Amber Chen's "Of Jade and Dragons" is a relatively quick read. As part of the summary, it's Mulan meets Iron Widow. Unfortunately, I have yet to read Iron Widow (horrifying fact), but I can see where they draw the similarity to Mulan.

Of Jade and Dragons is about the journey of the FMC who disguises themselves as a male. This FMC is not necessarily trying to bring honor to her family like Mulan did. Instead, the FMC wants to join a magical engineering guild, find out who murdered her father, AND avenge her father's untimely death. Along the way, she needs to pass three different tests to become guild member, do her best not to be found out as a female, and navigate some feelings that develop for the seemingly friendly, royal MMC. Their world is also at odds with another empire, and war is a way for both the FMC and MMC to put their best foot forward.

The reader can definitely feel the Mulan vibes. I also thought about The Daughter of the Moon Goddess and the Poppy Wars. A small part of my brain thinks of Fourth Wing as well, but the more I think about it, the less I think there is a similarity - no one comes back from the dead (yet?).

I am very excited to see that this is the first book of series (there's a #1 next to it!). Congratulations to Amber Chen for their debut book! If Asian mythological, YA fantasy book is your thing, I would recommend this to you. Thank you to Netgalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers, and the author for allowing me to read this for a review.

I will post to Goodreads, Storygraph and Instagram.

This story had everything! I absolutely loved routing for Ying as she went up against a power-hungry patriarchal society keeping women (and anyone who sought a peaceful future) down. What I loved: the heart wrenching love story, the development of unexpected friendships, the shocking twists, and the moment of sweet revenge. The choices our girl made were mature beyond her years. I read an ARC but I’ll be buying a hard copy. Can’t wait for book 2!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity to read and review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me with an eARC of Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen in exchange for an honest review.


I've decided to DNF this book at 35%. I don't like to DNF books, but this one has been hard to get through so I've decided to not finish this one. It feels very YA, and I expected something more mature. The plot and characters aren't interesting to me, so I've been a little bored while reading it. I can see why others might like it, but sadly it's just not for me.

A rich tale of mysteries and friendships and revenge. The character arcs were full and sometimes surprising! Twists and turns occur often and keep the story moving and I look forward to a sequel, though this book stands on its own wonderfully.

I enjoyed this story - 3.5 Stars
There were a few pacing issues - some parts were dragging but others were too slow making it uneven. The world building was my favorite part of the story but the characters were solid too. Pretty good read

A Mulan vibes fantasy with a naive girl in engineering field is a novelty in itself but it also manages to weave a gritty story with a war background. The dynamic between Ying and Ye-yang was interesting as he did not come off as a usual likeable character but it is Ying's story all the way. For a fantasy based on politics, it was more of a YA and felt an easy and light read. The story fell flat for a bit as it was too straightforward and could have had some extra bling to it. I liked Ying's journey and how she is determined to find her father's killer and and her experience with guild was inspiring. I give it 3.5 so rounding to 4.

Okay, I don't know what silkpunk is, but I LOVE IT! This was such a fascinating young adult story about Ying and her desire to seek revenge for her father's death. It very much felt akin to Mulan, but with a different story and setting. I would love to see this as a movie one day.

✧.* The way that I am unable to wrap my head around the ending of this book absolutely amazes me (in the best way possible)—like did I finish this book or did it finish me?

Anyways, Of Jade and Dragons is an action-packed, high-stakes mystery that follows Aihui Ying, a girl who dreams of becoming a renowned engineer just like her father. But her peaceful life is upended when her father is killed in cold blood leaving only his journal filled to the brim with his engineering ideas and a jade pendant Ying managed to snatch from the assassin. Heartbroken and filled with vengeance, Ying ventures to the capital city of Fei, home to the revered Engineers Guild her father used to be apart of, where she is determined to uncover the mystery behind her father’s death. And the only way to do so, is to disguise herself as her younger brother in order to sneak into the guild’s strictly male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of Aogiya Ye-yang, the mysterious eighth prince of the High Command who may have an agenda of his own. But with war waging on the horizon and her father’s killer still on the loose, Ying must choose between following her heart or following her morals.

TROPES:
» unlikely allies
» allies to lovers (?)
» mulan vibes
» women in STEM
» murder mystery

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE WORLD BUILDING was befitting of the plot line where it wasn’t too vivid but descriptive enough to establish the atmosphere and setting of the book and I was ok with this because the world building wasn’t overbearing in the slightest, which helped the plot line stand out more. I also loved the incorporation of advanced punk-style engineering with the world of traditional Asia, with the clothing and architecture that is described. Also, the academic trials were also so fun to read about and seeing how engineering played such a big role in this world and found it so refreshing to read

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE PLOT was fast-paced, and I will admit that there were a few chapters that were long. But because of the fact that the plot was constantly moving, the chapters flew by especially with the balance between the trial and the murder mystery and the romance. And although I do wish we got more interactions between Ying and Ye-yang, their relationship is such a well-written complicated romance that it kept me hooked onto every interaction they had. I will admit, though, that I kind of saw the twist coming but I blame that on watching too many Asian dramas ♡

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE CHARACTERS were well flushed out and I enjoyed reading about Ying’s character development with how she started feeling so sure of her view of the world and by the end of the book, she’s struggling with accepting that the world isn’t what she thought it was and this made her feel so real to me. Ye-yang’s character is driven by finding justice, much like Ying is, and his character is complicated in the way that he doesn’t want to choose between having one of two things and will find a way to have both in everything he does, but he doesn’t realize what this may cost. And both Ying and Ye-yang balance each other out so well and I can’t wait to see what the next book has in store for them ♡

This book is such a wonderful read and I highly recommend checking it out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and PenguinTeen for an ARC of Of Jade and Dragons in exchange for an honest review! ♡

I had a blast reading Of Jade and Dragons! I had never heard of silkpunk style until this book. This book pulls you in with its compelling characters and intricate plot. Ying's journey from a naive girl to a determined, resourceful hero is fantastic, and the dynamic between her and Ye-Yang kept me hooked. Plus a story about a girl in STEM? Amazing!

The world-building is wonderful, bringing the setting to life with rich descriptions and a backdrop of politics and war. The romance was a nice touch, and I can’t wait to explore that more as the series continues. The writing starts off a bit young but matures beautifully, matching the growth of the characters and the plot.

The ending left me excited for the sequel! I'm excited to see where the story goes next!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Of Jade and Dragons is a solid debut novel. The writing is decent, if not a little too straight foward. Ying is an excellent character, fiesty, smart.. yet naive. I greatly enjoyed how the author handled this part of Ying's personality. Often times a naive MC tends to be very annoying, making nonsensical decisions that the author can throw a blanket of naive over. I never feel like those characters truly grow within the story. But Ying tends to see the consequences of her naive decisions fairly quickly, and actually learns from them. They aren't decisions purely made to move plot along but because they line up with background. The supporting cast is also fantastic. My favorite being Ye-Kan. I might be more attached to him than our MMC, aha.

One thing that I greatly loved about this book is that it centers on engineering. It felt unique vs the usual magic/alchemy/assassin schools (not that I will ever turn down any of those plots). I just loved the idea of STEM and fantasy mixing together for the younger generation.

Overall, I enjoyed Of Jade and Dragons greatly. My only real complaint is that the end sequence felt too easy. Everything kind of just fell into place a little too fast. I also would've liked a bit more investigative work into Ying's father's murder.. as her initial driving point, I felt like that got a little lost. Given how the book ended, I will most definitely be picking up the sequel!

3.75 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Started off a little slow for me but thankfully I kept going! I loved the steam punk type feeling this book gave off. I’m always going to pick up books that have trials the main character has to compete in and this book definitely served with that!

So let me tell you… WOW did I eat this up in just a few days! I was unsure about this book before I read it. It said mulan esk and I grew up on manga and Asian fantasy so I figured I would throw in to get a pre read. I am not usually into political reads or stuff with war and she’s disguised as a her brother and that was like… meh, but I was also curious. 🐉📚 I already am waiting for the next book now and this is going to live in my brain. The only thing that I am angry about is I have to wait for the next one to be released who knows when!

