Scan barcode
A review by jayati
Jade City by Fonda Lee
5.0
One of my favourite series of all times!
See my full review on my blog
See my interview with the author!
“Two strong-minded women in a man’s world, if they do not quickly become allies, are destined to be incurable rivals.”
Fonda Lee creates a thrilling atmosphere in Jade City as we explore the city of Janloon and read about the growing tension between the rival clans of No Peak and The Mountain. There is a lot of history and world building to be done and it's sprinkled slowly through the book making sure we aren't overloaded with information. However the starting was a little hard to comprehend but you are pulled into the book soon enough, enraptured by the fascinating characters and multiple storylines that are all interconnected.
Janloon, the city in which the book took place, was an exciting place to explore and the author made sure to describe it in painstaking detail that allowed me to feel like I was there! I could clearly envision some parts of the city and especially some places that had been described in my head. With its division between the two gangs, especially when the clan war began and the territories each had was one of the focuses of the book, I loved how precisely everything was explained!
Learning about the clan and it's structure and how each character handles their respective positions was gripping. Each position has it's own requirements and every part of the clan has it's own role to play and seeing the characters attempt to live up to who they should be was riveting. There were a lot of political intricacies also woven in with the clan and how it functioned with the other clans and the government and as a fan of political intrigue, I ate it all up.
There was definitely a learning curve as we got to know about the clan and it's working along with getting acclimated in the city of Janloon but all of it is worth it.
Another element I thoroughly enjoyed was learning about the properties of Jade. Slowly but surely we got to learn more and more about Jade, its uses, mythical origin stories and the status and power it afforded to those who wore it. It's a very important part of the societal structure in Janloon, especially among the clans and seeing how things revolved around it and how people perceived others and themselves based on it was fascinating. The intricracies of how Jade worked and what happened if you took it off were also intriguing and I'm interested to see how Jade further affects the lives of our main characters in the next two books!
But my favourite thing about the book was definitely the characters who were all flawed and very relatable. The Kaul siblings, Lan, Hilo and Shae all had such different and bright personalities that shone through the book and each had different traits that was draw you to them. Although these three are the ones in the spotlight, we still learn a lot about the side characters as well and I found myself hopelessly drawn to Wen and Anden and can not wait to see everything in store for them in the next book.
Kaul Lan is the eldest brother and the Pillar of the clan. He is smart and even-tempered and a perfect leader in all rights. He is respected by everyone and having been taught about how to be Pillar since he was born, great at performing his role. However, this perfect facade cracks slowly as we see more of how he is coping with everything and all the responsibility he has and suffers through everyone's expectations of him and the mistakes he has made.
Hilo is the middle child, the Horn of the clan who is rash, aggressive, easy to anger and prone to dramatic displays. And yet, he has his own charm. He's the 'I hate everyone but my family - for them, I would do anything' character and I have a sweet spot for those. No matter how many mistakes me makes, he always shows up for his family in whatever way he thinks is right and will help them the most and how could you not love him for that?
"No one could deny that Kaul Hilo had a way with his people. It came from a genuine concern, and was a talent more mysterious to Anden than any jade ability."
Lastly we have Shae, the youngest child who was supposed to be right beside her brothers and serve as the Weatherman of the clan. She's resourceful and has a way with numbers and scheming that made her perfect for the position but she chose to instead leave Kekon and go study abroad and forge her own path. She has a complicated past that haunts her and she was just such a fascinating character as we uncovered things about her one by one and I can not wait for more of her in the next books.
The enemy, Ayt Mada was also very captivating and I loved how she made points that made me rethink what I was reading and if she was right, and so did the other characters. I love when there isn't a strictly right or wrong side and every side is just doing their best and this book does that very well. Even as I fall in love with the Kaul family and would do anything to see them safe, I see how Ayt Mada's proposal does seem like a good decision at times and confuses me.
Jade City is a riveting tale filled with politics, romance, family drama and fight for power. It tells a riveting story that you will not be able to put down and I highly recommend it if you want an asian-inspired historical fantasy with political intrigue, a very different magic system and complex characters.
“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master.
