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A review by fishky
Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan
3.0
I liked it fine, but it became a slog like 75% of the way through. Here's why: I realized I did not care at all about any of the characters.
Fun for a while, good use of tropes, Henk would say it would make a good anime. We got evil firebending priests, Leslies, scheming MILFS, prophecies, bad guys telling people they are their real dads, hallucinations, Hamlet vibes, characters just barely missing each other before their stories merge, orphans with mysterious pendants, wise old men, kind old ladies, men realizing that revenge is complicated, Enemies to Lovers, etc. But something was missing, like when you're all set for some midnight junk food and all you have is goddamn doughnut Klondike bars.
I think the last was part of the problem-- I didn't see the chemistry between the romantic leads. Or the secondary romance. I found the friendship between the hapless emperor and the FL to be the most compelling, and they got very little screen time together. When you have this many tropes bundled up, for me, the plot becomes pretty inconsequential-- and what makes or breaks the story is just character interactions. Sort of like when we saw The Force Awakens and Seth clapped every time we got a good meeting of our new and old characters or there was a well-done reprisal, which, Seth, if you're reading this, wtf stop reading spoilers! But also I finally get why you did that, even though no one else in the theater did.
Anyway. Generous 3 stars. Clear set up for book 2. Pass.
Fun for a while, good use of tropes, Henk would say it would make a good anime. We got evil firebending priests, Leslies, scheming MILFS, prophecies, bad guys telling people they are their real dads, hallucinations, Hamlet vibes, characters just barely missing each other before their stories merge, orphans with mysterious pendants, wise old men, kind old ladies, men realizing that revenge is complicated, Enemies to Lovers, etc. But something was missing, like when you're all set for some midnight junk food and all you have is goddamn doughnut Klondike bars.
I think the last was part of the problem-- I didn't see the chemistry between the romantic leads. Or the secondary romance. I found the friendship between the hapless emperor and the FL to be the most compelling, and they got very little screen time together. When you have this many tropes bundled up, for me, the plot becomes pretty inconsequential-- and what makes or breaks the story is just character interactions. Sort of like when we saw The Force Awakens and Seth clapped every time we got a good meeting of our new and old characters or there was a well-done reprisal, which, Seth, if you're reading this, wtf stop reading spoilers! But also I finally get why you did that, even though no one else in the theater did.
Anyway. Generous 3 stars. Clear set up for book 2. Pass.