I am going to try to be as spoiler free as possible as I give my likes and dislikes, first I do like Ying, she sets out to find answers to her fathers murder, and while she does this she seem to get distracted by her own ambition and even boys. Her character is young and I would not expect any less of a character of her age with so much going on to be distracted during her journey. The one thing I wish I would have seen more from her was grief or sorrow for her fathers lose, but at the same time, no one grieves the same and maybe anger and revenge is how she chose to deal with the death. She seems to be constantly battling with herself, all while hiding her identity. She has a lot to prove to herself, making a name and proving she can be an engineer like her farther, but she also has her father’s death to revenge and a murder to solve. She is constantly questioning loyalties and has a range of suspicions. Her relationship with Ye-Yang is all over the place. I actually really like the ups and downs she has with him, I didn’t feel it was love at first site type, there was obviously a great attraction, but it lead to a good war she waged on herself to complete her mission vs giving into what she wanted.
I also really liked Ye-kan the 14th prince as well. I am hoping he has character growth in the next book because I feel like his story is not done.
I wish we would have gotten a little more world building in this. There is a little from her home, and a little of the Fei and the new palace, but I don’t know that I could picture everything that was going on in my head. There wasn’t a lot of description that made my imagination go wild of the setting. I can say that the descriptions of the engineering and the things they built and created and worked on were described well though.

I would say the last 25% of the book had the most of my attention and I was to the point where I had to read it in one sitting because I had to know how it ended!

The dynamic between the different characters in the guild engineers apprenticeship was a good mix and it seems it just was left without an end so I see that bleeding into the next book (hopefully). This book leaves so many strings that I am interested in seeing where it could go, because there’s a lot more stories that could be told and plot to build from. I’m excited to see where the author takes the next book!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Teen for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

2/5 stars

I tried really hard to get into this book and I just couldn’t. I do think this story had some good qualities and I enjoyed some aspects.

Ying was attempting to get into the guild and solve her father’s murder. I enjoyed the mystery aspect and the inventions were cool. I also enjoyed watching Ying find out about her father. He didn’t share a lot of his time at the guild so it was cool to hear about his time there.

I ended up losing interest due to pacing and transitions. It seemed like Ying was always fleeing. She was always conveniently leaving awkward situations. On top of that a lot of the plot was boring. She wasn’t actively finding new info or really doing anything. She was along for the ride.

Overall this book was okay. It was low stakes and easy to read. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

ARC review summary: I think this is a stunning debut and I’m excited to see where this series goes. The atmosphere is incredible and there’s so much potential for future books to extend the world-building and politics at play. The world feels like it could be a mixture of Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Korra, and Howl’s Moving Castle but replace all the magic and bending with engineering. The relationships could’ve been explored deeper and the twists were easy to spot, but those things did not take away much from the overall experience.

3.75/5.


- Ehh, kind of spoilers below but barely -

Everything: In the beginning, I wasn’t really gripped by the story and was concerned the writing style wasn’t for me. The atmosphere was good, but the conversations didn’t seem realistic and Ying witnesses her father’s death within pages. Because this happens so quickly and we don’t know these characters yet, there’s no emotional impact and Ying honestly doesn’t seem all that devastated on page.

However, she quickly sets off on a quest to solve her father’s murder. I would argue too quickly, as we are briefly introduced to two of Ying’s siblings (I think there are more though?) and learn very little about the familial relationships at play. This is the biggest downfall of the book for me - Ying barely even THINKS about her surviving family members until she is forced to around 3/4 the way through the book.

All this being said, once the book gets going it really pulls you in. Ying’s love for engineering, the descriptions of all the machinery and little contraptions alongside the Qing dynasty-inspired world, and the budding relationships between Ying and the people she meets on her quest all come together into a delightful read. There is action and tension solid enough to keep the reader engaged.

The ending had me hooked reading past 2am and, even though some twists were easy to guess, the writing was solid enough for that to not feel so important. Unfortunately, I never felt that emotional connection to Ying’s father even as a handful of past moments between them are shown. So even when Ying learns more about her father's murder, I didn't really experience the emotional payoff I'd expect from those reveals.

Still a really solid read and I'm excited to see what the future of the series has in store. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Steampunk vibes, a mini murder mystery, angsty princes with mysterious motives, and metallic dragons? This book really took a bunch of my favorite book tropes and tossed them into one story.

