Reviews - Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

1.12k reviews for:

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

Xiran Jay Zhao

4.08 AVERAGE

notesonbookmarks's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Super cliffhanger ending. I think the it's liked this one pretty well but it felt very repetitive to me and while I liked learning the Chinese history pieces, I didn't love the rest.

frannieman's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous informative mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

katyboo52's review against another edition

4.0

A well paced, exciting middle grade read, this does for Chinese mythology what Rick Riordan did for Greek and Roman mythology. Zachary Ying is a misfit in his local school in California. Bullied because he is Chinese, he puts up with the racism of his 'friends' to find some level of tolerable acceptance. Everything changes when during a virtual battle in the gaming world that Zachary loves, he finds himself inhabited by an ancient emperor of China and drawn into a world where myth, technology and reality blend into an overwhelming whirlwind with him in the centre. The first of a series, the first book delivers in spades and promises more to come.

soteriae's review against another edition

2.0

2.5 Stars

coteenlitcon's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous

Yes, you shouldn't judge books by their covers, but a great one never hurts! Xiran was a keynote at our 2022 conference and really connected with our teens!