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A review by abby_ace_of_books
Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen
4.0
Steampunk vibes, a mini murder mystery, angsty princes with mysterious motives, and metallic dragons? This book really took a bunch of my favorite book tropes and tossed them into one story.
Of Jade and Dragons is a "silkpunk" retelling of Mulan with plenty of action, mystery, and banter. I'm a big fan of steampunk/silkpunk settings, so I really enjoyed the vibes of the worldbuilding. The only thing I would suggest is possibly a family tree written out for the High Commander and his fourteen sons...because all of the names blurred together after a while. Also, I noticed a lot of the biggest complaints about this book involved it feeling very YA, but I didn't mind it as much.
The story begins with the murder of Ying's father, who was once a famous engineer for the empire. Determined to uncover the assassin, she swears to infiltrate the Engineer's Guild (as they left a note warning her not to investigate) disguised as her brother. Between a handful of engineering trials, Ying's alliance with the mysterious prince Ye-yang, and several more assassination attempts, I found the story to be paced quite well. I saw a review saying there should have been a higher focus on mystery than the engineering trials, which I agree with a little bit given the ending, but I still enjoyed it. Also, the ending and the implications set up for a very interesting sequel.
As far as characters go, there were a fair amount of them who weren't super relevant, so I didn't really care for them. Of the main three, Ye-yang was probably my least favorite. I liked him at first, but then I kind of got bad vibes from him (although I'm excited about his character arc). I liked Ye-kan much more because of his banter with Ying and how he acted like a younger brother. I also liked Ying as a protagonist, although I'm more excited about her arc in the sequel as well.
Of Jade and Dragons is a YA "silkpunk" Mulan retelling with plenty of drama, intrigue, and mystery that acts as the beginning of a promising new series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
4/5
Of Jade and Dragons is a "silkpunk" retelling of Mulan with plenty of action, mystery, and banter. I'm a big fan of steampunk/silkpunk settings, so I really enjoyed the vibes of the worldbuilding. The only thing I would suggest is possibly a family tree written out for the High Commander and his fourteen sons...because all of the names blurred together after a while. Also, I noticed a lot of the biggest complaints about this book involved it feeling very YA, but I didn't mind it as much.
The story begins with the murder of Ying's father, who was once a famous engineer for the empire. Determined to uncover the assassin, she swears to infiltrate the Engineer's Guild (as they left a note warning her not to investigate) disguised as her brother. Between a handful of engineering trials, Ying's alliance with the mysterious prince Ye-yang, and several more assassination attempts, I found the story to be paced quite well. I saw a review saying there should have been a higher focus on mystery than the engineering trials, which I agree with a little bit given the ending, but I still enjoyed it. Also, the ending and the implications set up for a very interesting sequel.
As far as characters go, there were a fair amount of them who weren't super relevant, so I didn't really care for them. Of the main three, Ye-yang was probably my least favorite. I liked him at first, but then I kind of got bad vibes from him (although I'm excited about his character arc). I liked Ye-kan much more because of his banter with Ying and how he acted like a younger brother. I also liked Ying as a protagonist, although I'm more excited about her arc in the sequel as well.
Of Jade and Dragons is a YA "silkpunk" Mulan retelling with plenty of drama, intrigue, and mystery that acts as the beginning of a promising new series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
4/5