On my honor, my life, and my jade.”
blog | instagram | twitter
See my full review on my blog
See my interview with the author!
“Two strong-minded women in a man’s world, if they do not quickly become allies, are destined to be incurable rivals.”
Fonda Lee creates a thrilling atmosphere in Jade City as we explore the city of Janloon and read about the growing tension between the rival clans of No Peak and The Mountain. There is a lot of history and world building to be done and it's sprinkled slowly through the book making sure we aren't overloaded with information. However the starting was a little hard to comprehend but you are pulled into the book soon enough, enraptured by the fascinating characters and multiple storylines that are all interconnected.
Janloon, the city in which the book took place, was an exciting place to explore and the author made sure to describe it in painstaking detail that allowed me to feel like I was there! I could clearly envision some parts of the city and especially some places that had been described in my head. With its division between the two gangs, especially when the clan war began and the territories each had was one of the focuses of the book, I loved how precisely everything was explained!
Learning about the clan and it's structure and how each character handles their respective positions was gripping. Each position has it's own requirements and every part of the clan has it's own role to play and seeing the characters attempt to live up to who they should be was riveting. There were a lot of political intricacies also woven in with the clan and how it functioned with the other clans and the government and as a fan of political intrigue, I ate it all up.
There was definitely a learning curve as we got to know about the clan and it's working along with getting acclimated in the city of Janloon but all of it is worth it.
Another element I thoroughly enjoyed was learning about the properties of Jade. Slowly but surely we got to learn more and more about Jade, its uses, mythical origin stories and the status and power it afforded to those who wore it. It's a very important part of the societal structure in Janloon, especially among the clans and seeing how things revolved around it and how people perceived others and themselves based on it was fascinating. The intricracies of how Jade worked and what happened if you took it off were also intriguing and I'm interested to see how Jade further affects the lives of our main characters in the next two books!
But my favourite thing about the book was definitely the characters who were all flawed and very relatable. The Kaul siblings, Lan, Hilo and Shae all had such different and bright personalities that shone through the book and each had different traits that was draw you to them. Although these three are the ones in the spotlight, we still learn a lot about the side characters as well and I found myself hopelessly drawn to Wen and Anden and can not wait to see everything in store for them in the next book.
Kaul Lan is the eldest brother and the Pillar of the clan. He is smart and even-tempered and a perfect leader in all rights. He is respected by everyone and having been taught about how to be Pillar since he was born, great at performing his role. However, this perfect facade cracks slowly as we see more of how he is coping with everything and all the responsibility he has and suffers through everyone's expectations of him and the mistakes he has made.
Hilo is the middle child, the Horn of the clan who is rash, aggressive, easy to anger and prone to dramatic displays. And yet, he has his own charm. He's the 'I hate everyone but my family - for them, I would do anything' character and I have a sweet spot for those. No matter how many mistakes me makes, he always shows up for his family in whatever way he thinks is right and will help them the most and how could you not love him for that?
"No one could deny that Kaul Hilo had a way with his people. It came from a genuine concern, and was a talent more mysterious to Anden than any jade ability."
Lastly we have Shae, the youngest child who was supposed to be right beside her brothers and serve as the Weatherman of the clan. She's resourceful and has a way with numbers and scheming that made her perfect for the position but she chose to instead leave Kekon and go study abroad and forge her own path. She has a complicated past that haunts her and she was just such a fascinating character as we uncovered things about her one by one and I can not wait for more of her in the next books.
The enemy, Ayt Mada was also very captivating and I loved how she made points that made me rethink what I was reading and if she was right, and so did the other characters. I love when there isn't a strictly right or wrong side and every side is just doing their best and this book does that very well. Even as I fall in love with the Kaul family and would do anything to see them safe, I see how Ayt Mada's proposal does seem like a good decision at times and confuses me.
Jade City is a riveting tale filled with politics, romance, family drama and fight for power. It tells a riveting story that you will not be able to put down and I highly recommend it if you want an asian-inspired historical fantasy with political intrigue, a very different magic system and complex characters.
“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master.
On my honor, my life, and my jade.”
blog | instagram | twitter