Actual rating: 4.5 stars
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Do you love a reluctant hero? Because I love a reluctant hero. Especially when that hero is unconventional. Sai is the owner of a slowly failing tea room and is taking care of his ailing mother. He’s also a fantastic matchmaker - why? Because he can see the red threads of fate that connect soulmates. He’s soft and sweet and stubbornly clings to his goals regardless of the dangers and his lack of skills in… well pretty much every physical aspect. Sai was an amazing and super fun main character to read - and absolutely hilarious when he finds someone he didn’t think he would find and becomes absolutely smitten with them.
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All three of the main characters really grew on me - even the grumpy and jaded Jyn (she had good reasons okay!). My one qualm is that I enjoyed the Huntress, Feng, so much as a character that I actually wish she had been more involved in the plot. She does play an important role at peak moments, but I kinda wanted to hang with her throughout the entire book cause she was so great. (Perhaps maybe even as a throuple? 👀 - but that’s wishfulness on my part lol).
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The Last Dragon of the East is a great adventure fantasy with fated ones, grumpy and sunshine, and an unconventional MMC that hooked me from the first page. I definitely recommend checking it out.
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And look! We have another Canadian author we can support! Heck yeah!
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Hisses & Kisses 🐍
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*I received an eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada, S&S/Saga Press & NetGalley. All opinions are my own.*

The premise of this The Last Dragon of the East, a quaint, young teashop owner being wrangled into a quest that causes him to run headfirst into his soulmate, is delightful. The execution of the plot less so.

I believe my biggest problem with this book is that everything is very convenient. He conveniently gets the necessary medicine, conveniently decides to stand up to guards despite otherwise being painted as cowardly and timid, conveniently gets arrested, and so on until he conveniently finds the one he needs, and then his soulmate just swoops in and they go on their merry way together finishing off the journey. The lack of obstacles, slow pacing, and odd character work all took me out of this story and I did not like it as much as I had truly wanted to. I think my concern with the characterization work is that Sai is less a fully realized character and more a list of tropes tucked into a robe—there's no consistency.

I do think that there are people out there who will enjoy this. I think the world building is lovely, and I did enjoy the way Kwan tied myths and the past into little snippets littered throughout the book. I think some will enjoy the pacing and the way this reads as more of a merry adventure, and I think that many will enjoy the romance. I just personally could not look past the convenience of the plot and the character work to fully immerse myself in this novel.

The Last Dragon Of The East was so different than anything I’ve read recently! The descriptions were rich and beautiful. I loved the elements of Chinese mythology and legends included in the story. The main character Sai can see red threads of fate between soulmates. Right away he was charming and witty, and wanted to help others even when he put himself in harms way. I didn’t feel like we got to know the MFC Jyn’s personally as well as we did Sai. If we had I feel the romance could have been more impactful. Having her POV might have helped with that!

The first part of the book felt light hearted and funny, I almost expected more of a cozy fantasy adventure. It takes a turn though before long and there’s quite a few darker more violent scenes to follow. Some really caught me off guard I’m not going to lie😅 A lot more action than I anticipated, but the scenes were well written and easy to visualize. There were a lot of unique fantasy creatures described throughout the story too!

If you’re looking for something a little different, check this one out! I enjoyed it. I see so much great storytelling in Katrina Kwan’s future and I’ll be interested to read her next book!

**Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada|Saga Press and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy to read and review! All opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC.

First off, this book has so many things I love: Asian mythology, red string and dragons 🐉. Seeing Sai use his ability and all the different threads was so interesting and one of my favourite parts. Also the mythology of the dragons was written so well and I loved it. Then the romance and their connection was just so cute.

Overall, highly recommend this book if you love the red string myth.

This was such a lovely book to read! A great mix of fantasy, legend and a hint of romance, I found it incredibly enjoyable to read!

This book follows Sai, a young man with the gift to see the crimson threads of Fate, and helps people find their fated partner. While this job brings him joy, his own thread is grey. After a run-in with a group of the emperor’s soldiers, he is tasked by the emperor to find the last dragon known to exist. This task sets him across the empire, and brings him closer to discovering his own fated partner, as well as some answers to why his thread is different from everyone else’s.

This story was not always what I expected, but surprised me with some twists, and very engaging writing. Sai is a charismatic young man, but struggles at times with the other characters around him. Throughout his journey, he holds to his convictions, and chooses the honourable stance, even when it leads him to battles where he is often outmatched. This book does lean into the romance-fantasy genre more than other books I tend to read, but it’s a light enough romance to be incredibly enjoyable!

I received an e-ARC of this book from Simon and Schuster and NetGalley, thank you so much for the advanced edition! All opinions are my own.

The Last Dragon of the East is a romantasy book based in Chinese mythology. Sai is a teashop owner taking care of his sick mother. He also has the gift of seeing the red threads of fate that connect soulmates. What follows is an adventure into far off lands to find a cure for his mother and follow his own thread to his soulmate. But when those two goals oppose each other, will he follow his head or his heart?

I found this premise super interesting, and a book will always intrigue me if it has dragons. I did find the story a bit slow from the 15-60% mark as I wasn’t sucked into this universe and was annoyed by Sai. Then the story took a horror type turn that truly scared me - it was written so well! Katrina Kwan writes many scenes involving battle, pain, and body horror that were so well done it gave me visceral chills. Afterwards, I found Sai and Jyn’s journey much more interesting as secrets unfolded and the initial premise of the story gave way to an ancient grudge and hunt.

This book stands out from other Asian based romantasy books I have read recently with its unique reading style and flow of storytelling. There is some spice, but it is written more vague and flowery than explicit. I would recommend this to fans of romance or fantasy books who are looking to try out the other genre!

Personally, I find language and tone to be an incredibly important part of a narrative. While it is rare for me to be so disturbed by syntax that I will actively dislike a book, having your language and tone properly compliment the story you are trying to tell is often something that pushes a book into four or five star territory for me. The fallout of this is that you can have the most imaginative, sprawling epic ever, but if there is a disconnect with the authorial voice it will always seem less than or at best, average. Unfortunately, this is what befell The Last Dragon of the East.
Speaking plainly, was this novel an enjoyable read? The short answer is yes, but that does come with a caveat that I know I will forget about this book in a week or so. The reason I am bringing this up is because I feel that The Last Dragon of the East could have been so much more. It has all the building blocks for a really amazing fantasy: lovable characters, a quest, intrigue, clear character dynamics and motivation. What stops it short is the incredibly simplistic and far too contemporary language that disrupts emotional engagement. The fact the wording in the book feels like it would be at home in a modern setting pulled me out of the story. As such, I could never really fully immerse myself in the world building.
Overall, would I still recommend The Last Dragon of the East? Probably, if I knew someone really enjoyed Chinese inspired fantasy. For me, I will likely pick up another of Kwan’s books before I render final judgement on whether I like her writing style or not.

The Last Dragon of the East follows Sai, a young man who can see the red strings of fate that link soulmates together. Sai's relatively peaceful existence is upturned when he is forced to go on a quest to find the last living dragon to save his ailing mother - though what he finds instead may change his world forever.

This premise seems lush and romantic and epic. And it is, to an extent. There's a grumpy x sunshine romance. There's dragons. There's Chinese mythology. It feels like I'm reading items off of a checklist. That's largely what the reading experience was like, to be honest.

TL;DR: TLDOTE is fast-paced. It's TOO fast-paced. The rest of this review will be as fast-paced as I found the book:

Events occur in rapid succession without any time to breathe or develop the characters beyond their most basic traits. There's a number of violent/dark events that don't have any gravitas because the book simply moves on from it in the next chapter. The romance relies heavily on the use of the "reincarnation/we-love-each-other-in-every-lifetime" trope, in combination with the two love interests being able to feel each other's emotions through their shared red string of fate. I felt no investment or interest in their relationship. The villain is as one-dimensional as it gets; his backstory essentially boils down to "mmm money and power good, I am evil now". The plot is painfully predictable, yet Sai's internal monologue is so purposefully dense in an attempt to prolong the mysteries that it becomes frustrating to read. The ending is rushed. Jyn's character is strangely bipolar. The descriptions of the setting and the mythology are engaging and vivid, but the dialogue and (again) Sai's internal monologue feel juvenile and lacking substantial depth. The cover art is gorgeous. That is all, thank you.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC!

