Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang. It has been a while since I’ve posted on a weekend, but I’ve been so excited to read this book that I couldn’t wait to talk about my reaction to it. Read on to find out if it lived up to my expectations!

“What if I told you that the feeling we call love is actually the feeling of metaphysical recognition, when your soul remembers someone from a previous life?”

In the year 4 BCE, an ambitious courtier is called upon to seduce the young emperor—but quickly discovers they are both ruled by blood, sex and intrigue.

In 1740, a lonely innkeeper agrees to help a mysterious visitor procure a rare medicine, only to unleash an otherworldly terror instead.

And in present-day Los Angeles, a college student meets a beautiful stranger and cannot shake the feeling they’ve met before.

Across these seemingly unrelated timelines woven together only by the twists and turns of fate, two men are reborn, lifetime after lifetime. Within the treacherous walls of an ancient palace and the boundless forests of the Asian wilderness to the heart-pounding cement floors of underground rave scenes, our lovers are inexplicably drawn to each other, constantly tested by the worlds around them.

As their many lives intertwine, they begin to realize the power of their undying love—a power that transcends time itself…but one that might consume them both.

An unpredictable roller coaster of a debut novel, The Emperor and the Endless Palace is a genre-bending romantasy that challenges everything we think we know about true love.

The word ‘disappointment’ does not even come close to describing my feelings about The Emperor and the Endless Palace. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of this book ever since I first saw the cover and read the synopsis months before its release. Messy gay boys whose undying love keeps them trapped in a never-ending reincarnation loop? It sounded epic. Unfortunately, it did not deliver what I hoped or expected.

First of all, the publishers did this book dirty by advertising it as a romantasy. The Emperor and the Endless Palace had romance in it, and the romance did drive the plot. However, I found many of the romance elements to be poorly developed and rushed. Some of the characters were throwing around the L word after only knowing each other for a couple of days. I get that some of them were fated together due to reincarnation, but so much of the relationship development was just astoundingly abrupt. There also wasn’t an HEA, which automatically disqualifies it as a romance/romantasy in my opinion.

It didn’t help matters that the plot of The Emperor and the Endless Palace was an absolute mess. I was intrigued by all the different elements for most of the book, but it didn’t really add up to anything in the end. The curse, the ‘jailers,’ and the imperial seal seemed so important, and I really wanted to learn more about them. The story didn’t provide any real resolution to those elements, though, and it left me wondering whether they actually had any impact at all. I just walked away from this story thinking there was so much potential in the plot that was wasted and other bits that just didn’t quite make sense.

The Emperor and the Endless Palace wasn’t all bad, though. I enjoyed the writing, except for the weird sexual euphemisms. I never want to see the word ‘influence’ again. lol. The author did a good job of making the setting of each timeline feel distinct, and I appreciated how unabashedly queer the story was. I liked the characters, as well, and I enjoyed the mystery of figuring out how the three timelines lined up. Each reincarnation felt distinct while also exhibiting a familiar essence that was present during each lifetime. I do wish we’d gotten a bit more time with each of them because I’d have loved even more depth, especially from the side characters.

I also liked the main theme of The Emperor and the Endless Palace. The whole thing illustrated how destructive toxic relationships can be, and it explored how to break the seemingly endless cycle of repeating the same mistakes over and over again. The story also delved into obsession, betrayal, and using sex as a weapon to gain power and revenge. I just wish there had been a little more depth to some of its thematic content.

All in all, I did enjoy my time while reading The Emperor and the Endless Palace because of the writing, themes, queerness, and the author’s ability to craft distinct settings. It just did not come together in the end into something that I loved. If you are looking for a gloriously queer story with interesting themes, settings that span across time, and messy relationships, this might be the book for you. Just stay away if you require a coherent plot or an HEA. With all this in mind, I give The Emperor and the Endless Palace a rating of 3.25 out of 5 stars.

Have you read The Emperor and the Endless Palace? What did you think? Let me know down in the comments!