off her shifts, she runs money for her grandmother, the exclusive surgeon to the most powerful gang in the city. A position her grandmother is pressuring her to inherit…

When a series of cabaret dancers are targeted―the attacker stealing their faces―Jingwen fears she could be next. And as the faces of the dancers start appearing on wealthy foreign socialites, she realizes Shanghai’s glittering mirage of carefree luxury comes at a terrible price.

Fighting not just for her own safety but that of the other dancers―women who have simultaneously been her bitterest rivals and only friends―Jingwen has no choice but to delve into the city’s underworld. In this treacherous realm of tangled alliances and ancient grudges, silver-armed gangsters haunt every alley, foreign playboys broker deals in exclusive back rooms, and the power of gods is wielded and traded like yuan. Jingwen will have to become something far stranger and more dangerous than her grandmother ever imagined if she hopes to survive the forces waiting to sell Shanghai’s bones.

Goodreads

Review ✍🏻

From the description, Daughter of Calamity sounds like something I would devour. I read this book back in May, intending to review it for Wyrd & Wonder. While this review comes late primarily due to my own schedule, it’s also partially because every time I sit down to write about it, I don’t know what to say. I liked it alright, I guess, but it felt sluggish to get through?

The plot described above in the copy sounds quite compelling, with a fast pace and high stakes. However, I found it too stop and go. Possibly, this is a case of too much happening in one story. I wanted more of certain plot elements and wondered when the main plot would pick up again. The ‘power of gods’ and stealing faces elements that link to the fantasy aspects of the book aren’t explored to their full potential. I did make a note at the book’s conclusion “that’s kind of dope”, though, so it does end on a high point, haha.

The prose also hindered my ability to clip through this book. Kasia over on Goodreads wrote, “It’s actually pretty difficult for me to decide if this book was underwritten or overwritten.” Yes! A lot of minutiae is detailed, bogging down parts of the story, but when it comes to the most fascinating parts (ie the fantasy elements), little is described.

Jingwen at least is a fun protagonist, with her cabaret girl attitude and daring manipulations of everyone around her in order to achieve her personal goal of helping the girls who faces are being stolen. Her actions seem sometimes at odds to that goal, though, and are a contributing factor to why the plot feels clunky start and go. But I enjoyed her dynamic with various characters, such as the other dancers, her grandmother and mother, and foreigner Bailey. I didn’t care for her romance subplot, though. She finds her cocky love interest “infuriating” for a good chunk of the book. That is my least ‘favourite’ romance dynamic but you may appreciate it more if you’re a fan of that trope!

The Bottom Line 💭

I would still say Daughter of Calamity makes for an impressive debut. I enjoyed many of the individual elements. They just didn’t come together in a compelling way.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Interview @ Armed with a Book
🍂 Related: Daughter of Calamity reads like kin to Nghi’s Vo The Chosen and the Beautiful or Siren Queen, both of which are historical fantasies about a Vietnamese American woman and Chinese American woman, respectively.

What’s your favourite setting for historical fantasy?
Have you read any books set in Shanghai?