Of Jade and Dragons is a "silkpunk" retelling of Mulan with plenty of action, mystery, and banter. I'm a big fan of steampunk/silkpunk settings, so I really enjoyed the vibes of the worldbuilding. The only thing I would suggest is possibly a family tree written out for the High Commander and his fourteen sons...because all of the names blurred together after a while. Also, I noticed a lot of the biggest complaints about this book involved it feeling very YA, but I didn't mind it as much.
The story begins with the murder of Ying's father, who was once a famous engineer for the empire. Determined to uncover the assassin, she swears to infiltrate the Engineer's Guild (as they left a note warning her not to investigate) disguised as her brother. Between a handful of engineering trials, Ying's alliance with the mysterious prince Ye-yang, and several more assassination attempts, I found the story to be paced quite well. I saw a review saying there should have been a higher focus on mystery than the engineering trials, which I agree with a little bit given the ending, but I still enjoyed it. Also, the ending and the implications set up for a very interesting sequel.
As far as characters go, there were a fair amount of them who weren't super relevant, so I didn't really care for them. Of the main three, Ye-yang was probably my least favorite. I liked him at first, but then I kind of got bad vibes from him (although I'm excited about his character arc). I liked Ye-kan much more because of his banter with Ying and how he acted like a younger brother. I also liked Ying as a protagonist, although I'm more excited about her arc in the sequel as well.
Of Jade and Dragons is a YA "silkpunk" Mulan retelling with plenty of drama, intrigue, and mystery that acts as the beginning of a promising new series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4/5

I gobbled this up!! What a beautiful, different (for me) book! I know everyone is obsessed with the tiktok books, I can definitely see this becoming a sensation! World building, character description, all of it! Very entertaining, and easy FUN read!

4.5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley, Viking Books for Young Readers, and Penguin Young Readers Group for this advanced copy. You can pick up Of Jade and Dragons on June 18, 2024.

What a stunning YA fantasy debut from Amber Chen! I LOVED this world and how clever Chen is with the engineering components. I was completely enthralled by the murder mystery, undercover trial, and sizzling tension between Ying and Ye-yang (even if the ending made me question his intentions).

Ying was such a fascinating character, constantly subverting the standard quo and proving that labels don't define a person. Her relationships with the other characters leaped off the page, especially Ye-kan, and I can't wait to see where Chen takes this story next.

If you're looking for a high fantasy with a fantastic world and backstabbing betrayal, this is the book for you!

3.5 stars, rounded up. I thoroughly enjoyed this read! Though the pacing felt uneven at times- it was a bit slow and drawn out at some parts of the book, I did appreciate the fact that we got right into the catalyst of the plot in the beginning. I thought the world building and characters were some of the strongest points of the story. It was interesting to see how the relationships between all the different characters were developed throughout the story. The scenes having to do with the engineering guild were also engaging and enjoyable. Overall, it was an easy and fun read. Really looking forward to the sequel to see how the story progresses.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing me with an eARC of Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen in exchange for an honest review.

This was unfortunately a case of, it's not you its me. The premise of this book was interesting, and I think the execution was great. The writing and the characters were well done...it just wasn't for me. I found the story to be a bit boring overall, but, I think a lot of people will love this book, as they should, I just wasn't one of them.

I absolutely think you should pick this up if it sounds up like something you normally enjoy!

Will post review to goodreads on pub date

“Living in the shadow of someone else means you’ll never realize your own potential.”

Of Jade and Dragons is a silkpunk mystery that follows Ying as she faces trials to become an engineer like her father. However, after her father was murdered, she is forced to disguise herself as her brother and team up with a prince to investigate into his death within the very sexist Engineer’s Guild.

Both the characters and story were fantastic, and the only reason my 4⭐️ rating isn’t higher is because I realized I’m growing out of YA titles. Still, the characters all felt unique and well thought out. Their relationships felt complex and shifting, which felt super in depth! Our MC Ying was honestly one of my favorite MCs in awhile! She was intelligent, curious, witty and super creative. She also was pretty smart about not being either completely trusting/suspicious which was a nice change of pace! This also reflected in her relationships, slowly coming out of her shell and becoming less guarded and cautious.

The story was also very good, however just a few moments where I wasn’t as invested as I could’ve been- however I’m fully willing to say it could be simply because YA has been increasingly harder for me to read. But all in all a VERY enjoyable read!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC, for my honest opinion on the book!