Hi friends, happy Monday, I hope you’re all well! Today I’m posting my review of F.C. Yee’s novel The Epic Crush of Genie Lo.

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by: F. C. Yee: Genie Lo is a hardworking overachiever who wants nothing more than to do well in school so she can gain access to Harvard. But when her hometown becomes infested with demons straight out of the old Chinese tales, she must prioritize her school for the safety of her town. This is where Quentin Sun comes in, the new kid in school who has been sent to help and coach Genie on killing the monsters. Now, the two must work together to defeat the bad guys and tap into Genie’s secret powers she didn’t know she had. The concept behind this novel was really good, but the execution wasn’t the greatest. The reader wanted to like this more, but the two main characters were more annoying than they were endearing. It felt like they were supposed to be enemies to friends, but they just didn’t have the chemistry. The two were very fascinating characters, individually, but when they came together they were just insufferable by how much the one hated the other and how the other goaded the other. It really ruined the whole novel for this reader because the one would show up everywhere the other didn’t want them to, and every time they were specifically together to fight, they would argue. By the end, they did learn how to be civil to one another, but it felt fake. As for the actual plot, it was interesting and engaging; the Chinese folklore was really riveting and something new to learn about. The way this one ended left it off for what’s to come in the sequel. A lot went down in this one and the one main character really had to prove herself to be the one they were looking for, so the reader is really interested to see where the story goes from here, even if they have to endure the irritating characters one last time. Overall, despite the characters, this was fast-paced and well written.