Jade Fire Gold was such a fun read filled with revenge, destined and hidden royalty. I adored the setting & the world building and the magic system was really interesting to learn about! The main romance was so sweet but also had a hit of enemies to lovers plus LOTS of mutual pining plus there were queer side couples/characters!

This is a good addition to the family of stories set in Japanese/Chinese magical worlds. If you like Girls of Paper and Fire or The Poppy War or Stormdancer then you will love this. It's part 1 of a story of a lost prince, a royal family divided and a girl with magical powers in a land where magic is strictly forbidden. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read part 2.

2.5/5

i might have enjoyed this more if i went in with lower expectations but oh well.

the premise is really intriguing: a peasant girl with ancient magic and a lost prince trying to reclaim his throne meet and upturn a world on the brink of war. unfortunately, the execution didn't quite live up to the promise for me.

first a few positives: the writing was pretty good for a debut YA author and made for an easy read. i liked the worldbuilding too, i think it had a lot of potential and the occasional inserts of chinese folklore were cool to see.

my major issues with this book are the characters, the plot/pacing and the romance. i didn't care for the main characters at all; they just felt so generic and needed some depth. ahn was a bit too passive for me, it felt like she was just going along with the flow of things instead of driving the action forward herself. altan mostly bored me to be honest, his internal conflict regarding the life stealer didn't ring true to me and felt like angst for the sake of it. the side characters were interesting, especially leiye and tang wei, but we just didn't see enough of them.

the romance was super frustrating to read - it was way too rushed and poorly developed. ahn and altan genuinely had no chemistry and their connection left me cold.

the pacing was also fairly uneven, especially in the last 15%. what was supposed to be the most exciting part of the novel was hindered by frequent time jumps that made no sense to me. the climax itself was weak and resolved too quickly, i think the action should have been drawn out more.

overall, it's a fairly basic, formulaic YA fantasy which isn't necessarily a bad thing! i think this will be an enjoyable read for a lot of people, particularly those who are new to the fantasy/xianxia genre. unfortunately, i think i'm too jaded for these kinds of stories now.

This is the first xianxia novel I have read and I was not disappointed in it. The world building was rich and vibrant and played out like a movie in my mind. The character development was steady and it drew you into the world. The pacing was mostly good but there was a couple of times that it dragged. All in all it was a very enjoyable read

3.5 stars

Jade Fire Gold follows the story of Ahn, a nobody with a hidden power, and Altan, an exiled prince, told through dual POVs as Ahn is discovering her destiny and Altan plots his revenge against the kingdom that took everything from him - and how their storylines come together. I loved the set up of the world and the magic, and how we get to discover and learn more about it with the characters. The set-up of the story takes us from Ahn doing her best to survive as a peasant girl in a harsh world, to court intrigue and backstabbing at the place and then a quest for a mysterious legendary sword. There is a lot going on and while I think the author doesn't always execute it perfectly (nad is often a little predictable) it's an entertaining ride with great prose and an intriguing story.

I think I've heard the romance is inspired (may not be accurate lol) by zutura and I definetly saw the paralells, however I'm not actually a big fan of zutura (that's a whole other topic though) so I wasn't that fussed on the romance in this book, I do feel the book has other strengths to make up for it but personally I wouldn't read this for the romance. But I will say the side sapphic romance I was so invested in!!!

One of the strongest parts of the novel for me was the side characters. They were all so interesting and brought such great personalities to the table. The relationship between Linxi and Tang Wei was EVERYTHING - I'm obviously a sucker for sapphic relationships of any kind but I loved their dynamic and how outgoing and confident Tang Wei was coupled with Linxi's more caring side; they were just so cute!! I also really liked Tai Shun, the cutest cinnamon roll prince and Leiye, easily the most interesting character in the book - he was very morally grey and you could tell very conflicted - I honestly wish he had a POV.

I really enjoyed the politics of the book, the villians were a little predictable and stereotypical however I actually quite like this in YA. The way the magic tied into the politics as well was also fascinating. I thought the family relationships were really well explored, and often quite complex. I also really liked the elements of chinese mythology that were woven in.

I do think some elements of the pacing were a little strange, a lot seems to happen in a short time and we wouldn't get a lot of time to reflect or explore things in depth. A lot of the climax happened very quickly as well. I also think the two main characters weren't really my favourite, I liked them fine but I wasn't super invested in their story therefore didn't enjoy the book as much as I might have done otherwise (although as I said earlier I loveeeed the side characters).

I'm a little confused if the book is meant to be part of a series or a standalone, events felt wrapped up but then the epilogue seemed to set up for future book so I'm curious to find out what happens next.

In conclusion I think this is a fun YA fantasy that has an addictive quality that makes you want to keep reading, however will probably not stick with me for a long time. It reminds me a lot of an ember in the ashes, not really in plot or charcaters just overall vibes haha so I think if you enjoyed that series you will enjoy this!!

3.5 stars
An enjoyable YA Fantasy, that’s rich in detail and inspired by Chinese Mythology—it even has a Phoenix!

“Her destiny. His revenge.”

June CL Tan’s magical debut follows Ahn (a peasant girl with no family and no recollection of her past) and Altan (the Empire’s lost Prince,who seeks revenge for the family and throne that was stolen from him.)

When they meet, Altan only sees Ahn as a means to an end—reclaiming his throne. But with Altan,Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and learn to control (and understand) her lethal magical abilities.

They’ve survived all these years by trusting no one. Now,to save their kingdom they’ll have no choice but to trust in each other...

Full of shadowy political intrigue, action packed fight scenes and a detailed magic system;fans of YA High Fantasy are in for a treat! I found it a every enjoyable read, though I did find the pace was a little slow at times. The enemies to lovers romance was really well written, I thought Ahn and Altan definitely had a lot of chemistry and the slowburn, tension filled scenes between them were great.

The lgbtq representation was also really good and I loved Linxi and Tang Wei as a couple. The vividly detailed descriptions were really great and the Chinese mythology that’s woven throughout was really interesting, I especially loved the Shadow Puppet scene that depicts the legend of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess (which sounded so beautiful and yet so sad.)

I’d definitely recommend to fans of High Fantasy, and mythology inspired stories. If your looking for a book with magic, shadowy villains, vengeful Princes and a cryptically wise mythical Phoenix cameo—then this is the book for you.

Also a huge thank you to Hodder&Stoughton and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

This is the best book I’ve read this year (possibly ever). First off, the Chinese mythology was so easy to follow and understand – especially for someone who had no background knowledge in Chinese folklore. I have always loved mythology but have never come across anything other than Eurocentric mythology in mainstream books. I think the Asian mythology in this book was so interesting and will have a positive effect on more diverse mythology in modern literature. I also think that the romance aspect was very well balanced with the plot – this balance is often not well done in YA so I applaud it especially. All of the characters were so 3D and so much emotion was evoked with every conversation between Ahn and Altan. Even the side characters had extreme depth and the LGBTQ+ rep was so well done and I was rooting for Tang Wei and Linxi and also Leiye and Tai Shun. This book was an emotional rollercoaster and I felt all the feelings. The ending could not have been more well resolved and the epilogue had me screaming. Overall, this book was an absolute joy to read and I thank Net Galley and Hodder and Stoughton for gifting me this ARC in return for an honest review.

3,5/5 stars rounded down.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It took me a little time to really get into it, but I definitely found things to love in there. I feel like what happened here is what happened to me in the past with young adult fantasy (which is, usually: high hopes based on the blurb, but ultimately the feeling that I’ve read this story before and that nothing surprising is happening). I keep coming back to these books because they are attractive and each time I start one I expect it to be great. I did read good YA fantasy in the past, so I know it exists, I know there are books in that genre that fit my taste, I just have to find them.

So at first, I felt a bit disappointed, I thought the characters were very stereotypical of the genre and I didn’t really connect with them. I was expecting to be a bit more surprised by this story, to be honest. What I loved from the beginning though was the setting, how clear each place felt to me. The world building was maybe not the most complex one I’ve ever read, but it was easy to understand and to imagine. I also liked how mythical creatures were included in the story, especially the phoenix, which is a creature that I’ve always been interested in.
It took me a bit of time but I warmed up to the characters. I liked who they were individually but also their friendships and the various dynamics between them. The main relationship was not the one I was the most interested in, but I loved the side characters and the potential they had. I loved the palace as a place of power where people meet and scheme, was intrigued by Altan’s background, his family history and his links with the other characters.

Among the things I struggled with was the romance, which didn’t work for me. It felt rushed, sometimes excessively cheesy for my taste. In terms of writing, I quite liked the storytelling but sometimes struggled to see the difference between the two points of view. As this is told in the first person, I think there should’ve been a more obvious difference between the Altan chapters and the Ahn ones. The pacing was a bit irregular. I really feel like pages were spent on things that didn’t necessarily matter to the plot. I guess they were there to give more substance to the characters and their relationships but it didn’t work that well in my opinion.
To be honest, a pretty big part of the book was predictable, which really kept me from fully enjoying my reading. Some big things start to happen around the 80% mark but the resolution of the plot didn’t feel satisfying to me and I’m still not sure how this ending really happened. It was a bit underwhelming in my opinion. There were definitely plot holes or things that were introduced at some point but were then left unused, characters that didn’t matter as much as they could’ve.

What is disappointing to me is that there were so many things to love ; moments, ideas, but when I look at the book in its entirety, it feels forgettable, it feels like those cool things are a bit lost in the middle of this… There was nothing really unexpected about the plot or the characters. Everything was exactly as… expected. I would’ve loved to see the characters struggle more with their morals, with the idea of power, I wanted more internal conflict, more corruption, wanted to see things taken further. These are more common in adult fiction, I guess, but I’ve seen them in YA fantasy before so it’s not reserved to adult lit. Basically many things in this book could’ve gone deeper, it has a lot of potential, and I’m left hungry for more.

That being said, despite all these flaws, I still enjoyed the book a lot. I was able to forget about everything else for a few hours and get invested in this story. I wasn’t bored and kept reading because I wanted to stay with these characters in this universe, which says a lot as I’m usually struggling to focus. I don’t know if this is supposed to be the first book in a series, but there is definitely room for a sequel. The ending left me with a clear view of this fictional world and of what could be done next with this universe. I’d love to read more about the international politics of it, and strongly hope that there will be a follow up with more development.

Despite the mixed review, I would still recommend this if you usually enjoy young adult fantasy ; if you’ve loved We Hunt The Flame, because there are similarities (including in the aspects I didn’t like!) and it’s the one comparison I mostly thought about while I was reading. I think there are really great things in this book and it could definitely be a good pick for many readers!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this eARC.

content warnings (from the author’s website, with an addition): self-harm (gouging/eye horror; non-graphic), child abuse (physical, verbal, emotional manipulation/gaslighting), parent death (implied and off-page), character deaths, mentions and descriptions of fantasy/magical violence (blood, war, political violence), mentions and descriptions of physical symptoms that might be triggering to those with emetophobia, alcohol consumption, torture

A fantastic, magical fantasy following a gifted orphan and a deposed Prince, Jade Fire Gold is a real page turner!

The characters are brilliant, and I loved reading them. The world building was just right, with everything being introduced at the right point. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a slow burn romance, but I did enjoy the romance so that is not meant as a criticism! Cannot wait for the sequel.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Jade Fire Gold is a fantasy novel that is told from two POVs: Ahn, an orphan who has powers that can change the empire, and Altan, a lost heir who wants to reclaim the throne. This was a book that I had been anticipating since I first heard about it. The inspiration from Avatar the Last Airbender was definitely something that drew me in.

Plot/ pacing:
I really liked the plot and the direction it took. Although most events were quite predictable, I enjoyed reading about Ahn and Altan’s journey and how Ahn was able to learn more about her magical abilities. However, I did want there to be more world-building. The magic system was a little wishy washy for me, and the pacing jumped around quite a bit. There were time jumps that annoyed me but made for good pacing during the middle of the book, where events tended to slow a little. There is great political intrigue, but it made me want more.

Characters/ relationships:
We have a range of characters that are introduced in this book. Ahn is fierce and I loved her wit. The banter between her and Altan was so fun to read, but I feel like the romance happened way too fast. I never felt the chemistry between the two, and instead I found myself shipping her with Leiye… oops. Speaking of him, Leiye was hands down my favourite character- he was broken, broody, mysterious and I just wanted more of him! Tai Shun (the current heir) was a really sweet cinnamon roll and I wanted more interactions between him and Altan. Then we have Tang Wei who’s funny, witty and always lightens the mood. She is smitten with Linxi, but I found her to be much more interesting, maybe because she was actually present! Linxi felt like an underdeveloped character, and I would’ve liked to read more about how she got together with Tang Wei!
Overall, the chemistry between the characters wasn’t there for me, but I enjoyed the humour and group banter.

Writing:
The writing was okay. It was easy to read and understand. The world-building was a little bit of a let-down. I enjoyed the first half of this book immensely and was ready to give it all the stars right off the bat, but I was so intrigued by the concept that I wanted to force myself to love it. Alas, that did not happen. After that cliff hanger though, I am excited to read the next one and I can’t wait for my physical copy to arrive!

Overall, I liked the concept and the characters, but it didn’t make me feel all the emotions- it felt too rushed. The romance wasn’t done well, but I liked the characters and that ending! This was a great debut book and I can’t wait to read more books by this author.
Thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Note: the formatting for the e-arc was ATROCIOUS and I don’t know if it affected my reading experience, but I will be rereading it in physical form and my rating may change!

This was such an amazing read! "Jade Fire Gold" is an epic, exciting novel, filled to the brim with interesting lore and complex characters.
The prose is beautiful, the world building detailed and lush. It paints a vivid world that you can really see in your mind, that comes to life so easily and naturally. It's a light read, easy to follow yet at times beautifully lyrical. The story is fast-paced, sometimes even a little too much so. It definitely makes for a quick and absorbing read that I had a hard time putting down. There's a lot of action and intrigue that never gets boring. Yet despite of all that action, Tan takes her time to develop her protagonists and allows us to really get to know them intimately. And oh, Ahn and Altan are amazing main characters that I immediately fell in love with and their romance is beautifully slow-burn. While both, especially Ahn, suffer from the typical ya-style Chosen One trope, I actually think it was very well done in this particular book. They are complex, both with their own issues and flaws and strengths, and they exist as fully-formed characters outside of their romance, too. To be honest, while I loved the romance aspect of it, it was never at the forefront of either of their stories and it made me like them even more.
The side characters were intriguing and loveable too, though I felt like they were never entirely fleshed out. Which is part of my main (and really, only) issue with this awesome debut.

While "Jade Fire Gold" has all the ingredients of an absolutely epic masterpiece, it never really manages to flesh out all these concepts and ideas. The aforementioned side characters are only one example of this. While Tang Wei at least seems to be a fully formed character, I couldn't really tell you anything about her girlfriend, Linxi, beyond her role in the story and the fact that she is, well, Tang Wei's girlfriend. Leiye is probably the most interesting, most mysterious and as such most intriguing side character and the book keeps building up this mystery surrounding him, but in the end it falls flat. Tai Shun has serious Sunshine Baby Cinnamon Roll vibes but barely gets any screentime. The same lack of details haunts the relationships between these characters. We are told of the epic Altan / Leiye / Tai Shun friendship but there is very little of its impact actually being shown on the page beyond some lines at the end of the book that feel a little sudden because of the missing actual development of this relationship before. Ahn's friendship with Linxi is apparently a very deep one, but the story itself doesn't show any of it. There is a hint at something maybe-romantic-maybe-not between Tai Shun and Leiye that never gets resolved either. This wouldn't be an issue at all if this were part one of a series/duology/trilogy (and the ending definitely suggests there is more to come), but for all I know this is, so far, a standalone novel. The only friendship that actually felt like a real friendship was the one between Altan and Tang Wei, and boy do I love these two a LOT. Would I read an entire novel consisting only of their adventures together? The answer is YES and PLEASE.

