A review by queenofswordsandwords
The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin

5.0

 
Well, this was fantastic. It's been a while since I've read a book where I was so convinced the main characters belonged together and deserved each other and that there could be no other one for them. And it's also been a while since I've read a book where I couldn't see how they could make it work. There is so much in their way starting with their class difference to the expectations of Wei-Wei's family and Gao's situation.

I highly recommend to read The liar's dice (prequel novella) before reading this book as it provides much context and setting and it includes Gao and Wei-Wei's meeting.

" Their family was held together by silence so she’d become adept at working in those pockets of silence. Of dealing with the unspoken. "

Wei-Wei is the daughter of family of noble scholars. She has been educated with her older brother and could have surpassed him had it been a time where women were allowed to be scholars. But she's been devoting her life to educating her younger so he can also become a scholar. She's twenty five, past prime marriage age and has been doing her best to be the demure, invisible and dedicated daughter as to not be noticed.

" This was the longest period of time they’d ever spent together. That made it a good day, all death and conspiracy aside. "

She meets once more Gao, a street thug, informant, with a mysterious connexion to her brother, on the eve of another murder. They both get tangled in the dangerous investigations, having to navigate the limitations of his station and her being a woman. But every moment spent together just solidifies that connexion between them.

" Gao knew all her secrets. With him, she couldn’t hide. She didn’t have to. "

They met as she was going to the tea house in the middle of the night, dressed in her brother's clothes. Wei-Wei is strongminded and clever. And the dilemma she's facing where she has to choose between her duty and something that never could be. This whole story had layered characters and a rich mystery. One of my all-time favorite historical romance.

" She’d always known she didn’t quite fit in her surroundings. He didn’t quite fit in his either, but that didn’t mean they fit together. "

and I will leave you on this gem from the author's note :

" I wanted to write the story of a woman who dared and wasn’t punished for it. "