Thanks Netgalley for the arc!
This was a page turner! I am a great fan of historical fantasy and this queer retelling of the founding of the Ming dynasty kept me totally engrossed. A young girl destined to be nothing, as foretold by an astrologer, assumes her brother’s fate of greatness after he dies of hunger. She poses as him to gain entry to a monastery where food is available and never looks back. She becomes Zhu Chongba and decides that nothing will keep her from rising to the top. First in a series and I can’t wait for book two!