Epic Crush of Genie Lo

4 Stars!An unexpected fun and thrilling read!The characters in this book were so fun and the narration of this audiobook just kept me hooked.I don’t have much idea about Chinese Mythology and I’m glad there are books exploring it.Genie was an absolutely wonderful character.She was so funny and witty .This story keeps a perfect balance between Genie’s school life and her supernatural demon fighting life,showing her struggles in managing them both.I found that so refreshing in a YA novel where the heroine does everything with perfect ease,Overall,it was a very interesting and entertaining read with snarky characters and some unlikely situations.

I had already read F. C. Yee's other works from the Avatar line and immediately fell in love with his writing style. Right after I purchased this book and I was not disappointed.The book has everything you want and more. Likeable and strong characters, both personality and strenght wise.And the characters are funny as hell. Mythical gods who have to adapt to the modern world, unexpected situations and on the forefront the banter between the main characters leave almost no room to breath from laughter. And when there is room the scene shifts and it gets emotional. Sometimes a change from one sentence to another but it never feels out of place.My only complain is that I need MORE. Unfortunately the author only has the Avatar book series and this one so sadly I will have to wait.

I'm very late to the party on this book, and I wish I'd read it before now. I *need* a sequel, STAT.TLDR--LOVED this book. Full on considering re-reading it right away loved it. Couldn't go to sleep until I finished it so I didn't get much sleep and now have a book hangover loved it. Put down writing my book to finish this one loved it. Like, really, really, really loved it.Genie Lo is a Chinese American teen in the Bay Area of California (near San Francisco) whose biggest concern is getting into an Ivy League college...until Quentin shows up to tell her he's the Monkey King and she's his staff, reincarnated as a human. She thinks he's out of his mind, and rightfully tells him to go away. Until a demon shows up, and all of this Monkey and Staff thing starts to sound a little more plausible.The story uses Chinese mythology to fuel the magic, and it's nice to see a break from Western mythos. To be fair, though, for me Chinese mythology is the next most familiar thing after Western because of living in Singapore for seven years and participating in Chinese culture.Genie is a great, relateable character. She really just wants to live her life, be a good friend to her bff Yunie, and get into a good college. She's frustrated by her Chosen One-ness, especially when it starts to interfere with her schooling, her friends, and her family. For adult readers, it will feel familiar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, down to the snappy dialogue. Maybe he thought I'd stay quiet in front of my mother for the sake of decorum. That a boy's good name was more important than a girl's safety. If so, he was dead effin' wrong.and "My true name," he said, "...is SUN WUKONG." A cold wind passed through the open window, rustling my loose papers like tumbleweed. "I have no idea who that is," I said. Quentin was still trying to cement his "look at me being serious" face. It took him a few seconds to realize I wasn't flipping out over whoever he was. "The Sun Wukong," he said scooping the air with his fingers. "Sun Wukong the Monkey King." "I said, I don't know who that is." His jaw dropped. Thankfully his teeth were still normal-size. "You're Chinese and you don't know me?" he sputtered. "That's like an American child not knowing who Batman is!" "You're Chinese Batman?" "No! I'm stronger than Batman, and more important, like--like. Tian na, how do you not know who I am?" I didn't know why he expected me to recognize him. He couldn't have been a big-time actor or singer from overseas. I never followed mainland pop culture, but a lot of other people at school did; word would have gotten around if we had a celebrity in our midst. Plus that was a weird stage name. Monkey King? Was that what passed for sexy among the kids these days?Quentin, for his part, is a great foil. He imparts knowledge, but not in a boring exposition-y way. But he's also fallible, and a bit of a douche at times. I like that he's not perfect, that he sometimes (maybe more than sometimes) complicates Genie's life like crazy.There are two gods hanging around as secondary characters. One is Guanyin, who achieved enlightenment, but turned her back on it to help humanity. The other is Erlang Shen, the nephew of the king of the gods, The Jade Emperor. They are often..helpful, but not in the ways that Genie hopes. For one, neither is going to directly interfere to help catch the ~100 or so demons running around the Bay Area.The non-celestial-being secondary characters are well fleshed out--we understand, more or less, why her parents broke up and what sort of relationship they have now, what Genie's BFF's hopes and dreams are and how their friendship works.The pacing is solid, the setting is well described (I do live in the Bay Area, so take that one with a grain of salt), and I think the book has broad appeal. The prose sparkles.Seriously. Go read it. You won't regret it.

Genie Lo was a hardworking schoolgirl hoping to get into an Ivy league college until Quentin Sun (a transfer student) appeared. She is then is swept into a mission where Genie has to balance school, her strict mother's curfews and fighting off Chinese 'mythical' demons.I loved F.C. Yee's combination of action, humour and mythology. The story is well written, beautifully laid out and has a proper ending! (None of that cliffhanger business). It took me a day to read because, once I'd opened the book, I could not put it down.

This is pretty much the exact type of story I want to write. Fantastic funny characters, supernatural elements and folklore, wicked descriptions and wacky metaphors, twists and turns and just plain fun. A fantastic book and a unique MC.

Funny fun