Reviews with content warning for Death - Jade War

I devoured this book in 2 days omg. I loved being back into this world. Naturally, the world is much bigger in book 2 and I didn’t expect anything less of Fonda Lee. New characters are introduced, we get the epic fights scenes, politics, family dynamics from book 1.

I never knew Fonda was going to take the story and I enjoyed watching it all unfold. I had 0 predictions and was emotionally distraught over several part of the book. I shouted in disbelief twice, jaw hung open in several moments, and cried at the last 100 pages 😭

Knocked off 0.25 because of the massive time skips. I need it slapped in the page how much time has passed because I can’t do maths. This book spans over 3 years I believe?

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iloponis's review against another edition

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4.0

so i initially didnt love this bc i dont understand a lot of the political/geographical conflicts and they bored me, but everything came together so wildly in the end that it was worth it

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velorum's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This got dark QUICK.

“My grandfather taught me that if a friend asks for your forgiveness, you should always give it […] He also taught me that if you have to give it again, that they weren’t a friend to begin with.”

Lee really ups the ante in this installment: shifty morals, blow after detrimental blow for the Kaul clan, added geopolitical intrigue, and you can’t have a universe this expansive without betrayal! These people are horribly conniving and BAD, and I am just beside myself by how much I’ve grown to care for them!

Again, I need the next one.

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reddeddy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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lunep's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am...speechless, like Fonda Lee herself said in the aknowledgments, this was even bigger and more ambitious than Jade City, and Jade City was already very big and ambitious, it was a very tough act to follow, but Jade War did it amazingly. I had no idea what was going to happen in this book, after the events of the first one, considering

the first one is called Jade City but it shows all out clan war, and in Jade War the Pillars make a public truce lmao

, but it had me hooked from the first moment, so much so that I don't know when I'll be able to read Jade Legacy because I'm back at working on my thesis with a class-like schedule and my director gives me deadlines and I can't let myself get obssesed with a book and being incapable of working lmao (same reason why I haven't watched the atla live action)
Also because my last review was long but focused on what I didn't like, I want to give more depth to my positive reviews so I'm gonna make a couple positive comments about what stayed with me the most:

This book made me absolutely adore Wen. She didn't have too much screen time in the first, and her character at the beggining was clouded by Shae's view of her, so I loved getting to see more of her this book, and what we saw of her. I loved how she was there for Shae when Shae went trough rough patches, and how both of them helped each other and truly became friends and sisters. I loved how she wasn't scared of doing whatever she could to help her clan, and how she knew what her strenghts were and played to them. She's just amazing
and I hope she gets better on book 3, I was seriously so scared at the end of the book when she, Anden, and Rohn Toro got attacked, I was literally screaming at my ipad
I also loved Anden's growth, he was already one of my favorite characters from book 1, and I felt so much for him at the end of it and at the beggining of this one, but I'm glad to see he grew onto himself more fully. He's my baby

I'm very intrigued to see what happens now in Jade Legacy, but I'm also terrified lmao. I want the Kauls to be happy but honestly this series gives me very big tragedy vibes, like, how are they going to be able to live happy and in peace after all the bloodshed that has happened? This all started bc of Lan's death, and so many more people have died so far, how can it be possible for one side to survive and have no enemies trying to get revenge without having to wipe the whole side of their enemies? And how could they live in peace afterwards knowing they killed so many people? I can't wait to see how Fonda Lee ties everything up

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praaliine's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i definitely liked this a lot more than jade city. was it a life changing read? almost. was it well-written and enjoyable af? YES. although this book is not wholly character driven, the characters are still the lifeblood of this story, so much that it feels like i’m reading an exclusively character driven book. i’m deeply interested in all the characters (minus bero. why is he even there?), and funny enough, they give me a lot to think about in real life.

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elizas's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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