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aargot1's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War
maira_h's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Damn, this was incredible!
For some reason, I thought this was YA, which it obviously was not. (Trigger warnings for violence, depictions of violence, self harm, suicide, drug abuse, addiction)
Yes, this book was action-packed but wow the politics was also top notch, which I didn't expect. The action scenes were written very well. It felt like I was watching an action movie with very well choreographed action sequences. (To be honest, if done well, I could see this book being adapted into a TV series). The politics also played a huge role in establishing how Kekon as a country operates and how these clans can influence what goes on in the country, which was super interesting to read about.
The characters were all very unique individuals, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Each with their own inner conflicts. When I was reading, I didn't find myself connecting to the characters but I was surprised that I was absolutely concerned for them when something particularly bad happened. These characters somehow managed to bury themselves under my skin and into my heart. (Anden, that precious bean. Please protect him at all costs 😌). The deep bond between the Kauls also made my heart ache.
Thank goodness I already have the second book.
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Violence
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
its_kievan's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Death, Gore, Gun violence, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia
sarah984's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
This book really just blew me away. It's a family saga, and a gangster novel, and a story about a formerly isolated nation forced to confront the wider world and figure out how to live alongside it. The world (especially the advantages and drawbacks of jade magic and how that is integrated) is fascinating, and all of the characters feel like real people. This book is long but not a single word feels wasted - everything that comes up even once matters.
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Gore, Xenophobia, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Mass/school shootings, War, and Classism
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Minor: Ableism, Homophobia, Infidelity, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Colonisation
kinomatica's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Kidnapping, Abortion, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
zoeelizabethk's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Some possible cons for some people:
- if you are highly character driven, you might not always have quite enough connection with the characters. Not to say that the characters are bad or poorly written at all, but the main characters are not necessarily the most lovable.
- Jade City is somewhat slow paced. It never bothered me and I thought it had a good balance of action, but the book doesn't quite ramp up until maybe halfway through.
- there's a decent bit of "telling" in terms of worldbuilding. And there are sometimes flashback-type sequences to flesh out world or character development. It did not bother me and didn't feel excessive, but I know some people really hate this.
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Self harm, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, Suicide, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Infidelity and Kidnapping
sailorpulsar's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Murder, and War
Minor: Suicide and Xenophobia
horizonous's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Death, Infidelity, and Suicide
◦ Death (minor) = Parent◦ Death (moderate) = Sibling
◦ Terminal illness = Dementia
abigails_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Rating: 3.5 stars
Summary: Jade City takes place in the city of Janloon on the island Kekon, a place on the verge of war breaking out among fragile peace between the two Green Bone clans, the Jade warriors, that protect Jade from outsiders and generally keeps life in Janloon moving forward. The two clans, The Mountain and No Peak used to be one under the joint leadership of Kaul Sen (now of No Peak) and Ayt Yugontin (Yu) (of The Mountain at time of death). It's been several years since the two clans separated and began a tentative peace, particularly when Ayt Yu died and his adopted daughter, Ayt Madashi (Mada) killed his former advisors and her own adopted brother in order to take control The Mountain.
Now, Ayt Mada rules The Mountain as Pillar while the eldest grandson of Kaul Sen, Kaul Lan, rules No Peak as Pillar, with his younger brother Kaul Hilo as his Fist, or leader and enforcer of his fighters or Fingers. Kaul Sen is elderly and losing his grip on reality, but he's still sure he is the one who should be in charge. At the start of the story, Kaul Shae, the final and youngest sibling of Lan and Hilo, returns from foreign Espenia, after being away for two years to her grandda's dissapointment.
A fourth important family member of the Kaul's lineage is Emery Anden, an adopted grandson of Kaul Sen, particularly at the behest of Kaul Lan, who originally took Anden in when his mother died a horrific death due to Jade sensitivity, a disease called the Itches that affects those with higher Jade sensitivity causing them to lose their sanity and destroy themselves.
The story really begins as a war between the two clans bubbles to surface in Janloon. Lan struggles to moderate peace while his younger brother Hilo is outward in his rebuke of The Mountain's attempt to take over certain No Peak territories. Through Shae's return and Anden's soon-to-be-graduated from the No Peak training academy, the plot picks up with the loss of one of the Kaul's own, causing Shae, and Anden, to step up in the clan in different ways.
Thoughts:
I gotta say this was a ride. This was not a page-turner for me, in fact, it was very hard to get into. I chose to read this because of a recommendation from a friend who had heard great things about it. After winning the World Fantasy Award I thought I had to try it out — the concept of Asian lore of Jade mixed with gang politics seemed interesting. For the first honestly 300 pages I really struggled to get the draw. I must admit I'm new to adult fantasy, having previously mostly read YA fantasy or sci-fi, but this book didn't feel like fantasy to me — it felt like a modern gang story with a little bit of super-powered elements. The mention of the gods and the allure/disease/addiction of jade and the Itches was interesting to me and is probably the reason I kept reading aside from the development of Shae.
Shae was an incredible character and I loved reading her development from first returning to Janloon determined to remain independent, even to the point of almost ruining her relationship with her brother Hilo, until she simply could no longer deny who she was — a Kaul, and puts her jade back on and returns to the fight.
The major downfall of this book for me was how little of Shae I got, and that's definitely why I preferred the last 200 pages the most because she was finally a dominant pov.
The book ranged from several perspectives — at times we saw what affected a main character like Lan, Hilo, Shae, or Anden, but we also got snippets from characters that we were not attached to at all. I saw the point of doing this — expanding what we understand the story to be and the world in general — but it was so boring to read!
I did enjoy the way traditional eastern Asian culture and lore were woven into this story, I really appreciated it as someone who is familiar with some of it due to the background of my partner. But it was so slow to get into that I can't give it any higher than 3.5 stars.
The ending, however, did win me over. I wasn't sure I would keep reading to find out what happens in the rest of the trilogy, but by the last 100 pages, I was ordering Jade War to pick up the rest of the story. And by the last 30 pages, I was gasping audibly, not expecting some of the turns that came.
I will say this is not an easy read, but it is an interesting read and I believe it was worthwhile. I wouldn't recommend this to someone in a reading slump, and I would recommend it to someone willing to work for the story.
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Homophobia and Rape