Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Ciudad de Jade

Well, glad to be done with this. Unfortunately, I believe Jade City to be pretty overhyped. I was never captivated by this clan rivalry narrative, nor did I care for any of the characters besides Shae and sometimes Anden. Fonda Lee's writing often felt distant and stilted to me, preventing any real sense of connection into the perspectives of the characters and true depth to what makes them tick. And I simply didn't enjoy to read about many of them. Hilo was an arrogant and shortsighted idiot who annoyed me to death. I understand that's intentional and there's surely an arc he goes through. But It's one thing where an author can write unlikeable characters like Hilo and still make you care and attached to them (Joe Abercrombie being the best example of this). Sadly that's just not the case here.

I do admit the urban setting grew on me over time after it initially felt quite odd and out of place even though I knew this was the setting ahead of time. I also feel the magic system could become more interesting with how fundamental jade is to the economy and political landscape, even though I did feel let down by how vaguely the different enhancements are described and explored.

Ultimately, I'm just left feeling absolutely nothing at the end of the book. Very unlikely that I'll give Jade War a chance, but who knows. My completionist brain is a curse sometimes.

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dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-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

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widowrites's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. The family draws you in despite their flaws. The plot is tense and keeps you on the edge of your seat. The only reason it didn’t get five stars is that there are chunks of story that felt unnecessary. It made the book feel long when otherwise it might not have.

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