A friend recommended The Epic Crush of Genie Lo to me and though I don’t read a lot of middle grade fiction, I’m delighted that I had purchased this debut novel by F.C. Yee.
My cover actually looks like this one since I bought the hardback. I love the classic three-point superhero pose in this cover and it’s too bad they changed it out for a more stylized motif version in the sequel.
Epic Crush of Genie Lo, superhero pose
This story was actually the kind of book I’d been looking for all year, except it didn’t feature an adult protagonist. I’m talking about contemporary urban fantasy with an Asian or Asian-American protagonist set in the pacific rim. Almost impossible to find. (Which is why we wrote Ebony Gate, with the first book set in San Francisco and the Blood Jade set in Tokyo!)
There is a wonderful crop of Asian fantasy novels that I’ve read but my first love is the urban fantasy in a contemporary setting. Matthew Boroson’s Girl with the Ghost Eyes was delightful, and really close but it was historical urban fantasy. Fonda Lee’s Jade City was also grand, but more pure fantasy, set in the mythical location of Kekon and during an earlier mid-twentieth century timeframe.
Enter the Epic Crush of Genie Lo. Contemporary Urban setting? Silicon Valley! Check. Asian-american protagonist? Check. Magical and/or supernatural elements? Check. Asian mythology? The granddaddy of them all, Sunwukong! Check. Asian monsters? Check. So many monsters. I was loving all the monster body count: Hundred-eyed Demon Lord, Yellow Brows Great King, Tuolong, Pipa Scorpion, Jiutouchong, King of the Spiritual Touch to name just a few. This book was everything I wanted and had been looking for.
The voice in this novel really shines.
Genie has a distinctive. strong voice, (which unsurprisingly for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender explains why FC Yee was the perfect choice to write the Avatar Kiyoshi novels!) and tackles her problems directly. It’s refreshing and I enjoyed the clarity. While marketed as YA, it skewed decidedly younger for me. All the stars. The sequel is also out, the Iron Will of Genie Lo.
If you’re interested in the Kiyoshi books, they are here:
