"Of Jade and Dragons" is the first installment of "Fall of the Dragon" , an Asian-inspired ya fantasy series written by Amber Chen and currently in progress.

I have been pointing at this book since its announcement, captivated by the intriguing premise and the gorgeous cover. I had pretty high expectations and in the end I was not disappointed! A few things didn't convince me, but overall I enjoyed it so much and am very happy!

The captivating, light and simple writing absorbed me completely, making it hard to tear myself away from the story. I admit that I expected a more evocative and lyrical style, a more epic atmosphere, but in the end I still enjoyed it.

The story takes place in the Antaran Isles, a complex of nine officially recognized islands, diverse in economy, society and geography, ruled by a High Commander. An area with limited resources, in depletion, which finds in the neighboring Great Jade Empire their greatest enemy. The Antaran Isles possess a powerful military arsenal, heavily focused on airships, and place great importance on the prestigious Engineers Guild, which trains and prepares engineers for use in weapons construction and many other fields. I was fascinated by this large and complex world building that mixes fantasy elements with more steampunk ones! I found it to be well described, managed and curated, although not fully explored. I liked the part about the Engineers Guild a lot, but I admit I would have liked to see more about the airships or the infamous Great Jade Empire. The former appear very little up close, limited more to figures in the background to admire, while the latter is mentioned several times but never shown. I hope these aspects will be further explored in the sequel, but otherwise I can only express kudos!

The story proceeds fast and brisk, between lessons, trials, investigations, assassination attempts, deceptions, secrets, lies, power plays, and very enjoyable interactions. I found the whole part about the Engineers Guild and the various trials super interesting, as well as the protagonist's investigations and attempts to kill her. I admit that I detected the various plot twists in advance, but this did not bother me. On the contrary, I was a bit puzzled by the general lack of urgency, of danger. Ying resolves the various situations far too easily, with far too convenient systems and aids. Also, as I mentioned above, the non-appearance of the Great Jade Empire in my opinion removes any sense of tension. Overall, however, the narrative entertained me a lot, so I am satisfied!

Ying, the protagonist with her only third person pov, convinced me. An 18-year-old from the remote island of Huarin, she disguises herself as a boy to infiltrate the Engineers Guild and search for clues about her father's murder. Ying is a determined, courageous, loyal and intelligent girl gifted with a natural talent for engineering and driven by the dream of becoming an engineer. An impossible desire to achieve because admission to the Guild is restricted to men only, at least until she disguises herself as a boy for her investigations.  I enjoyed following her adventures and found her to be well portrayed, although she didn't particularly strike me in terms of expressiveness. Among other things, I struggled to perceive her grief for her father's death, her mourning, and her affection for the brothers and sisters she left at home. I liked Ye-yang, the eighth prince of the High Commander! Ambiguous, mysterious, and taciturn, he captivated me with his enigmatic attitude and his attentiveness to Ying. The relationship that blossoms between the two seemed to me an insta-love really insta, but this did not bother me since it was mixed with excellent slooow burn and lots of angst. The rest of the secondary characters, including academy classmates, masters, and Ying and Ye-yang's relatives conveyed nothing to me and seemed rather shallow and vague.

All in all, "Of Jade and Dragons" is an excellent debut that left me eager to read the sequel!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Of Jade and Dragons was hard to put down. From the first pages, I was enchanted by the detailed and original world-building. With the Engineers Guild as a setting, many fantastical inventions and descriptions of intricate machinery create a unique narrative. The plot is fascinating, with many secrets, intrigues and twists. Apart from the murder mystery, we also have power struggles between the many heirs of the High Commander and their supporters.

There are some brilliant characters in this book who I will miss until the second book comes out. Ying is intelligent, independent and determined to prove her engineering skills. Ye-yang is one of the many sons stuck within the conventions and trying to prove his worth. His younger brother Ye-kan is one of my favourite characters, as he joined the guild examinations in secret and proceeded to be a menace. I’ve seen this novel compared to Mulan, but I think the only connection is the close relationship between Ying and her father and dressing up as a boy.

Also, this novel has an unexpected plot twist towards the end that excites me for the second instalment in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Honestly I struggled to get into this book. Something about the writing just felt very lower YA / Middle Grade when I was expecting something different with an 18-year-old FMC. There was something stilted in the prose which felt unnatural. The world was interesting, I loved the vaguely steampunk elements with airships and chimeras (half beast, half machine). I wish there'd been a little more show and less tell with it though. Would have been great to get some more development of characters too. As for the story, things felt a bit too convenient. I think Ying was wearing top quality plot armour. Everything falls into a place a bit too well. It's a standard coming-of-age, finding yourself story. It just fell a bit short for me.

Overall I think it's more a me issue than the book itself.

If you go in with the expectation of a middle grade book you'll be okay, or have a kid in your life of 12-14 then I think they'd enjoy it a lot!

Ugghh. This book is so juvenile it hurts.

The writing is repetitive, bland, at times nonsensical to the point I wondered where the hell the editor was, and it tells all but shows nothing. Ying was such a weak, nothing protagonist whose voice sounds so much younger than her supposed 18 years. Ye-yang was - certainly there, and I could not for the life of me understand why he got so obsessed with Ying. The story was so goddamn boring with so much issues with pacing I had to skim to save my sanity.

I tried. I really did. But I'm sorry, this was just such a huge miss for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Children's for the ARC

I loved it! This fantasy novel was to immersive and intriguing. I was never bored and really felt for the characters. I was terrified whenever she did something dangerous and that's the sign of a great story. The writing, the worldbuilding, the characters, perfection. I can't say anything other than read it now!

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, I first heard about it before we had a cover and I knew immediately that it was right up my alley, and the gorgeous cover sold me even more.
This was my favorite read of the year so far, I started it this morning and finished it by 5 PM because I just could not stop reading.
There were just so many elements that I usually always love. I rarely come across an Asian-inspired fantasy I don't like, I love sci-fi fantasy, I love Asian academy settings specificially (I've read a couple of books like this and I loved it every single time) and it has some tropes that I'm a big fan of. It's also a Mulan retelling so that makes it even better!

It felt like a mix of The Poppy War and The Hurricane Wars, two titles I really love, especially the former, but of course there were so many unique elements to it as well.
I loved how the book was all about engineering and the FMC getting into the Engineer's Guild, it was such a cool twist.
The worldbuilding in general was great, I really enjoyed the setting and I cannot wait to see how this world is going to expand in the sequels.

Speaking of, I think Of Jade and Dragons did a great job at focusing on the school while also giving a good glimpse of the world outside and it set up the sequels so nicely.

I adore the FMC and her character arc was incredible. I was briefly worried that she was going to be "not like other girls", but I quickly fell in love with her, plus her behavior at the beginning makes sense given that it is a Mulan retelling.

The romance is definitely more of a slow-burn and I can't wait to see how it is going to develop.
I also really enjoyed the other characters and the friendship dynamics were so nice.

Overall, this was a fantastic debut in my opinion and I am already incredibly excited for the sequel!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. I quite enjoyed this one, and it was a fun quick read. I enjoyed the focus on engineering, although I think that the book would have benefited from having a little more detail both in the engineering parts specifically and the general world building. I enjoyed the characters, although again I do think a little more fleshing out of the side characters would have been nice. Overall I would recommend this to YA fantasy readers. It reminded me quite a bit of Spin the Dawn so if you enjoyed that one, I think you will enjoy this too.