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Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Grief, War
Plot: A unique magic system surrounding Jade. This book follows a family of characters with the unique ability to wield Jade. Their clan is the second largest and only time will tell if they stay on top.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5.
TW: violence, death, cursing, open door romance M/F
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, War
The characters are so well written that seem tangible, with defects and strengths like every human being. Their feelings played an important part in the story and I believed every single one, because they were reasonable, they reacted like any person would do in their situation.
Finally, the world felt really well developed. I find it very cool!
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Torture, Alcohol
Minor: Torture
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Dementia
Even though there were parts of the book that were slower than others, and the action does take time to ramp up, every detail is so important. Hilo took time to grow on me, but he's such an interesting character and I can't wait to see how Fonda Lee fleshes him out even more in the sequel. I loved Lan, Shae, and Anden (especially Shae and Anden!) right off the bat.
Spoilers for Shae and Anden.
Als screw you Doru and Kaul Sen. There's no way Kaul Sen didn't know.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Pedophilia
Minor: Drug abuse
Fonda Lee doesn't waste one sentence and I have nothing but respect for her exquisite writing and character development. I was so impressed with the level of depth, complexity, and uniqueness that all of her characters are imbued with. I was constantly holding my breath to know what happened next, and despite having plenty of books currently in my queue, I kept coming back to this one first.
There were multiple times throughout where I was truly shocked by the turn of events or the culmination of a plotline. Lee isn't afraid to make big moves to advance the story and I was gripped by every one of them.
I am a bit squeamish about gory violence, so I was concerned I'd hit a point in this book and not want to continue. I will say that none of the violence feels gratuitous and it's done with a purpose. That being said, this book is definitely dark and there were many times when I was gutted by a major revelation or character's actions. It all feels incredibly real, which I think helps this novel stand apart from many other fantasy stories where you have immortal or seemingly indestructible protagonists; Lee's characters bleed and die as any other human, despite their use of the magic gemstone of jade which imbues them with special magical abilities and strength.
I have seen a lot of other reviews that complain about the complex political storylines, but I found them incredibly compelling, as they bring in outside forces that the clans must contend with.
I know I'm setting myself up for more heartbreak (it feels inevitable) but I absolutely cannot wait for book two and have a feeling that I will devour it just as quickly as I did Jade City.
Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, War