Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I was intrigued from the prologue and ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. While the writing and dialogue felt a bit clunky at first, I still wanted to find out what happened next. I felt that was the biggest drawback of this book, while the over-arching story was good enough to keep me interested. I will definitely be tuning in for the final book of this duology.

With this author (Fonda Lee), you know you're in for a martial arts treat, and this book is no exception. Breath of the Dragon pits magical destiny against self-determination and the cultivation of skill, It's also a powerful story of a boy's transformation from good-hearted but childish into adulthood and wisdom, through a horrific trial--and at a terrible price. And it's great.

As expected, the martial arts fight scenes are done <i>so well.</i> And the characters! Jun, the protagonist, is good-natured, but self-centered in the way children often are, and in ways that children don't see until something happens that allows them to grow and see that aspect in themselves. It's beautifully done, a balance perfectly maintained. The secondary characters, too, are all too real--I fully expect to see them leaping off the page and into my room! Some I'd welcome, while others, not so much (I'm looking at you, Leopard!).

The world building has depth and soul, so much that it's like reading a history book of a country I should know about--but it's never dry, never an info-dump. Instead, the glorious world unfolds as the story builds, and builds.

If you liked the Green Bone Saga, you'll adore this. If you like martial arts stories, you'll love this. If you like YA with heart and adventure and political intrigue, this is for you. Just be warned: this isn't a stand-alone. Which, honestly, is a good thing, because it means there is more to come!

Jun's twin brother, Sai, is Breathmarked: he has a patch of dragon scales on his skin that lends him special powers. Jun is not Breathmarked, but is overflowing with martial arts ability and ambition to prove himself. When Jun and his father are exiled to the other side of the country, leaving his mother and twin behind, Jun starts on a quest to prove his fighting skill and win the Hunger-Games style Guardian Tournament.

Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee is an iconic pairing that worked so well. The fight scenes were tense and well paced, and shocking without being too gory. Jun is a great and believable main character. And we need more new teen-boy focused novels!

I really enjoyed this one and would definitely hand-sell it.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-arc!

This story keeps the pages going starting from the very emotionally gripping beginning. The Dragon being the creator god made me think of Aslan breathing worlds into being, which just added to the world building for me.

I will not be posting this review to Instagram, and will consider posting it to Goodreads and Storygraph under reasons of the SMP boycott.

I am grateful to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books and the authors for allowing the opportunity to read this for an honest review.

Breath of the Dragon is such a great YA fantasy. So great, that I read it in less than 24 hours. I was hooked by the story of the MMC that is immersed in a world of magic, that is trying to find a path of his own destiny after his family is torn apart at a young age. Add in the great tropes of tournament story, found family, academic rivals, and other micro tropes I may be missing. However, this was truly an excellent Young Adult fantasy book, as it was well written, well edited, and very age appropriate in comparison to many YA books that are being published recently.

I thoroughly enjoyed that the possible budding romantic relationships did not distract or become the main focus in the plot lines. This book had me rooting for the MMC the entire time. Sure there were times where the MMC was annoying because of the immaturity and inexperience (got to take that with a grain of salt with YA). However, Breath of Dragon is a great read, and I would highly recommend it to everyone who loves a good rivalry, cut throat, life or death tournament, and political deceit. This is a great book for YA and all adults.

Five star read.

This was a great book which I couldn’t put down. This is a unique Fantasy book, martial arts Bruce Lee inspired, which was refreshing. I had never read anything like this book and I enjoyed every single piece. I reminded me of how good Patrick Rothfuss is at describing music in a way that you feel it when you read it. Fonda/Shannon were able to make you feel a fight and every different move in a way I haven’t read before. I highly recommend this book, easy to read, enjoyable and very refreshing.

Overall rating: 9.0/10
Unputdownable (pace): 4/5
Writing style 5/5
World building/ Creativity: 5/5
Characters: 5/5

Type: Fantasy/ Martial arts
Romance level: 2/5
Bloodshed level: 3/5
Funny/laughter level: 2/5
Spice level: 0/5
Cry/tears level: 3/5

This was such an amazing coming of age story. The writing and characters was so well done (as expected from Fonda Lee). This book has everything I could have wanted, found family, a tournament and an action packed plot. I devoured this book and can't wait to read the next book!!

Thanks to NetGally for an eARC.