But it's not just the characters and relationships, it's also the plot itself. There are multiple time jumps, most of them short-ish, that make sense at some points but feel absolutely rushed at other times. For example, when Ahn arrives at the emperor's palace she's being trained in using her magic for what feels like a long time, considering she can actually use her magic quite well come the next big plot point. All we get on page, though, is basically a "so then she's training every day" and suddenly she's done training and a skilled magic user. Her entire training arc is just glossed over. This kind of thing happens more than once.
The ending, or more like the final big fight, suffers from rather a similar problem. It feels rushed and is over so quickly and so easily that it just never manages to excite, to feel threatening, to emotionally grab the reader.

While this seems a lot of criticism, it basically boils down to one single problem: The details of the story, be it of the plot, the characters or the relationships, aren't fully fleshed out and thus remain superficial and kept me from fully engaging with the novel.

Still, there is so much incredible potential in the writing, the worldbuilding, the story, the characters that it kept me hooked all the way. And that epilogue? That epilogue made me SCREAM so here's hoping that this won't stay a standalone. I need more!

3,5 stars rounded up to 4 for this incredibly entertaining, beautiful read.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

Before I start with my review, I want to mention that the formatting of this e-arc was not good. The beginning of every chapter was chaotic and didn’t work reading it. It did however, made me curious of the illustration every chapter begins with.

The first half of the book was really good, I got into the story easily and the characters where interesting. The second half of the story made me annoying because it was for me obvious which way it was going and I got bored while reading it. The last part of the book went really fast as if the writer had to put a closing to it fast.

Thanks to Hodder & Staughton for providing me with an e-ARC on NetGalley.

Before I get into the actual review, I have to mention that the formatting of this e-ARC was really not good. It definitely affected my enjoyment and flow of the book, and I think it contributed to my low rating.
The beginning of each chapter had pages out of order, and several pages of some image that was barely recognisable as anything. Sentences would either run into each other or be scattered across several lines vertically. I felt the need to say this beforehand as I feel I would have enjoyed the book more if I could read it as a book is intended to be read.

Using CAWPILE this book got a 4.71/10 which equates to a whole star rating of 3* (just about).

The first 30% of this book was really promising. I enjoyed the two main characters, I was excited to see where the story went and how they would interact as this book was pitched as Zutara (the Zuko and Katara ship pairing from Avatar: The Last Airbender).

However, once we got to the palace setting the pacing started jumping all over the place and I began to not care about the characters. It was very obvious where the plot beats were going, and overall the story became quite predictable. The parts where we met "Soul Beasts" were hampered by there being no italics for them speaking, just plain text, and the scenes were extremely short.

I think this book needed much more editing before getting to this stage as it read like a standalone yet was very short, but there was an epilogue that made it seem like there would be a sequel. A lot of the scenes were rushed, especially the climax, and I felt really disconnected from the story as a whole.

The characters were good in the beginning but I felt it didn't go anywhere - the two main characters became close too quickly and there wasn't a true "enemies-to-lovers" feel about it as all was forgiven in the end anyway.

I think fewer scenes and settings would have done this book a service. I feel the formatting of the e-ARC has done it a disservice. I won't be continuing if there is a sequel, unfortunately.

WHOA!

So first of all, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

I saw comparisons to Avatar: the last airbender and was incredibly intrigued- and ooooh boy that comparison lived up to the hype! I loved this. The pacing was very quick and engaging to read and kept me hooked all the way through.

I highly recommend this book! (And also look at the covers- both the US and UK covers are so nice!)

I LOVE it!!

