Reviews tagging 'War'

Jade City by Fonda Lee

92 reviews

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Cursing, Death, Toxic relationship, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Xenophobia, Drug use, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Confinement, and Addiction

Minor: Racism

vnderseelie's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The overall setting of Jade City was amazing and the structures of the clans and Kekons society was intriguing. However, most if them were introduced too late in the story for my opinion and that made it difficult to understand them from time to time. As a reader you are treated as if you already know everything about the terms, phrases, gods, etc. that are mentioned in the book and I feel like some points have not been addressed at all and you are forced to accept them as they are.

The characters are really interesting and actually carry a lot of the story, since their flaws and decisions let the events progress and escalate further, which makes them feel alive and well merged with the world Fonda Lee built. Nevertheless, a lot of the actions that the characters took did not make a lot of sense in specific situations or were needlessly cruel, even given the topics the book deals with. Especially the grandfather gave the impression that he just appeared to talk the others down. Additionally, I really disagreed with some scenes and the behavior in them, which made it hard for me to continue the book sometimes.

Some scenes felt a bit too long or they were repeated in almost the same way too often, which made them repetitive to read and it seemed to just add to the page count of the book, without providing a real impact on anything.

All in all the idea of Jade City was really interesting to me, but I think the actual translation into the story was lacking in my opinion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Addiction, Child abuse, War, Violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Drug use, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Racism, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Cursing, and Death

elizas's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

This book deserves its excellent reputation, but I had trouble getting into it. The opening chapter is from the POV of a self-centered teenage boy, Bero, and it wasn’t until the second chapter that I realized that I wasn’t supposed to like him.  Kaul Hilo, also a major character, presents initially as an overly macho posturer. Kaul Shae, who became my favorite character, is introduced at a moment when her life is in pieces, and it takes her a while to realize where her destiny lies.

Overall, however, this three-book series is some of the most innovative and dramatic fantasy of the last ten or fifteen years. The decades-long blood feud between the Kauls of the No Peak clan and the Eits of the Mountain clan ebbs and flows. It’s a drama of move and counter-move, and each time you think one clan is winning, the other clan makes a surprise move.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, and War

jackiepreston's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, War, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Misogyny, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Torture

lauralfp's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

lonelylooper's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Torture, Violence, Physical abuse, Bullying, Addiction, Grief, Murder, Death, Gore, Gun violence, War, Drug use, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Racism

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Suicide, Misogyny, and Homophobia

jasannalise's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

i can respect the hustle - this book was well written, deeply thought out and had strong, intriguing, original elements. i was expecting it to live up to the poppy war (which was my mistake) and felt as though there was an element absent that maintained an impersonal distance between me and the characters. the length of this novel is noticeable but felt very rewarding to finish it. would  recommend still, and look forward to continuing the series!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and War

Moderate: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Cursing, Suicide, and Torture

noisivweneht's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book… holy shit… had me in tears at the end. The way it ended was frustrating not in a bad way just like I just wanted peace for the family. Can’t wait to get into the the next two books. 

Looking forward to the character development in the next two books. Hopeful at least because if specifically one person doesn’t change that will be the death of them. 


I really want to give it 5 stars and maybe I will but I will update that once I get off the high of the book.  I just finished it and I usually think books are better immediately after finishing them than they tend to be. That being said, this book genuinely is so well written and emotional. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I don’t think there was a moment where I felt it was dragged on or that I wished for it to be over. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pedophilia, War, Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Gore, Dementia, Drug use, Grief, Drug abuse, Ableism, and Violence

kaylasbewks's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

DNFed at 65%

This was way too slow for me. The characters didn't feel fleshed out, I didn't care for any of them, the women were wrote as some kind of separate species (didn't pass the Bechdel test either, not a surprise there) and the MMC was quite literally just a brat. I didn't want to DNF this as it's been loved by so many, but I truly couldn't get myself to read another page. The 'heart-wrenching' moments had absolutely no impact on me either, so I wasn't interested in the plot or characters themselves and I didn't even feel emotionally impacted. Bleh! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Gun violence, Drug use, Sexual content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rubybastille's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Epic, beautiful, incredible. Elements of anime, 80s Hong Kong action flicks, and Eastern religion blended expertly with The Godfather. For a story where I didn't necessarily like or approve of all the leads (Hilo is charismatic and brave, but short-tempered and lowkey sexist), it certainly kept my attention in a way I didn't expect. I'd say this is a slow-burn, chess game of a book for someone comfortable with nuanced, sometimes unlikable protagonists.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Murder, and War

Minor: Homophobia