A review by readsinbloom
Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

3.5

“Of Jade and Dragons” by Amber Chen can be described as mulan with engineering plus a murder mystery. The protagonist, Ying, disguises herself as a man to join the exclusive men-only engineer’s guild after her father, who was a member, has been murdered to discover who was behind it. 

In order to become a member of the engineer’s guild, one must compete in a set of trials. I love when books have trials or games that someone must win. I do wish that the trials had been a more substantial part of the plot or were more intense, but I really enjoyed this part of the book. I was really rooting for Ying and it was super fun to read the trials. Outside of the trials, I felt the book was slow at times. 

There are two main male characters throughout the book: Ye-yang and Yekan. Both sons of the emperor that aid Ying throughout her journey. Personally, I favored Yekan to Ye-yang. However, this was not a love triangle situation. Chen created very loveable and intriguing characters throughout this book.

Overall, I think this is a great YA fantasy that can be read by any age!

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!