A big shoutout to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen was a book that I went into not really remembering any of the details. And at first I found it a bit slow, but I was definitely in for a big surprise!

The story starts out in a smaller village where the main character is immediately shown to not be your typical girl, and to dislike what everyone expects her to be as the oldest child of the village leader. But after she witnesses the murder of her father, Ying sets out to find more answers about her father's past - a past that will lead her to the Engineers Guild, where it's a fight for survival to get admitted and to find out what her father was busy with and what resulted in his sudden death.

Firstly, this has the trope where the girl disguises herself as a boy to enter a male dominated world. I absolutely love this trope, and there were people who knew and helped her at times to continue this disguise. I also absolutely loved the engineering aspect of this universe, which was a different take on the usual magic schools that we see in these types of books.

The characters all also have hidden agendas and it was fun to see what the motivations behind some of the decisions were. Ying as a main character was very reminicent of a Tamora Pierce character, and I think that might have been why I enjoyed this so much.

Although the book mainly had three locations, I'm hoping that the sequel will open the world a little bit more. I can't wait to read more from Amber Chen and this particular world!

Thank you NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I heard this was a girls in STEM book and I was immediately intrigued, even though I am sometimes a little hesitant towards YA titles. I did ultimately really like this and found it well-paced and engaging, though I did think the chapters ran a little long for my liking. Though she is at times frustrating, I felt that Ying was fully realized (I mean—she’s 18, and a little stupid, and going through it, it’s fine). I also liked the other characters that Chen introduced; Ye-Kan’s character arc was good to see in particular.

The overall plot was interesting and I’m definitely interested in seeing how the rest of the story will unfold in the sequel. There’s some neat things happening and I liked the worldbuilding a lot, though I’ve always thought silkpunk is an interesting genre. Though there are no real dragons in this, reading about the engineers’ work was fun. I was pleasantly surprised at some of the turns this took and while I didn’t care much for the tiny romance subplot, I also didn’t mind it.

There were some bumps at the start but I think they evened out as the story progressed and I had fun reading it! My biggest complaint is that I felt like the chapters were all a bit too long and could’ve been cut in half (even if it would’ve doubled the chapter count) but that’s just a matter of personal preference.

Amber Chen's Of Jade and Dragons offers an engaging blend of Mulan-esque disguise and murder mystery, set against the backdrop of a richly imagined world. The story follows eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying, who dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father. However, her aspirations are derailed when her father is suddenly murdered. Left with only his journal of engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, Ying embarks on a quest to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild. Disguised as her brother, she infiltrates the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of the taciturn eighth prince, Aogiya Ye-Yang. Determined to uncover why anyone would want her father dead, Ying must navigate jealous guild masters, fellow competitors, and the relentless killer still hunting for her father's journal.

While the book is quite lengthy, I managed to stay engaged and read through it fairly quickly. Ying is a determined protagonist, though her naivety sometimes undermines her supposed intelligence. Her friendships with her classmates are far more interesting and compelling than her romantic entanglement with Ye-Yang. However, the ending subverts typical romantic tropes, which was refreshing and sets up an intriguing direction for the second book.

Chen has created an expansive world, but unfortunately, we see very little of it as most of the story is confined to the Engineers Guild. I hope future installments will expand on this world, introduce more political intrigue, and further develop Ying’s relationships, particularly with her classmates and Ye-Kan.

Overall, Of Jade and Dragons is an enjoyable start to a new series, despite a few missteps. Ying's journey is compelling, the mystery surrounding her father's death is intriguing, and the potential for future books in this series is promising. If you enjoy stories with strong, determined protagonists and a mix of personal and political stakes, this book is worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was enjoyable, but ultimately kind of all over the place in terms of characters and story.

After Ying’s father is murdered, she goes to the engineering school that he went to for answers. What I love about this plot line is that Ying is a HORRIBLE detective. She figures out absolutely nothing and gets no clues, and it was honestly kind of refreshing to see. She’s an engineer, not a detective.

I really had trouble with Ying and Ye-yang’s relationship, as I didn’t trust him even a little bit the whole time (and I was ultimately right), but I think this was intentional. It made me feel uncomfortable and unsure, and I think (hope) that was the goal, to show some truly morally gray characters.

One relationship I loved was Ying and Ye-kan, they were great together and I know they had a brotherly/sisterly bond but I was still like… I could get behind that romance if the author went that way. They had great back-and-forth and they truly cared about each other and made each other laugh.

Ultimately, the biggest issue with this book for me was the pacing. Time was going by so fast and we were seeing some moments that I felt we should have seen. We didn’t see ANY of Ying’s lessons and schooling so I’m really not sure what she learned and what growth she had as an engineer other than her starting to design and build weapons. Everything felt very rushed and convenient to me.

I’m probably going to read the next book because I am curious to see where the story goes and I think there’s room for a lot of growth and interesting story ideas, plus the writing potential is there.

I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would!! The silkpunk vibes were my favourite and the writing was beautiful! I’m a sucker for anything Mulan-inspired so this was right up my alley. The romance was AMAZING; Yeyang you will always be loved by me <3

I can’t wait to read the next book!

I LOVED THIS BOOK! What an absolute gem. With strong characters and excellent worldbuilding, Of Jade and Dragons had me hooked from beginning to end. Teenage Aihui Ying disguises herself as a boy to join the prestigious Engineers Guild as an apprentice to investigate the murder of her father. During her time there, she not only learns more about his research and his character, but she grows and learns herself as well. I absolutely loved this book and while the ending might be unsatisfying for some, I was extremely happy where it landed. I could only wonder if it was left open for more!?

I can't wait to read more from Amber Chen! I wait with bated breath!

I want to start off by saying I really enjoyed this book! The concept and the Asian steampunk/silkpunk vibes were super unique. The main character must disguise herself to enter a male-only prestigious engineering competition and solve the murder of her father along the way. Again, very different concept for a YA fantasy/sci-fi story. This book honestly gave Mulan meets the industrial side of Legend of Korra. Although the plot really drew me in initially, I will say the middle got a little slow for me and probably could have been edited down a bit. This probably would have improved the pacing. I don't know how else to put this other than I was equally pleased by and disappointed with the ending. Maybe a mild spoiler, so don't read if you don't want to. I found the ending kind of poetic, but it also made a lot of the plot feel pointless. I don't know. That's just my opinion. The vibes still sold me on the book! Overall, though, it was an interesting read and I recommend it for fans of the above mentioned shows I mentioned or Asian YA fantasy in general! Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the review copy.

Of Jade and Dragons was beautifully written. It’s a captivating story about Aihui Ying who is set to discover the truth behind her father’s death. She goes to the Engineer Guild where her father used to study disguised as her brother due to it being a prestigious male only engineering apprenticeship. She is nervous and cautious of who she confides in in case her identity is uncovered which would put it all at risk. Aihui Ying goes through the guild trials while also trying to find clues and those responsible for her dad’s death. Throughout her time there she uncovers secrets and learns so much about her dad’s history during his time at the guild including friendships and jealousy.
Aihui Ying is a strong, clever, and loyal main character. She is determined and I liked that she followed her intuition. The love she has for her dad and family drive her.
I enjoyed reading this so much! The author’s writing was amazing, I liked how descriptive it was and cannot get over the story. Im excited for everyone to read this. The cover of the book is also stunning!!

This was a very interesting but sad read. I so badly wanted there to be a happily ever after, but then I wanted to punch Ye-yeun into a wall. I felt that betrayal personally. How could he do this to us? Lol but the world building was really good. I occasionally questioned why Ying was doing what she was, and why she didn't connect some dots together sooner. I still enjoyed the book and want to see what happens in the second book, even if I'm still feeling a little devastated.

*I received this book (Via eArc by Netgalley) for free from the Publisher ( Penguin young reader group/ Viking group ) in exchange for an honest review*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a captivating modern retelling of the Mulan story, bringing a fresh and interesting perspective to the classic tale. The plot was filled with high stakes and dangerous moments that kept me on the edge of my seat, making every twist and turn well worth it. One of the standout elements for me was the integration of engineering into the storyline. It was refreshing to see this unique twist, adding depth and a contemporary flair to the narrative. From the beginning, when the protagonist is deemed ill-suited for marriage, I was immediately reminded of Mulan. Watching her journey unfold in a modern context was both engaging and satisfying.
The book consistently entertained me, and the epilogue left me craving more. It tied up the story in a way that was both surprising and satisfying, making the entire reading experience truly enjoyable.

RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2024

Thank you so much to [Penguin young reader group/ Viking group] and NetGalley for the ARC and I am instantly gonna purchase this when it releases.

