Vows of Gold and Laughter by Edith Pawlicki is an adult fantasy book about Immortal Beings (who are Gods), and politics within the Immortal Court.
Jin, the Goddess of Beauty is set to wed her best friend and betrothal Xiao, the God of Pleasure when suddenly Jin's father and the Sun Emperor collapses. As it turned out, he was poisoned by one of his children. To save her father, Jin along with Xiao embark on a journey to the underworld to find the cure. Her journey will change Jin's perception of the world and herself as she will learn her true heritage. Being a Goddess of Beauty, she has been considered powerless by all. But is she really as weak as she thinks, or is the reality concealed from her and the world.? If so, why?
It's not only her world that will change after this incident. It turns out Xiao himself isn't aware of his true powers. Through their journey to save the Sun Emperor and unravel the dirty politics within the immortal court, Jin and Xiao meet Nanami and the great warrior, the first himself, Bai.
Their journey takes them from the icy peaks of the White Mountain and the lush banks of the Kuanbai River to the palace of the Sea Dragon and the halls of the Moon Deer, through court intrigue and bloody battles, power struggles and magical traps. Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld will forever celebrate their triumphs - and mourn their mistakes.
I loved the whole concept of having different gods representing different colors with different powers. The names of many of the gods (like Aashchary, Neela, Bijalee) are actual Hindi words which in English translates to their respective god names. Although the story is not set in Indian mythology, some of the names were the same as Hindi names, so that felt really cool.
Vows of Gold and Laughter has everything you need in a book. It has magic (from teleportation to Enchantment, to building stuff from worldly elements), adventure, the politics within a court (where the Emperor is poisoned), to drama, to passion and love. I can confirm I have a crush on Bai (Oops.!).
Xiao made me laugh whenever he was jealous. He acted like a teenage girl and it was really funny to read.
The whole concept of living for more than a thousand millennia was so weird and exciting. When Jinn described how she was a baby in her 5000th year, it felt all too funny. But this made me wonder how time would work for these beings. Like 20 years ago wouldn't be a huge time difference for them and would be a fresh memory for them.
The book also very subtly discusses some heavy stuff like an addiction (alcohol or otherwise). There's a conversation between Bai and Jin where Bai commented how Jin is restricting her own power by not believing in herself. I really loved that line. It's true for everyone. You won't know your full potential until you stop doubting your worth and self-restricting yourself.
This book has set the early grounds for this beautiful, exciting series and I am too excited for the next book. The story ended on a cliffhanger and I can't wait to read what happens next.
It's a mythological fantasy book with magic, adventure, politics, love, passion, drama, and revenge. I highly recommend you reading this if this is your jam.!