Reviews

The first 2 books were ok. 3-4 stars. By the time I got to the third book I found that I just stopped caring about ANY of the characters. The kaul family is just as bad as the ayt family. They just aren't good people. I am curious enough that I will look around for play-by-play spoilers but it just feels like rehashing the other books. Why can't the Kaul family have a "good" family member that isn't blood thirsty. At the beginning of the series I had hopes for Shae because she was smart enough to remove herself from a toxic family but she came right back with little hesitation. I could rant on and on but I know I am very much in the minority so rant over.

Content Warnings

laurenjbryant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? No

5.0

Idk if anything can top this. This might have ruined fantasy for me 😭 A+++

miaghill's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

katie240's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

mi__ela's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

You’d think it would be easier to face death as you get older, but it doesn’t work that way. You get more attached to life, to people you love and things that are worth living for.

Fonda Lee's love for time jumps (just like the previous 2 books) came in-between my attachment to any of the characters. You'd grow to start liking a character and then she'll send them away for years and then we're supposed to care and root for them.... that's just bad writing.
Aside from a few moments, the book allows almost no time for the characters to reflect on certain events, which, for me at least, wasn't enough, as if a random cut was done halfway through a scene.
I think 25+ years is a lot to cram into this series, and it consequently feels like you flit between scenes, with no time to fully process what has happened.

WHY DID HILO CHEAT ON WEN??? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT ENTIRE PLOTLINE? and they just talked it out and moved on as if he didn't pay for HOOKERS just bc his wife was slightly incapacitated... I stopped caring for Hilo from that point on.

The way Bero's story concluded did not satisfy me. I got the meaning behind it, I think, but I still didn't like it.

Jaya, Niko, and Ru deserved more time for character development considering they're the legacy. Jaya should have had at least a scene at the end with Niko telling her she'll be his Horn when Lott leaves (disappointed we never got a clear prospect for her)

Another thing that bothered me was how throughout this series Fonda seems to overall disregard for her female characters while having well written male characters. I liked Wen and Shae in Jade City quite a lot, by the time I finished Jade Legacy, I either didn't care or felt pity for them because of how they were written and what they endured.

All in all, the last 150 pages were okay, but this was still a disappointing series to me, and every single good review on this saga is payola bc there's no way y'all actually enjoyed this.

michellewalsh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

orion93's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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