This was such a great read! I loved the fantasy world, built to be a silkpunk reimagining of Mulan mixed with Iron Widow and inspired by Chinese history - the Qing Dynasty, I think I read. The FMC, Ying is out to investigate her fathers murder by joining the Engineer’s Guild as a boy, as the guild - surprise - does not allow women into it. I did really enjoy her character and how she pushed to stay true to herself, despite losing that somewhere along the way.

The MMC, Ye-Yang, is the eighth prince of the High Command and has a lot of mystery surrounding him and his motivations for helping Ying get into the Engineer’s Guild. He has morally gray vibes due to how he acts as a politically minded person, but is very kind and gentle toward Ying at the same time.

“If I want to conquer the world, will you stand by my side?”

There are some convenient moments in the plot, that I think work well still since it is YA and I wish to see more of this world and go on a high speed airship chase/battle in the sky. Hopefully we see more of this world sometime soon!

“I was your sword, but you were never mine.”

FOUR AND A HALF STARS rounded up.

Thank you to Viking Books and NetGalley for the eARC of the book. All thoughts are my own.

I was so enamored with the focus on engineering and how integral engineering is to all facets of life, but there’s shockingly little focus on the principles of engineering. I was fine accepting it as a vehicle for challenging sexism and traditionalism - indeed, the way Ying challenges the (outdated and inaccurate) “accepted truths” of The Annals was the most engineer part of the whole book.

However, when we turn our attention to engineering as a vehicle for empire, that’s when things kind of started to fall apart. We didn’t get enough background in what exactly the weapons did and what principles the wannabe apprentices were studying. Suddenly, Ying made a weapon. The political climate, the romance, even the progress of the apprenticeship trials: none was developed quite enough to hold water. Having all three there just made them each feel weaker.

I will admit, though, that I’m curious about where a second book would take us because this felt pretty nicely wrapped up.

4.8 Stars !!!!

I truly enjoyed the beautiful story that Amber Chen gave us with "Of Jade and Dragons"
After doing some research (followed her on instagram) I learned that her novel was inspired by true events that happened during the Ming and Qing Dynasty and that both FMC and MMC are based on real people!!

Even though we did not see a lot of interaction between Ying and Ye-yang the little sweet moments that we did get from them was enough for me to fall in love with their relationship & for me to root for their happy ending. With that being said, I'm hoping and praying Ying overcomes her "dad issues" in the second novel because WHY !!!!!??? (That's all I can say without giving spoilers)

The plot and imagery were great! I will say that it starts a bit slow but then it picks up and you end up reading until 3am.

I also do not read many Sci-Fi Fantasy books so I was very surprised in how I really enjoyed the technology development part of the plot. it was very easy to follow and very intriguing. Did I also mention that the technology prototypes are inspired from actual weaponry design from the Ming Dynasty.

Lastly if you enjoy Mulan Vibes, History, weaponry, technology advancements and C-dramas you will enjoy "Of Jade and Dragons" !

Now I will go and watch all the C-dramas that are inspired by Ming and Qin Dynasty to get my fill until I wait for the announcement of book two.

Must Read for sure. ADD IT TO YOUR TBR RIGHT NOW!


p.s. Thank you Netgally and Amber Chen for allow me to read the ARC !!

I really enjoyed reading this book and I'm sad I have to wait until book 2 comes out to continue. We follow Aihui Ying secretly leave home dressed as a boy impersonating her younger brother Aihui Min, in search of finding her father's killer. In the process she runs into Ye-Yang, the High Commander's 8th prince who helps her enter the Engineer's Guild apprentice trials. While hunting for the killer and also trying to keep her secret identity hidden during the trials she unexpectedly reveals herself to another contestant who has a secret of his own, the 14th prince of the High Commander. They in turn keep each others secrets safe and become friends throughout the trials. During her search she finds friendship, deceit, love, heartbreak, and death. I found myself completely into the story not wanting to put it down. But I won't lie I was not ready for the ending, and while the end of the book gave clues on where it was going I was not fully prepared for how it ended. But where it left off is where I gave the book 4 stars. I was so secretly hoping for a different ending but I'm hoping maybe in the next book I might get to see that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group publishing for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for this galley, I was not obligated to leave a review. All opinions are my own.
This book took a lot of work to get into at first. There were times I picked it up and only read a chapter or so. There were other times when I couldn't wait to keep reading. However, it took me a bit to really want to keep reading. This isn't the author's fault. The world she has built and imagined is very cool. It just didn't pop off the pages for me. I like the main characters. I appreciate that Ye-Yang wasn't a clueless prince., I like him the most. Ying herself is smart and resourceful. This is a great start to a YA fantasy (trilogy I believe?) I DNF but will keep reading. I just wanted to get this review up before the date of publication. I like it enough to have a special edition on the way and I will read the next book.


