Reviews tagging 'Death'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

172 reviews

chrisb913's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Fonda Lee knocked it out of the park with this first book of the series. We follow the Kaul family who are the leaders of the No Peak clan in Janloon. Lee does a fantastic job mixing western mafia movie styles with asian inspired Yakuza gangs, a whole lot of martial arts, and a magic system that is incredibly unique and intriguing. The book follows the 3 siblings of the Kaul family, their "cousin" Anden, and the most hated character ever of Bero (read it to find out) as they try to survive life in Janloon as events surrounding them push everything head first into a gang war with the Mountain clan. The character development was splendid. The magic system was so well thought out and the world building was chef's kiss. This is a definite recommend for anyone that is a fan of the godfather series and I cannot wait for more.
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skillyillian's review against another edition

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It's.. I'm so bored. It reads like Stephen King. Could partially be bc the narrator is a man, but I'm just? I don't care for the gang/mafia angle as much as I thought I would? I've heard SO many good things about this, it's highly rated, but I just can't get into it. I got 26% in and just didn't care about any of the characters. It's a mix between a complex mafia/family history and a literal history textbook and I'm just not vibing with it.
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drehana's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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marippe's review against another edition

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4.5

"Family was duty. Blood was destiny. And jade was the key to it all."

The world building in this was fun, I felt like I could really imagine the world that's so dedicated to jade! It does feel a little slow to start with but it transitions to action very nicely. 

The range of characters is nice, they all felt different and you can understand why each character thinks the way they do. It can be hard to track all the characters so having a list in front of you is a good idea lmao. I like there was a lean into the emotions of war but I wish I felt more connected/emotional. I did like it though, it was a nice start.
I particularly like Bero's thought process
when he "killed" Lan and received no recognition for it.


I've heard it just gets better in the next few books so I'm excited to contnue!
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pri_lakshmi's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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lejones1785's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.25

I had a tough time with this book, and I was really looking forward to reading it. It seemed like a lot of space in the story is just filler. Jade this, jade that, jade is worth ruining a city for. The characters are so smart, the characters have inner turmoil, on and on without much real substance. The main scenes in the book are over in a matter of moments, so there wasn't really any payoff for the filler material. It felt like this book was just for world and character building, so maybe the second book has more story?
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dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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

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widowrites's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. The family draws you in despite their flaws. The plot is tense and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The only reason it didn’t get five stars is that there are chunks of story that felt unnecessary. It made the book feel long when otherwise it might not have.
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mari_is_here's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-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

5.0

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lemonsforyu's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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