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A review by marimoose
Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 out of 5 stars
I think if I was in my teens or early twenties, I would have eaten this book up. It had everything I would have wanted within the scope of a silkpunk fantasy. The mixture of a sweeping YA story, a secondary romance, all wrapped up in a STEM-inspired plot and backdrop would have been instant catnip.
So I really did wish I read a book like this back then.
Mostly, I was a bit let down on the appearance of the STEM marvels and the lack of actual engineering happening in this book. The premise was cool enough; you have a girl who pretends to be a boy to take part in a set of engineering trials that would get her into a prestigious guild of engineers. It's Mulan but in engineering. However, to add and build up to the story, the girl does this because she is searching for answers about her father's past, and the whereabouts and identity of her father's killer. The story from here branches out to encompass a sweeping theme of following in a father's footsteps and the cost of making the same mistakes.
While I liked the idea itself, and the book was good, don't get me wrong, I felt like some parts were a hit, and others a miss. I loved the trials (even though I ranted about the first one at length at some point), and I wish there had been more focus on the actual applications of the engineering they were learning within the book. Unfortunately, part of the story was this focus on a romance arc that I was only kind of lukewarm over. The male love interest only got interesting the minute I started to see how his life paralleled Ying's, but the romance itself was kind of lackluster. (Again, I probably would have eaten all this angst up in my teens.)
Also, those chapters were looooooong. I needed them cut up a bit more frequently because the pacing threw me off.
I am, however, here for Ye-kan and his antics. I will read the next book for Ye-kan and his antics. And maybe for the potential of generally great villainy that's definitely coming up in the sequel. Here's hoping.
I think if I was in my teens or early twenties, I would have eaten this book up. It had everything I would have wanted within the scope of a silkpunk fantasy. The mixture of a sweeping YA story, a secondary romance, all wrapped up in a STEM-inspired plot and backdrop would have been instant catnip.
So I really did wish I read a book like this back then.
Mostly, I was a bit let down on the appearance of the STEM marvels and the lack of actual engineering happening in this book. The premise was cool enough; you have a girl who pretends to be a boy to take part in a set of engineering trials that would get her into a prestigious guild of engineers. It's Mulan but in engineering. However, to add and build up to the story, the girl does this because she is searching for answers about her father's past, and the whereabouts and identity of her father's killer. The story from here branches out to encompass a sweeping theme of following in a father's footsteps and the cost of making the same mistakes.
While I liked the idea itself, and the book was good, don't get me wrong, I felt like some parts were a hit, and others a miss. I loved the trials (even though I ranted about the first one at length at some point), and I wish there had been more focus on the actual applications of the engineering they were learning within the book. Unfortunately, part of the story was this focus on a romance arc that I was only kind of lukewarm over. The male love interest only got interesting the minute I started to see how his life paralleled Ying's, but the romance itself was kind of lackluster. (Again, I probably would have eaten all this angst up in my teens.)
Also, those chapters were looooooong. I needed them cut up a bit more frequently because the pacing threw me off.
I am, however, here for Ye-kan and his antics. I will read the next book for Ye-kan and his antics. And maybe for the potential of generally great villainy that's definitely coming up in the sequel. Here's hoping.