The Iron Will of Genie Lo was a quiet, but still epic sequel that makes a lot of changes to the world(s) Genie finds herself in. I loved it.
Genie Lo thought she was busy protecting the Bay Area from demons. But now, as a Heaven- appointed Guardian, even the well-being of demons is her responsibility—and their numbers are multiplying. Guanyin and Quentin are doing their best to help; but what they really need is for the Jade Emperor to get off his butt and deal with the crisis. While he’s AWOL, Genie nominates Guanyin to fill in his shoes, unaware that the role will go to the god who can defeat a mysterious threat to the supernatural order. Along with a few other contenders for the throne, including a former enemy, Genie and her friends embark on a Heavenly quest to an in-between world. But when faced with true danger, the group realizes that what will save the universe this time is sacrifice, not strength. (Goodreads) Goodreads
I received an eARC of Iron Will of Genie Lo from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Iron Will of Genie Lo needs trigger warnings for major character death, minor character death, description of mutilation, a fade to black sort-of-sex scene, and a parental medical emergency.
Iron Will of Genie Lo was a very different book than Epic Crush of Genie Lo. That threw me off a little bit in the beginning of my read, but once I was in… man, I don’t want to get out. I didn’t want to stop reading.
There isn’t a whole lot I can tell you about the plot because, frankly, it would all be spoilers. I will say that I loved seeing our characters grow into themselves and deal with the problems that come with being reincarnations of magical weapons and/or gods and/or high schoolers. It was wonderful to see more of Yunie and Guanyin, as well as to get a more nuanced view of what Genie’s future would look like.
The ending of this duology surprised me.There’s a pretty big time hop from the end of the book to the epilogue. It was a hopeful, quiet ending that I just absolutely loved. F.C. Yee, if you’re reading this, we would not turn down short stories set in this universe. Specifically revolving around their college adventures. And what they do next.
If this sounds as exciting to you as it was for me to read, you should absolutely go pick up a copy. It’s out on Jan. 21. You can pick up a copy of Iron Will of Genie Lo through our affiliate links on Amazon or Indiebound.
Title: Iron Will of Genie Lo Series: Genie Lo #2 Author: F.C. Yee Publisher: Amulet Books Length: 304 Pages Release Date: January 21, 2020 Rating: Highly Recommended Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Representation: Chinese American author, Chinese American main character
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