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bionerdatgc's review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury
littleskylights's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
A very enjoyable read!
I wouldn't say that it necessarily blew my mind in any way, but it was a fun story, and I enjoyed the characters and the plot. It was pretty obvious from the beginning what the twist was, but it was still interesting to watch it unfold.
I wouldn't say that it necessarily blew my mind in any way, but it was a fun story, and I enjoyed the characters and the plot. It was pretty obvious from the beginning what the twist was, but it was still interesting to watch it unfold.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
sisforsony's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and War
forestmaiden's review
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
One of my favorite books this year and got me out of a slump. Beautiful prose and use of mythology and it was truly a heart wrenching story. I really enjoyed that it read like a fairytale. The twists were great as well!
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
m_a_j's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
kaneebli's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spice Rating: 🌶️.5 / 5
This novel is a love letter to the fated mates trope, and I ate it up.
Sai has only ever known a quiet life taking after his deceased father's teahouse. However, he does have a supernatural power: he can see the red threads of fate that connect soulmates. Every day he sees healthy red threads or even black ones for those whose soulmates have passed on. But his own thread is a strange grey color that he has never seen on anyone else before. Sai is determined to use his power to bring his mother money to cure her illness, but when he tries the miracle cure of a dragon scale, the emperor catches wind and blackmails Sai into finding the last dragon of the east for him. From there, Sai is thrust into a years-long war, foreign lands, and possibly the end to the search for his Fated One.
The Last Dragon of the East is a beautiful story that pays homage to Chinese mythology and shows the lengths people will go to in order to find their soulmates.
Sai is unlike any hero you've met before. He doesn't know how to fight, he's sarcastic, and he's great at making tea. I love his refreshing character and the fun way he banters with other characters. Throughout the novel, Sai's reality is challenged time and time again as he realizes there is so much more to this world, and his life, than he thought.
I can't say much more without spoiling the story, but trust me when I say readers who love a good love story and fated mates who find each other through time will absolutely love The Last Dragon of the East.
This novel is a love letter to the fated mates trope, and I ate it up.
Sai has only ever known a quiet life taking after his deceased father's teahouse. However, he does have a supernatural power: he can see the red threads of fate that connect soulmates. Every day he sees healthy red threads or even black ones for those whose soulmates have passed on. But his own thread is a strange grey color that he has never seen on anyone else before. Sai is determined to use his power to bring his mother money to cure her illness, but when he tries the miracle cure of a dragon scale, the emperor catches wind and blackmails Sai into finding the last dragon of the east for him. From there, Sai is thrust into a years-long war, foreign lands, and possibly the end to the search for his Fated One.
The Last Dragon of the East is a beautiful story that pays homage to Chinese mythology and shows the lengths people will go to in order to find their soulmates.
Sai is unlike any hero you've met before. He doesn't know how to fight, he's sarcastic, and he's great at making tea. I love his refreshing character and the fun way he banters with other characters. Throughout the novel, Sai's reality is challenged time and time again as he realizes there is so much more to this world, and his life, than he thought.
I can't say much more without spoiling the story, but trust me when I say readers who love a good love story and fated mates who find each other through time will absolutely love The Last Dragon of the East.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
fictionandfarming's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars rounding up to 4.
The Last Dragon of the East is a fast-paced and dramatic fantasy romance debut from Canadian author Katrina Kwan. Told from the POV of Sai, a young man struggling to keep his family’s teashop afloat while also caring for his ill mother, the story kicks off quickly and sends Sai on an epic adventure inspired by Chinese legends and myths.
Our introduction to Sai and his regular life is quick and well-executed, displaying his ability to see the red threads of fate and the way the people around him react to his gift before taking us back to the teashop where we meet Sai’s mother. While his mother doesn’t get a lot of page time, the moments we do get are very sweet.
The pacing after Sai finds himself in trouble and sent to find the dragon felt disjointed until we reach the point where he meets Jyn. Once the pair are forced together the pacing begins to feel much more natural and everything begins to really come together.
As far as characters go, Jyn was the highlight for me, the poor woman has really been through it, not to mention the way Sai kept needing to be saved. I would have loved to see more of Feng, but she certainly leaves an impression regardless. I can’t help but feel that Sai is such a big dork (meant affectionately), the man has no sense of self-preservation, but he certainly means well and has such an optimistic attitude to everything.
While I enjoyed the way Kwan told the story, the violence was comically over-the-top and detracted from the story. The sheer amount of violence was heavy-handed and stretched my ability to suspend disbelief, and there was a feeling of dissonance between the romantic/myth storyline and the violence.