Was this bad? Not at all. But it wasn't great either.

The first half reads like YA meant for younger readers, and I really didn't like it much. The exposition felt clunky (and was mostly delivered through dialogue), the characters weren't really developed and our (male! brownie points for this) protagonist was acting like a teenage brat. There are also some pointless repetitions.

It did get better in the second half. The fight scenes (and there are many) are well written. The story - a love letter to martial arts - is really quite violent, sometimes a little gruesome (all of a sudden it seems like maybe the book is intended for not so young readers after all!).

I did have to push myself to pick this up most of the time. Not sure I will continue with the series, even though the second half was much stronger.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book as an ARC. It was not quite my cup of tea.

I found the world building to be lacking and the characters to have no depth. Every conversation seemed stilted and missing any warmth or familiarity.

I think this could have been an interesting story but needs some serious work.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Every once in a while, a reader comes across a book that is capable of shaping the mind of a young reader—that is the case with Breath of the Dragon. Breath of the Dragon is a novel that is about so much more than a martial arts tournament—it’s about family, friendship, expectations, politics, moral codes, and the meaning of what it is to fight and what it is that is worth fighting for in the first place. This is the type of novel that teaches kids not only important moral lessons, but also makes them feel like they are capable of doing anything if they just put their minds to it.

"...'Do you know what it means to be breathmarked?'
Sai said quietly, "It means that the Dragon gave me a special ability that I'm meant to use.'
'That's right.'"*

Breath of the Dragon follows Li Jun, a young man irrevocably separated from his mother and twin after accidentally revealing his martial arts practice as a child. Exiled from the East, which outlaws all violence (including martial arts), unless an agent of the government known as Aspects, Jun and his father must learn how to live in the West, on the other side of the closed Snake Wall. As a child of the East forced to grow up in the West, Jun finds himself an outsider on both sides of the wall, and is perfectly poised to display the differences of both countries. Unlike the East, the West does not forbid its citizens martial arts. Against his father’s wishes, Jun is determined to continue it his martial arts training, and sets off to enter the famous tournament that will decide the new Guardian of the Earth Scroll, a sacred duty.

"'Li Jun is only sixteen, born under the Red Star. He's the youngest competitor at the tournament, and even though he doesn't have a breathmark, he fights as if divinely inspired by Dragon himself.'"

Along the way, not everything goes as planned. Overconfident Jun is faced with the knowledge that he doesn’t know much about the world around him. If I had to compare Jun and his journey to anyone, it would be to a less obnoxious Rand from The Wheel of Time series. I didn’t always like Jun, which isn’t too surprising given that he’s only sixteen years old and very sheltered, but I always found him compelling. Throughout the course of Breath of the Dragon, Jun is forced to make difficult decisions, choosing what is most important to him, and consequently fighting for it. During his journey, Jun is forced to rub shoulders with mob bosses, generals, revolutionaries, emperors, murderers, and Aspects of the East.

I’m someone who generally hates reading any kind of battle or fight scenes in novels. Typically, I find these types of scenes to be frustrating because they are really difficult for me to picture in my head and hard for me to focus on. So, I was pretty surprised that I was super invested in all of the fight scenes in Breath of the Dragon, and believe me, there are a lot. Every one of these scenes is filled with tension—I was never completely certain that Jun, even with all of his abilities, determination, and main character plot armor, would win.

"'What sort of breathmark ability do you have?'
'I'm not breathmarked,' Jun said.
Zhang snorted, disappointed, 'Then you don't have a chance.
'That's not true,' Ren shot back. 'breathmarks aren't a guarantee of anything.'"

What initially attracted me to Breath of the Dragon was the fantasy elements. Naturally, I was interested in a world where a dragon is worshiped as the creator of the world. I was also really intrigued by the concept of people being breathmarked—or born with patches of dragon scales that granted them unique abilities. Jun, unlike his twin brother, is not breathmarked, and therefore has to work even harder to prove himself. Many people tell him that he has no hope of becoming the Guardian simply due to his lack of a breathmark, as he has no chance against someone who doesn’t tire or someone who can predict his opponent’s next move. But Jun will soon find that like his opponents, not all breathmarks are created equally. 

I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Cobra Kai, but I personally haven’t watched that show so I can’t speak to their similarities. However, the world itself, complete with warring nations and subterfuge, reminded me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The breathmarked abilities also reminded me a lot of bending. The different schools of martial arts and the thoughts behind them similarly reminded me of the difference in attitudes between, say, fire bending and air bending.

Like Avatar, Breath of the Dragon is intended for a younger audience, but can also be enjoyed by adult readers. The novel has all of the hallmarks of Fonda Lee’s excellent writing style—concise and non-flowery, but still descriptive—which not only bolsters the fast pace, but also allows for plenty of world-building to be imparted naturally throughout conversation. Thankfully, there is no reliance on telling or information dumping. And Breath of the Dragon doles out just enough information to readers as the novel goes along, echoing Jun’s adventure out into the world and his learning about it—readers only learn things as Jun learns them, leaving them even more invested in his character development and discoveries.

"'I had a good sifu,' Jun said, 'who told me that the only way to master others is to master yourself first.'"

In keeping with this fast-pace, there is really not a lot of time wasted on teen romance or any other romantic relationships. Though there are hints of a love-triangle, it’s never acted upon. Most of the relationship complexity is devoted to Jun and his rival, which was quite refreshing. I am really excited to see where this rivalry goes in the sequel, as due to the events of the novel, the two are going to be forced to lean on one another now more than ever before.

Reading Breath of the Dragon was a total delight and it brought back a lot of the feelings I had when I was a young girl reading Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce for the first time. I’m so glad I took a chance and read a book centering on martial arts, something I consider outside of my normal interests. I highly recommend this novel to anyone looking for an exciting, fast-paced fantasy novel with a martial-arts driven plot, and great character development. The sequel will be instant read for me upon release.

*All quotes taken from an ARC are subject to change at the time of publication.

Breath of the Dragon centers on a main character named Jun, whose flaws significantly impact those around him, not just himself. Jun is impulsive, and his self-centered nature often leads him into precarious situations that create conflict and tension in his relationships. Despite these shortcomings, there’s an undeniable quality about him that compelled me to keep reading.

The writing is exceptionally cinematic, making it hard to put the book down. The plot is well-rounded and adventurous, filled with twists and turns that kept me engaged. Some of the themes Breath of the Dragon explores are of redemption and the ominous beginnings of war, adding depth to the Jun's journey and the challenges he faces. Overall, it’s a captivating read that balances character development with an exciting narrative.

I highly recommend Breath of the Dragon to other fantasy readers.

I was given an Advanced Reader's Copy through St. Martin's Publishing Group, and I give my honest review voluntarily. My review is my own thoughts and opinion; my experience in reading this story.

This author is, unfortunately, not for me. The writing was below average, boring, and the characters were one-dimensional.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to receive the ARC. I’ve been a fan of Fonda Lee’s since the Green Bone Saga and was excited when I learned of this new duology. If you’re expecting the Green Bone saga from this new duology, I would say that this is not the same but that doesn’t mean the level of story telling and description have diminished. What I particularly liked about this book is the growth that you see Li Jun go through from the events of the book. I’m already excited to read the second book now to see where Li Jun’s story goes.

Wow! Breath of a Dragon by Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee is the fantasy book I didn't know I needed. I picked this up on a whim and I am so glad that I did. The world building is in depth and glorious. The characters are damaged yet striving to put their lives together. The plot is magical and action packed. I can't wait for the second book because this one was fabulous.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press , and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy. The opinions are my own.

Wow!! I really enjoyed this! A really great fantasy story about a family who lives in country that has divided into the East and West. The story focuses on a family with twin sons. One of the sons is “marked” which means he has some type of magic skill, and the other son does not. The family ends up torn apart with each parent having one son and separated , one in the Rast and one in the West. The story focuses on the son who goes with his father , and he is allowed to study martial arts, and his dreams of becoming the Guardian. The story is very interesting, fast paced, and well written. If you like good fantasy, I would definitely recommend it!!

"Breath of the Dragon" serves as a heartfelt tribute to martial arts, for that reason this book personally ended up being kind of unappealing to me since martial arts isn't my thing really, inspite that i still wanted to give this book a shot since i love fonda lee!!!

The worldbuilding stands out as the book's most impressive feature, presenting a fully developed universe with a deep history and mythology, driven by an engaging conflict and supported by intricate political dynamics. While the plot is relatively straightforward, it could have benefited from more memorable characters and deeper relationships.

The main character, Jun, begins as an irritating and ungrateful youth but eventually confronts significant challenges that lead to essential personal growth. I appreciate the portrayal of flawed characters evolving over time. Additionally, the authors cleverly subvert the chosen one trope with Jun, as he lacks any inherent breathmarked abilities and does not acquire them magically throughout the story. His victories are hard-earned, and I found myself empathizing with him, particularly in the latter part of the book.

However, my primary concerns with this book lie in the absence of truly distinctive characters and the lack of authentic, strong relationships. The authors could have explored dynamics such as father-son, mentor-mentee, sibling bonds, and friendships or rivalries more deeply, as these were only superficially addressed. The narrative would have benefited from stronger emotional connections to enhance the urgency and impact of the fight scenes.

At times, the writing during the fight sequences felt repetitive and lacked freshness, requiring something more to elevate it. With a generic plot filled with action, compelling characters and relationships are essential to create a memorable story. This narrative seemed to yearn for a found family dynamic, which the authors overlooked; mere travel companions do not constitute a found family. Overall, it is a decent young adult fantasy novel that has the potential to be much more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

Seriously one of the best books I've read all year.

To begin, I've never read anything by either Shannon Lee or Fonda Lee, so I went into this book with no bias...yet I came out absolutely loving it. I have, quite literally, no criticisms.

Breath of the Dragon is everything YA fantasy is supposed to be. It's fast-paced, engaging, high-stakes, and features a small yet loveable cast of characters. Something that sets it apart from the rest of modern YA fantasy is the lack of romance, which felt like a breath of fresh air. This book solely focuses on Jun's progression as a martial artist and person through the values of (found) family and platonic love, and that makes the story that much sweeter.

Jun is also a fantastic protagonist, in the way that the reader is inclined to shake him and say "STOP BEING STUPID, MY SON!" He's loveable, yet true to being a sixteen-year-old boy.

And it goes to mention that there are kick-ass characters with disability. Hell yeah.

I cannot wait for the second book. (Guess it's time to read all of Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee's other books!)

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Breath of the Dragon is a fast-paced, enjoyable read. Li Jun, the main character, is relatable, with faults that are evident but can be overcome. The action sequences are well written and paint a good picture of what is unfolding. There is a lot of world-building and setup in this book and I expect that will continue in sequels.

I did find some of the descriptions to be repetitive (the story contains a lot of reminders of how wonderful life will be for the winner of the tournament) but this repetition also provided good foreshadowing. However, the resolution to the tournament felt a bit predictable (again, perhaps this was due to foreshadowing).

I found this to be an easy, engaging read and I was rooting for the hero, despite his many flaws. I’m looking forward to reading the next part of the story.

My review is currently posted on Goodreads on August 9, 2024.

Review Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6739813005

Review:

3.5 - 4.0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!!

This book has got it all! Fonda Lee has done it again with another stellar book and to team up with Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee, for a martial arts centric book? Well, you know this book is going to have some great action scenes and it definitely succeeds on this front!
It did take me some time to truly get into the story, about 20% of the way before I really got sucked in, but after that, I was hooked the rest of the way!
I felt the characters were well-fleshed out and each of their story arcs appear to be heading in a very interesting direction!
Jun, in particular (MMC), still has a lot of growing up to do but I think this book shows him taking this first step.
I felt that having a YA book with a male lead is such a refreshing storyline and Jun's personality is written very accurately!
Overall, I definitely think there is room for more action (which will hopefully come in the next book), and I'm excited to see where each of the main characters ends up after the ending of this book!
Can't wait to read more!!

i’d like to preface this by saying that i had too high expectations with this book which i think ruined the reading experience for me. but overall its not a bad start to the duology.

the world building is easily the most captivating part of the story. the plot itself is simple and the political intrigue wasn’t enough to keep me captivated. the stakes didn’t feel high enough and part of the problem there was we didn’t have enough character development (aside from the main character) i wish they would’ve developed the relationships more.

this is a classic underdog story. our main character is banished from his home and separated from his family, has no special abilities, and goes against his fathers wishes (he’s pretty much set to fail) but he perseveres. he starts off very annoying, bratty and self centered. but he is willing to learn and be a better person, which i enjoyed seeing his growth.

the fight scenes are well written and vivid, but unfortunately i quickly grew bored of it as this book is martial arts focused and the writing became repetitive.