Reviews

The Dragon Earl by Jade Lee

kelseycarter's review

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4.0

I’ve reread this book many times and enjoy it every time. The only problem I have is I expect a slightly different ending and am always disappointed when it doesn’t happen.

Adore the character building of Jacob and Evelyn. From proper English woman to one that wants to embrace the world along with tragic childhood experienced monk coming back to the English way. They complimented each other very well in my opinion.

bookfortbuilder's review

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Not a good time to read this.  See TW. 
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militantlyromantic's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Jacob, our male protag, was born heir to an Earldom.  Then, when he was ten, his father and his mother took him and his sister to China--it is not clear why.  There's some indication this was pure wanderlust.  It clearly was not approved of by the Earl's family.  It's also hard to say, though, because the only three living beings who can weigh in are the current Earl, Jacob's uncle, who may or may not have had Jacob's family murdered, his cousin Christopher, who is in line for the title, and Jacob, who was ten.  Regardless, Jacob's entire family, sans him, was killed by bandits, who were paid to murder them, and the servant who escaped failed to mention that Jacob was still alive.  As such, Jacob was raised in a Chinese monastary.

By the time we meet him, Jacob identifies as Jie Ke, and his main goal in life is to become a Buddhist monk.  However, the order won't let him in until he goes and settles his affairs back in England, including claiming the woman he was betrothed to before his family's ill-fated trip.

Enter Evelyn Stanton, said betrothed, who is happily getting married to Christopher, Jacob's cousin, the current heir, and her friend.  She would like to get on with the business of being a countess, since she's been trained to it her whole life, and also she would really like to have sex, and that requires getting married, since Chris is pretty invested in Evelyn being proper.  Lee writes the hypocrisy of how forcibly constructed Evelyn has been by others pretty amazingly:

"[Evelyn] shrugged and lifted her face to his.  Would he kiss her?  He frowned instead.  Chris didn't like her to be so easy with him, so familiar.  A countess had to be wooed, he said."

There are two main emotional storylines/character journeys in this book.  The first is Jacob's need to let go of his anger and fear and the burning need for vengeance on whomever killed his family.  While reasonable, it's not helping him.  He's already killed the bandits--something that did not bring him the relief he expected, instead, brought him more shame--but his intention is to find whomever is behind the murders and kill them.  In large part, this appears to be Jacob's way of having some type of control in a world where he has had very little since he was ten.  The Chinese do not see him as one of theirs--he discusses having been used for sex out of curiosity, and the way he is treated differently than the other monk apprentices--but the English certainly no longer have any interest in claiming him.  

Evelyn, meanwhile, has been molded so firmly into a Future Countess, into whom she is Supposed to Be, it takes her a while to realize there's even a layer underneath that, let alone several.  And it takes her much longer to start fighting against that training, to truly consider who she might be without the label, who she wants to be.

Both of these journeys have to do with self-conception and the choice to follow one's own path.  Lee does an excellent job, however, of also making them about the mutual support and enthusiastic consent in a relationship, without overplaying her hand:

"Every interaction between [Evelyn and Jacob] had been without pressure for her to act in one way or another.  Even when she had gone to his fight, he had acted to protected her, had forcefully pointed out her errors in judgment, but there had been no suggestion of punishment or desire to orchestrate her actions.  In short, Jie Ke asked where Christopher told.  He advised, Christopher decreed."

Their relationship is slow burn despite them being almost immediately physically attracted to each other.  And when it comes together, it makes sense because the ways they build each other up and not just fulfill but actively better one another cannot be questioned.

Another thing I appreciated about this book is that Christopher isn't evil.  He's a man of his time, but he's not a bad person.  When Jacob asks of Christopher the one thing he really needs, Christopher tells him he will come through for him, and Jacob believes him.  There are a lot of threads left hanging in some ways by this book, for example: we never find out the murderer.  Jacob rescinds the title, and he can't be a monk, so it's unclear how the two of them will make their way forward.  In a genre that as a general rule ties things up neatly, it does feel a little weird.  The thing is, we, as the reader, don't need any of that information.  The emotional arc of the book has been completed, and in some ways, telling us that would undermine that completion.
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jacqueline1989's review

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4.0

The story of a lost heir to the earldom of a rich family, Jacob and his family traveled to China when he was a boy and they never returned. On the day of Evelyn's wedding to Christopher, her bethrothed after her bethrothed Jacob was assumed dead with his parents, Jacob interrupts the ceremony, calling himself Jie Kie, and claims his rights to the title and Evelyn. Wanting to only return to China and be a monk, Jacob must prove to Zhi Min that he has tasted his true english life and hate it. Falling in love with Evelyn, the two do return to China yet Jacob no longer desire to be a monk but rather a husband.

As a whole this novel was amazing to the point that my only critism came at the last few pages of the novel. In my opinion, I felt the end of the book seemed a bit rushed and hurried. Lee seemed to cram the book together at the end of the book and the booked seemed to just die. Despite this the characters were strong, there were very interesting plot points, and many comical moments in the novel. Over all, not a bad read.
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