I kept hearing of the Zutara vibes in Jade Fire Gold and immediately was like „WHERE DO I SIGN UP?“ I was really really scared that I might not enjoy the story, because to me it sounded like a difficult read, BUT it‘s not at all!

It‘s a really light read and the story is also very easy to follow.
I was offended whenever I had to put it down, because I wanted to keep reading and follow Ahn and Altan through their journey.

June‘s writing style is beautiful and as I said really easy to follow, I‘d say that non-native English speakers could follow the story line - I still hope there‘ll be a German edition in the near future tho!

I just pre-ordered it a couple of months ago (and also send a request for the eArc) and I don‘t regret pre-ordering i at all!
I‘m even more excited now, to own a physical copy in a couple of months!

All in all 5 stars!

An interesting start to which will probably be a new YA fantasy series. I enjoyed the alternative POV chapters. The story was interesting. For my tests their was a good balance of romance and political intrigue.

<i>I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i>


<b>"History is never written by its victims."</b>
Diving into <i>Jade Fire Gold</i> all I could make up from the description was all the Zutara's vibes (that I'm a simp for). After I'm finished, I stick to the statement that you'd get a lot of this kind of content, mixed with main character being like Bu Qi from <i>I will never let you go</i> (2019 wuxia drama). And that is a good thing, can't pass on that!
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/32beae7c1a3d799cd6356a3fbe41e4a8/a4d374838848e7c3-a9/s500x750/d0c2a276c288d5934ce751d3423b0fbfe1007ca2.gifv" width="400" height="auto" alt="description"/>
<b>"There's no law against giving gifts to strangers."</b>
Ahn is an orphan, that struggles to make ends meet for her and adotpive grandma that brought her up for the last ten years. Living in the village nearby, one day she goes to a town square to grab something to eat. Grab, not buy, and of course she had to be spotted to whom she becomes the <i>Mangosteen Girl</i>, until the fate brings them together again. She'd be living her normal, poor life until this day, if only she didn't have that tiny spark of magic, that was a death order in their world.
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/887901205e438596c1e572c024863dcc/tumblr_o1zq1cz1EX1uwqlxko1_250.gifv" width="400" height="auto" alt="description"/>
<b>"The world thinks I'm dead. And I want to keep it that way."</b>
<i>Altan</i> was on the run from the palace with his mother and sister, as they're escaping their enemies. Soon enough, the golden boy became the only one that survived. Since that day, he travels the land on the search for the Life Stealer and legendary blade, to save the world and prove to everyone the future is not doomed to failure. On his quest for redemption and revenge, he keeps running into once a peasant girl, now a lady of the Inner Court.
<img src="https://unbotheredunnies.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/tumblr_pnn7m62sgt1ssr5ymo2_540.gif?w=377&h=161" width="400" height="auto" alt="description"/>
<b>"You're scared, arent you? You're frightened of your own magic. You fear... yourself."</b>
As I've mentioned before, entering the world Tan created I didn't know much of what to expect, and as a fan of many chinese historical dramas I can admit that I am satisfied with the result. We're introduced to an entertaining squad of characters, pains of the past with a conclusion that everyone have their ghosts that're following them through life, and our dreams are deceiving, no matter how much we keep believing in them.
I only wish I could've been more involved in characters feelings, I didn't get that connected with them, but with the epilogue I can happily assume we'll be getting a sequel. There's still more to discover and I'm here for it!

Equal parts winsomely energetic and weightily peril-ridden, Jade Fire Gold is a fresh and fiery first foray into fantasy that forks out on its promise of a politically wily escapade of fantastical proportions. Tan is enthusiastically faithful to the plentiful wellsprings of tradition plucked from and fashioned into the undercurrent of tensions and unfolding events of Jade Fire Gold, fleshing out an engaging premise with earnest prose that enables an easy fondness for its eclectic patchwork ensemble of protagonists. What pared down the experience for me personally was that it does falter a fair bit with frequent problems in the plot's pacing (and the wanting expansion of some foundations of the world-building and elaboration of the particulars of its warring factions and ploys for power), which'll probably be worked out by the final printing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