A review by reyreads
Jade City by Fonda Lee

4.0

I think this book is supremely deserving of all the love it gets! It is artful and extremely well written: the world building is exceptional, the political intrigue tense, the characters unique. I think it occasionally suffers from a certain heaviness that drowns out otherwise stellar aspects. It was quite dense at some points and as a reader, would have much preferred the efforts toward extensive exposition and perspective shifts to be directed to closer character focus. I think Anden is the absolute standout and wish he had more chapters, I felt that he was the character that took me into that world. Near the end, I felt the closeness to Shae and Hilo that I was hoping for throughout, and mourn the fact that it hadn’t come sooner. I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as I expected to, but I also am acknowledging that it’s the first book in a trilogy and I’ll likely love the next two a lot more!