I’m so happy to partner with Penguin Teen to bring you this spotlight for FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao as part of their #WickedReads lead-up to Halloween!! See below for information about the book and author!
About the book:
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns: Rise of the Empress
An epic YA fantasy for fans of Stealing Snow and Snow White and the Huntsman. Set in the mystical Far East, this reimagining of The Evil Queen legend is about one peasant girl’s 
quest to become Empress–and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.
Eighteen-year-old Xifeng (pronounced She-fung) is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future. But is the price of greatness too high? To claim her place beside the Emperor, Xifeng must cast aside Wei, the young man who has longed to marry her since childhood. And darker still, she will have to embrace the callous magic that runs through her veins–magic fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed–for the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is complete.
Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy–dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance.
About the author:
Julie Dao is a proud Vietnamese-American who was born in upstate New York, and then was raised amidst the autumn fields and sloping mountains of New England. She went to college to become a doctor, but (go figure) came out ready to pursue her passion of creative writing. She is greatly influenced by the work of Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling, Maggie Stiefvater, Jhumpa Lahiri, Neil Gaiman, and Laini Taylor. Julie lives in New England.
Wandering Bark Books 