Overall, a solid debut from a promising author that will definitely appeal to lovers of soulmates and love stories that feel like the stuff of legend.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada/Saga Press for making the DRC available to me. All opinions are my own.
The Last Dragon of the East is a fast-paced and dramatic fantasy romance debut from Canadian author Katrina Kwan. Told from the POV of Sai, a young man struggling to keep his family’s teashop afloat while also caring for his ill mother, the story kicks off quickly and sends Sai on an epic adventure inspired by Chinese legends and myths.
Our introduction to Sai and his regular life is quick and well-executed, displaying his ability to see the red threads of fate and the way the people around him react to his gift before taking us back to the teashop where we meet Sai’s mother. While his mother doesn’t get a lot of page time, the moments we do get are very sweet.
The pacing after Sai finds himself in trouble and sent to find the dragon felt disjointed until we reach the point where he meets Jyn. Once the pair are forced together the pacing begins to feel much more natural and everything begins to really come together.
As far as characters go, Jyn was the highlight for me, the poor woman has really been through it, not to mention the way Sai kept needing to be saved. I would have loved to see more of Feng, but she certainly leaves an impression regardless. I can’t help but feel that Sai is such a big dork (meant affectionately), the man has no sense of self-preservation, but he certainly means well and has such an optimistic attitude to everything.
While I enjoyed the way Kwan told the story, the violence was comically over-the-top and detracted from the story. The sheer amount of violence was heavy-handed and stretched my ability to suspend disbelief, and there was a feeling of dissonance between the romantic/myth storyline and the violence.
Overall, a solid debut from a promising author that will definitely appeal to lovers of soulmates and love stories that feel like the stuff of legend.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada/Saga Press for making the DRC available to me. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cannibalism
Minor: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
zluvsreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
How the actual heck do I convey my love for this novel? There’s just no way, but I will try I suppose.
This was such a compelling emotional read. The world building was great and I loved the characters that had so much personality.
Sai, my silly little man. He was everything and more to me. I admired his strength and how he handled everything that happened in the last few chapters of the book. He was so down bad for his Fated One, it was amazing to read about. Just overall such a funny character who I will cherish forever and want to protect forever. Sai fan page over here!!
Jyn!! Oh my heart bleeds for Jyn. She’s just such a badass and the fact that she had to deal with what she had to deal with for so long is just like wow. She’s stronger than I ever could be in every way imaginable. I love protective badass FMCs and she was the embodiment of that. It was so funny seeing her interact with Sai when they first met.
Okay, so I just started crying again thinking about the ending like!!!!!! I just think that this is such a great read and everyone should read it. A beautiful fantasy first and foremost but with a love story at the heart of it. The romance was so good, I was giggling and blushing and crying and just like so interested in everything that I was reading.
There’s lots of violence, gore, blood, and just overall death in this but it was written in a way that you can feel it so heavily. I could smell and taste and see and hear everything. All my senses were attuned to this book!!!! Truly no words for how much I love it. Possibly my new favorite romantasy of all time. I love Sai and Jyn and A-Ma. I wish nothing but the best for them.
I love that some characters got what they deserved but oh my god, the swift deaths in this made my heart drop because I was not expecting them at all. My heart hurts. 11/10. I love pain, do it again!
Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for allowing me to read an eARC and Saga Press for providing me with a physical ARC as well.
Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for allowing me to read an eARC and Saga Press for providing me with a physical ARC as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm and Suicidal thoughts
the_alexeli's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
From the beginning, Kwan's writing is vivid and immersive, sweeping you into bith the story and the world. I absolutely adored the various folklore creatures and how eery they were. They helped sink me into the story even more.
The journey is this story is more an adventurous one than a perilous one. But that didn't seem to hinder my enjoyment at all even though I typically like a more action packed plot. I think it helped that Sai was such an endearing and sweet protagonist that you couldn't help but empathize with. Having a soft, sunshine boy be the protagonist of a hetero love story plot line was actually really refreshing.
One thing I would suggest is adding a content warning page. There was a couple pretty heavy themes to be blindsided by.
The journey is this story is more an adventurous one than a perilous one. But that didn't seem to hinder my enjoyment at all even though I typically like a more action packed plot. I think it helped that Sai was such an endearing and sweet protagonist that you couldn't help but empathize with. Having a soft, sunshine boy be the protagonist of a hetero love story plot line was actually really refreshing.
One thing I would suggest is adding a content warning page. There was a couple pretty heavy themes to be blindsided by.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts