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adventurous
challenging
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual content
Minor: Pedophilia
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
adventurous
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Self harm
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Murder
Minor: Mental illness, Torture
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Grief
adventurous
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Grief, Murder
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
- Do you love stories like The Godfather or Succession but wish they included magic? JADE CITY is the book for you! Warring clans with intricate hierarchies and long histories vie for territory as the younger generation jockeys for power. Plus, excellent fight scenes.
- As much as I enjoyed this story, I can't talk about it without discussing the anti-fat bias woven through it, which really dragged everything down for me. Most minor characters weren't given physical descriptions unless they were fat. Then, every time they were mentioned, so was their fatness, and it never had any bearing on what was happening in that scene. Poor Chancellor Son was forever pursing his "thick lips," drumming his "sausage fingers" or heaving himself up on his "heavy elbows." Recruits who clearly weren't going to make it into the ranks of the clans were "clever, but pudgy," or "doughy and insipid." These fat characters were all shown as being lazy or incompetent in one way or another, often described as having once been formidable warriors who now ate and drank too much. If a character was described as being hardworking, loyal, etc., their size usually wasn't mentioned.
- This is not me telling you to cancel this book and this author - I just want to point out how pervasive these stereotypes are, and how often we don't even notice them in our stories (especially in fantasy, where the protagonists are usually thin and able bodied.) Read the book if the story sounds good to you, but go in aware of this aspect of it.
- As much as I enjoyed this story, I can't talk about it without discussing the anti-fat bias woven through it, which really dragged everything down for me. Most minor characters weren't given physical descriptions unless they were fat. Then, every time they were mentioned, so was their fatness, and it never had any bearing on what was happening in that scene. Poor Chancellor Son was forever pursing his "thick lips," drumming his "sausage fingers" or heaving himself up on his "heavy elbows." Recruits who clearly weren't going to make it into the ranks of the clans were "clever, but pudgy," or "doughy and insipid." These fat characters were all shown as being lazy or incompetent in one way or another, often described as having once been formidable warriors who now ate and drank too much. If a character was described as being hardworking, loyal, etc., their size usually wasn't mentioned.
- This is not me telling you to cancel this book and this author - I just want to point out how pervasive these stereotypes are, and how often we don't even notice them in our stories (especially in fantasy, where the protagonists are usually thin and able bodied.) Read the book if the story sounds good to you, but go in aware of this aspect of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol
Minor: Rape
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As 'fantasy kung-fu film' was not immediately a selling point for me, Jade City is a book I wouldn't have read were it not for book club. Despite that, the opening chapter made me reconsider my position. I love heists and stories with lots of betrayal, and Jade City seemed to promise both. The prose was easy to read, too, which hasn't always been the case with book club books. Even so, I did find sometimes find my attention slipping from passages primarily concerned with world-building or backstory.
The characters were sympathetic and interesting — I particularly enjoyed Anden and Wen, though I wondered if Anden's LGBTQ+ identity was a bit tacked-on. It added a little to his subplot, but it felt like a wasted opportunity to explore it in more depth. Perhaps that's just a casualty of Jade City being definitely an ensemble piece, rather than focused tightly on any one character.
Plot-wise, for me, Jade City was a little lacklustre. I found myself questioning who wanted what, and whether I particularly cared whether or not they got it. This was most apparent in Lan's and Hilo's plots. Hilo wanted revenge, obviously, but for something I knew he didn't have all the facts about, which made it somewhat difficult to care. On this score, Shae’s plot was more compelling.
I enjoyed some of the small details — especially the way Fonda Lee handled luck, making it into a supposed force in her world made certain instances of narrative convenience much more interesting. Overall, Jade City was a good foundation, but it left me wanting something a bit deeper.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Murder, Colonisation