The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho delivers a heartwarming story of a found family set in the backdrop of a wuxia fantasy. When Guet Imm joins a band of bandits that dropped by her shop, neither she nor I expected a tale of spirituality and friendship to come of it.

I went into this book thinking it was an action packed fantasy, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's much more character driven and introspective as the majority of the book focuses on the band's journey and how Guet Imm fits into the group, as a cook at first and then as a healer. She also becomes instrumental in their business dealings as time goes on.
But all this pales in comparison with the relationship she develops with Tet Sang. What starts out as him considering her little better than a pest, develops into a deep friendship with admiration from both sides after the adventures they go through and their similar pasts.

One last thing worth mentioning is the exploration into gender identity this book goes into. As a cisgender woman, I don't feel comfortable questioning how well or not it was done, but I found it to be enlightening. Especially considering how central it was to one of the main characters.

My one issue with the book with the writing style. I found it quite complicated to get through, and as such the book took me longer than it should have.

All in all, I enjoyed The Order of Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho. It was a fun read with some unexpectedly thought provoking topics.