I loved Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, and Game of X series. I awaited this newest book from her, ready to devour it as I have all the others. I will say that it was a quick read, but I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as her previous books.
Fei lives in a mountaintop village where everyone is deaf. No one in her village has been able to hear in centuries, and now residents are starting to go blind. Fei sister, Zhang Jing is one of those losing sight. As an artist, she relies on her sight to contribute to the village's daily record. When her failing sight is discovered, she is demoted to a house servant. Fei is determined to restore her sister's honor, as well as uncover the cause of the blindness.
The mountain village is isolated, sealed away from the rest of the world by avalanches. Every pass that leads to the base of the mountain has been blocked by boulders that are too massive to be moved. The villagers are unable to provide food for themselves due to the harsh landscape, so they rely on a zip line for supplies. The township at the bottom of the mountain sends them food in exchange for the precious metals they mine at the top of the mountain.
Fei's ex-boyfriend, Li Wei, loses his father in a mining accident. Convinced his father's death could have been prevented, he decides to risk a trip down the mountain to petition the line keeper for more food. The villagers are near starving and need more rations. Fei miraculously regains her hearing and insists she accompany Li Wei on his quest.
They make it down the mountain and discover the world is much different than they expected. There have been other villages. There are other who have lost their hearing. Food is plentiful and the ore they mine is worth much more than the meager rations they receive in exchange for it. The king is using them as cheap slave labor to provide him with the ore he needs to remain rich and powerful. Fei and Li Wei risk everything to get back to their village to warn them that conditions will only continue to worsen and that the people need more than just that zip line to survive.
I wanted to love this book. I didn't. I liked it. The love that is rekindled between Fei and Li Wei is sweet. Fei's devotion to her sister resonates with me because I would like to believe I could sacrifice as much for my own sisters. However, the world-building here is not as strong as it has been in Mead's other books. This book could be set almost anywhere there are mountains. Short of the persimmons they find growing in the wild and the characters' names, there is not much that indicates this book takes place in China. I thought the deaf community was an interesting premise, but I feel like it fell flat in the face of the blandness of everything else.
It's a cute little story, but the most memorable thing about it is how underwhelmed you are when you finish.
Three out of five stars
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