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(4.47/5)An apothecary solves crime in Imperial China
I enjoyed this book! Granted, I came in after having read the volume equivalent in the English manga edition, so I had a head start in knowing what was going to happen. That likely helped with my first foray into a harder book; the difficulty mostly came from the setting and time period: China in an ambiguous older time period (no running water or electricity, paper is precious, etc.). Lots and lots of setting-specific, archaic vocabulary, some tougher grammar sprinkled around (sorry I don't have specific examples).
Our protagonist Maomao is essentially a detective, using her knowledge of medicine and herbs to solve mini-mysteries around the Inner Palace (where concubines of the Emperor live; she works there as a maid). There are a few other recurring characters, but Maomao is always front and center. The story in the first book does not have a single overarching plot, instead just following Maomao in her day-to-day and jumping from mystery to mystery. Though topics like concubines and prostitutes are brought up and are the main focus in different chapters, there is no explicit content present.
Love the poison-obsessed protagonist, other well developed characters, and the mysteries!
Plot
The story follows a young apothecary named Maomao who works in the red-light district in a fictional country based on Imperial China. One day on her way home, Maomao is kidnapped and made a servant who works in the Imperial Palace. Her life takes another sudden turn when she investigates the cause of the Emperor’s sick children using her apothecary knowledge. She sends a warning message to the Emperor’s concubines, drawing attention from a notable eunuch named Jinshi who manages the inner workings of the rear palace where the Imperial Consorts reside. Maomao not only ends up becoming a lady-in-waiting and poison taster for one of the Emperor’s concubines, she is also employed by Jinshi to solve various mysteries that take place in the palace.
Review
General
I don’t usually read the mystery genre, especially modern-day mysteries. However, mixed with other elements, such as the supernatural, or in this book’s case, the historical, I’m much more drawn to a story. By the time I began the first volume of this series, I was hooked on the anime. I had already seen the first season which is adapted from this volume and even delved into the second season. Usually, I tend to be the type of person who prefers reading the book first before watching the movie or animated series. However, the setting of this story made me realize I would benefit from understanding the context through a different medium before beginning the novel. Sure enough, watching the anime, hearing the different character voices, and learning about the different mysteries Maomao solves, helped me progress through the book much faster than if I had first started reading the novel.
What I love about the format of the novel is how short the chapters are and yet they each (with a few exceptions) cover a specific mystery Maomao has to solve. Each chapter is expanded into an episode for the anime. The show fills in more details, such as characters’ visual reactions and movements that aren’t always described in the novel. As for the novel, the brief chapters helped me speed through the story even with the language difficulties I faced from the get-go.
Language Challenges/Minor Critique
Due to the setting of the story being inspired by Imperial China, there are many titles and social classes introduced in this story, such as the Emperor’s concubines/Consorts, the ladies-in-waiting, eunuchs, servants, etc. that I had to learn. Despite the inclusion of readings for the character names and some of these titles, I was surprised the novel didn’t include the reading for the 4 Imperial Consorts: 貴妃, 賢妃, 淑妃, 徳妃. I had to look these up separately online using my Google skills and Japanese reading knowledge. However, readings for character names such as as 玉葉(ギョクヨウ) , 桜花 (インファ), 高順(ガオシュン), 紅娘(ホンニャン) etc. would be reintroduced in later chapters a few times. I would have liked this to be more consistent throughout the novel, whether completely present or not at all after the first readings are introduced.
The Mysteries
The pacing of each mystery varied depending on its complexity. While most of them were contained in a single chapter, a few mysteries extended to 2-3 chapters. These longer arcs involved several characters and backstories that the reader learned through character conversations and Maomao’s deductions. I love seeing how Maomao uses her apothecary knowledge and training to not only solve the mysteries, but also show other characters the dangers of certain ingredients in their application, even if the ingredients themselves might not be considered poisons.
Characters and Social Commentary
In my opinion, the characters are the best part of this novel. Even minor characters show their importance to the story and mystery being solved as well as their part in the palace’s social hierarchy.
The protagonist, Maomao, fits the Sherlock Holmes Archetype with her analytical mind and obsession with her interests. Despite her status as a commoner and servant, she still retains agency as a character and uses her given opportunities to pursue her interests while helping other characters solve mysteries. However, Maomao is also the type of person who does not want to pry in situations she’s not personally involved in, knowing the consequences it might bring. Her upbringing in the red-light district has made her more aware of the dark side of society and the realistic dangers girls and women face. It’s no surprise her background has made her develop into a mentally mature and self-aware character despite her younger age. While this could make her into a completely aloof and unlikeable personality, the author does a great job at showing her charming side when she interacts with other girls her age or women she respects and admires.
I also applaud the author for introducing several female characters with a range of personalities and motivations. Even when many are constrained by their social ranks and expectations and must act accordingly, they are still shown to be unique characters. Some might evoke empathy and admiration, and others, irritation, and anger for what they’ve done.
Jinshi’s character is one that grew on me. Personally, he was one I initially did not care for and felt the same disgust as Maomao when meeting him. :) While his background is not explored in too much detail in this volume, I learned there is more to Jinshi than meets the eye. He certainly meets his match when it comes to Maomao’s lack of interest in him and obsession with poisons and rare specimens/ingredients!
Surprisingly fresh story that is hard to put away.
A very nice read for advanced learners that won't shy away from vocabulary outside of the JLPT level. The Genre is somewhat hard to lock in, we got some history elements, some romance, some comedy, some crime and drama and a little bit of mystery sprinkled in at times. So to figure out if you like it, you could start with the Anime or the Manga first before you dedicate your time to the Novel.
As for a brief description, we do follow MaoMao, a incredibly curious and rather capable Apothecary that gets dragged into the chaos and intrigues that is the life of the Inner Palace.
So if you are roughly at a N1 level, that would be a nice novel to immerse yourself in. You might add a lot of interesting historic vocabulary to your knowledge - a lot of which you might actually encounter again and that might give you some serious head start when you want to dive into classical Japanese (or Chinese for that matter).
So yea, absolutely recommended, especially for advanced learners.