Serpentine

Serpentine by Cindy Pon, 274 pages

Skybright is the primary handmaiden to Zhen Ni, though the two teen girls are more like sisters than servant and mistress. Headstrong Zhen Ni is facing a life of arranged marriage to an as-yet-unknown man, who she is certain not to love. Meanwhile, Skybright is facing a much stranger and disconcerting problem: she's recently begun shape-shifting into a half-serpent demon and the boy she's falling in love with has inconveniently joined with a group of monks to violently send demons back to hell. It's an odd story to describe, and while it took a bit to get into, I did enjoy it. I particularly liked Pon's use of Chinese mythology, as well as her treatment of teenage sexuality. There is a sequel to this (2016's Sacrifice), though I'm a bit on the fence as to whether or not I want to read it.