Description

Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?

Thank you netgalley and penguin young reader group for the gifted arc in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf 35%

I want to preface this by saying I try to write my reviews with an overall positive vibe, but sometimes it can be hard while I’m trying to remain honest. I intend no hate to the author. Just because this wasn’t for me, doesn’t mean it’s not for you.

The premise of this book was incredibly intriguing for me. I was thrilled when I was accepted for this arc because this was a highly anticipated read for me. However, I am left very disappointed. I do think that this book has so much potential, but it could’ve used a lot more editing.

The writing is extremely choppy and I had a very hard time staying engaged. There is so much info dumping without actually giving any relevant information. I still don’t understand the world as a whole and barely understand the guild/political hierarchy. There are also jumps in the timeline with no details on where we are now. 35% and it’s been over 45 days in the book? I thought it had been a week max bc nothing has happened. She’s supposed to be solving her father’s murder and she’s done absolutely nothing. Idk I just can’t get over that.

The characters felt really shallow and the dialogue is just off to me. I honestly don’t even know who any characters really are outside ye-Yang and ying, and these two main characters are superficial. Based on the characters and dialogue, this read really young. It felt closer to middle grade than YA.

I also think the focus of this book just feels off. I can’t say if it remains that way, but so far we’ve seen very little of what was promised out of this book. She hasn’t done anything to solve the mystery and we haven’t seen any high stakes trials.

I do hope there was extensive editing done after arcs were sent out, because I would love to give this another shot. I will be receiving a physical copy from a book sub soon so I’ll have take a peak to see!

This amazing book gives Mulan vibes but even better. The main character is disguised as a male trying to break in and be accepted to the engineer 's guild. She also is trying to find out who assassinated her father. She struggles with the trials of the guild and many other factors come into play. I could not put this book down.

This was a Wonderful story I thoroughly enjoyed it and I so look forward to the next books coming from this Author. This was fantastic and I could not put it down. In the blurb to say about this book was Mulan mixed with iron widow, and it could not be more of a fantastic description of this book! I loved it thank you for letting me read it.

This is a good one... Amazing. I have been in the biggest slump and just recently got out of it, only to be hit with this book. Thankfully, it's one of those books that is going to keep me going rather than putting me back into a slump.

I loved the characters. Especially Ying and Ye-Kan. And I really don't know where I want this story to go in the future, I'm torn. But I do know that I will be reading any sequel(s) that come out of this.

<spolier> I sat here the entire time waiting for a betrayal.... Gah. Anyways. I loved this book so much. The ending was a bit rushed to me, but oh my goodness. So good. I feel betrayed and heartbroken and want to go cry in a corner now. </spoiler>

This is the kind of book that I need a special edition of. Immediately. I need this book on my shelves ASAP.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the ARC!!!

There's nothing objectionable about this book - it's pretty good - but it kind of under-delivered on its intriguing premise and promising beginning. I went in with high hopes. Fantasy meets Asian mythology meets steampunk - sign me up. It had hints of Mulan and Howl's Moving Castle, but somehow it never really managed to find its way to the book it could have been. The characters felt underdeveloped and flat, and I wasn't able to connect with them. We don't really get to know them very deeply, despite the book's (somewhat excessive) length. I loved the flying airships and cool contraptions, but the book didn't explore the engineering angle as much as I would have liked. The world building felt like another missed opportunity that left me wishing for more depth to flesh out the nature of the political machinations and intrigue. The writing itself was pretty good, but the story felt a little bit cheesy at times. The ending sort of redeemed itself for some of my issues with the book, but the epilogue might have kind of undone it. The story was sometimes compelling and at other times I found myself bored and skimming ahead to a more interesting part. I think YA audiences might have a better time with this book, which was pretty good but not one I'd read again, and it's not a series I'm likely to continue reading.

Thanks to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.