She's destined to seal the Tarot.
After a violent childhood outburst leads to the disfigurement of her bully's face, Mingxia is labeled as Shangzihua's village yaoguai. The humans fear her destructive power, leading to years of hostility, distrust...
Hello, my fellow readers and thank you for taking the time to read A Celestial Requiem. The story is inspired by my own experiences and love for mythology and Chinese dramas (particularly Ashes of Love and The Pillow Book). I hope that you'll fall in love with the story as well as the characters as I have while writing about their journey.
This version on Wattpad is a sample, which can be viewable on Kobo and Barnes and Noble, so only the first three chapters are available. Please note that where a majority of the story takes place is inspired by Southern Song Dynasty China, it should not be used as a reference for Chinese culture. Some elements have been borrowed, while others are completely invented. Negative comments made about the characters will be deleted. I'm tired of people telling me how to write my stories, when it is #ownvoices and I've specified that it should not be used as a learning tool. My experiences, as alluded in this novel, do not apply to all Chinese individuals or all Asian individuals. If you are interested in learning more about Chinese culture, please conduct research to educate yourselves.
Please do not advertise your story here, advertising comments will be deleted. I also have to ask that you avoid spoiling content for future readers if you've read the unedited, complete version that was previously on Wattpad. If you want to weeb out about something that happened in the story, feel free to reach out to me on social media at wera_nyooms!
If you ever have any questions, please feel free to leave an in-line comment. I do my best to respond to every comment even if I may be months late to the party.
Happy reading! Love,
Wera
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COPYRIGHT
The current cover and map are done by Alli May (eosophobias), the cover by Kat Miller, and header graphic are created by Vixurious Designs (_Foxicious).
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
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THE SECRETS OF TAROT SERIES
Prequel*: Dance of the Dragons (available on Wattpad as a novella; novel version available in online bookstores)
Book 1: A Celestial Requiem
Book 1.5*: The Sins of the Serpent
Book 2: A Celestial Redemption
Book 2.5*: Broken Bonds (coming soon!)
* These stories are not connected to what is happening during what is considered to be the "present" in the novels (Books 1, 2, 3, and 4). They should be read as standalone stories as they occur centuries before A Celestial Requiem and include unrelated characters. They are worth reading if you're interested in other countries and creatures of the Realm.
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REVIEWS, AWARDS, RANKINGS
"Gorgeous! That is the best word to describe this book. It is truly ah-maz-ing. The cover is beautiful and immediately caught my interest. The blurb is also well-crafted. As soon as I got into the book, I knew that it was going to live up to my first impressions. Your writing style reminds me so much of Gail Carson Levine, who has been one of my favorite authors since I was a child. You have incredible imagery, great grammar, and you expertly developed the world that your characters lives in." - frjohnson
"Luli is so incredibly deliberate with her world. She's gone to the trouble of creating an entire canon, map, and description of various factions simply for the sake of world building. The author is also incredibly skilled at bringing in traditional Chinese mythology into the immediate story and this attention to detail really brings Mingxia's world to life." - Anonymous
- #1 in Celtic Mythology (11/22/2018)
- #2 in Chinese Mythology (11/23/2018), #1 in Chinese Mythology (11/23/2019)
- Top Garden Path Stories by F.R. Johnson // Late Bloomer (11/30/2018)
- #6 in Tarot (12/27/18), #5 in Tarot (11/23/2019)
- Second Place in Fantasy for Gold Awards 2018 (12/29/2018)
- First Place in Fantasy (Frozen/Blood) and Beauty Enraptured Nominee in Arctic Awards (1/2/2019)
- Semi-Finalist in Floral Contest #1: "New Year, New Me" (1/15/2019)
- Added to Undiscovered Reading List (2/17/2019)
- #1 in Asian Fantasy (2/25/2019)
- #5 in Historical Fantasy (2/26/2019)
- Added to HighFantasy's Middle Earth Reading List (3/10/2019)
- 2019 Wattys Winner in Fantasy (9/30/19)
- #1 in Mythic Fantasy (10/4/2019)
- Added to Adventure's Fantastical Adventures Reading List (11/18/2019)
- Added to NA's Congratulations, You're the Chosen One! Reading List (11/27/2019)
- Completed the story on 12/29/2019 offline, but on Wattpad on 1/6/2020.
- Added to Historical Fiction's Historical Fanfiction and Alternate Universes Reading List (1/12/2020)
- Added to Romance Worlds Apart Reading List (2/22/2020)
- #1 in Historical Fantasy (4/4/2020)
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