Reviews

Jade War by Fonda Lee

pageboi31's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Jade War is everything Jade City was, plus more. I can't reiterate how much of good job Fonda Lee does with so many character POV's that help build the world, factions and families we read in this book. Similarly to the first book, Jade War starts off slowly, but builds to several epic scenes that leave the reader in utter despair and anxiousness as to what comes next.

In this book, we travel the world outside of Kekon & Janloon and see places like Uwiwa with the jade smugglers, and Port Massy in Espenia as Anden studies abroad at the behest of Hilo and Shae. While the stint in Uwiwa was short, it was interesting seeing the way green bone culture differed in Port Massy (Kekonese who fled/immigrated during the war and took up residence in Espenia). While there was a war going on during the length of the book, everything there happens in the background and has no direct POV; Instead, we see the continued rivalry of The Mountain and No Peak as they support different sides in the conflict and try to dismantle their rival clan (this time less so as bloody power struggles in the street).

This book also covers a much longer period of time than the last. Hilo and Wen now have children, and we get to see Hilo grow as a father and step into the role of Pillar in a much greater capacity.
The amount of character deaths, plus the tense scenes throughout, were absolutely crazy and tragic. The clean blade between Shae and Ayt blew my mind...I really thought Shae was done for. RIP Kehn, the car explosion was so shocking, I had already forgotten about Maro's blackmailing...honestly the foreigners brought some of the most shocking death to the Kauls (with support from Ayt and The Mountain). The almost near-end with Anden and Wen had me shocked to my core...I was like, "No way they kill everyone here" but Anden brings Wen back to life, at the cost of using jade again.


I'm excited to see where the next book goes! I have some guesses in my head (I think we'll be seeing much more of the next generation of the Kauls and maybe the Koben family(?)), but I won't know until I read the third book...next year 😭 

indigo_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

bearrigan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

As much as I enjoyed this book, I also felt unfulfilled. From a political standpoint this book was top tier, showing the behind the scenes of occupation, clan alliances, the passing of laws, and more, but from a magical-action standpoint it was slow and lacking. I kept expecting it to pick up. It would for a moment before going several chapters of planning and political moves. I love action and fighting. The missions that they went on were cool and when I felt the most excited, but they seemed to be few and far between. 

There was a lot that I liked, but I wanted more action from a book called Jade War. Then again there are more ways to fight and win a war.  Perhaps that is what this book is supposed to be, but it's not what I was hoping for. I will be continuing on to the third book because I am invested in the story. If the third book is not all gas no breaks, then this series may end up being a bit underwhelming for me. 

carlyanderson5113's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

ckmarvelous's review against another edition

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5.0

I haven’t ugly cried like that reading a book in a while. Just pure genius.

goldfish011's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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? Yes

5.0

adonalssium's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5 de 5
Tremendo viaje que fue este libro, el desarrollo de los personajes estuvo brutal. Los plot Twist, sobre todos los del medio fueron bien adrenalinanicos . El primer libro y este se sienten como uno solo eso sí, dividido en dos partes.
La narrativa es atrapante, la pluma de la autora es brutal.

mpasterski's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

madss_'s review against another edition

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

3.5

benthewriter's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.0