10/10, immediate 5 ⭐️, no notes!


It’s been a very while’s since I have finished a book in one sitting, but this one takes the cake! It was an absolute pleasure front to back and I would love to erase my memory just to read it for the first time again. I love a mythology retelling as much as the next person, but this was just so beautifully written, I have a feeling I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time.


Thank you so much for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, more than I expected. I was taken aback when I started it and realized it was told from the perspective of a ML which is so rare for books like these, however this added an interesting layer to the novel that I didn't expect. The world was crafted so beautifully and your heart really yearned for these characters. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a good read.

While reading this book, I felt like I was in the cinema watching a movie about dragons. 🐉

This story was about Sai, a twenty-five-year-old man who had the ability to see red threads that connected soulmates. But he never met his Fated One, and his thread was always gray. Until the day he was sent by the emperor to bring a dragon to him.

He found her, his Fated One. She was a beautiful woman with green eyes who could transform into a dragon. 💚

This story uniquely painted Sai and Jyn journey together, discovering themselves, fighting for each other's existence and protection. I don't read many fantasy books, but this story really captivated me.

Jyn was the last dragon, and Sai would do anything to protect her and never leave her again. But how can they survive the fight against the emperor and his great army? Nobody could help them, no one believed in the existence of the dragons anymore.

I loved Jyn's commitment, which lasted seven hundred years. She was my real hero in this book.

I was very afraid that I wouldn't like this book, because fantasy is not a genre I often read. It's a quick read, had a great story and amazing characters. Of course, there were villains but for me they existed in the shadow of these two amazing heroes.

If you like fantasy books, you will like this story. If you're not into fantasy stories, you'll still be delighted. I have a feeling that this book will stay in my memory for a long time.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc!
I had such a great time with this book! A quicker, character driven read that didn’t have much for world building which isn’t always a bad thing.
Sai is so adorable I loved his character and watching him grow and discover more about himself.
The pacing was a little off and I felt lost in the middle and after the climax near the end but all in all this was so much fun!
3.5 stars!

Beautiful, magical, and whimsical, this epic fantasy truly spans the ages! I loved the refreshing point of view from the main male character. The characters were delightful, and the story flowed beautifully; I was captivated from the very start!

"When our eyes connect, however brief the moment might be, I swear I can see it—the lifetimes upon lifetimes of wisdom, of wandering . . . And pain."

I’m not sure where to start?

"It feels like Heaven. She feels like Heaven."

This was such an amazing story.

"For centuries, the dragons lived their lives in peace and prosperity.
And then a stranger arrived from the lands beyond the horizon."

This was a book about star-crossed lovers. About life and death, hope and when all hope has been lost. This book was about rebirth and adventure, struggle and agony, heartbreak and exhaustion.

"I know this soul, though I can’t explain how. I’m whole and complete and home."

This book made you want to reach in and pat each character on the head, some harder than others lmao. Sai and Jyn were just perfect. I thought Sai was this little tea maker but he sacrificed and went through hell for those he loved. He was so strong but so loving. Jyn was such a tortured soul, that poor thing. I won’t say much about her struggle because SpOiLeRs but my fragile heart was breaking for her.

“Please,” I rasp. “I think you’re my Fated One.”
“I know I am,” she says. Her green eyes are cold. “Now leave me the fuck alone.”

I also love how this was kinda NA, not YA, because most of the Asian mythology books I’ve read have been YA and I’d love to read more NA or adult!

"I won’t do her the injustice of comparing her beauty to the stars, for she is far more radiant than anything in the Heavens, the earth, and the spaces."

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with this e-book ARC to review.

In this debut fantasy inspired by Chinese myths, we meet 25-year-old Sai. Since his father’s death, Sai has spent his days caring for his mother and keeping the family teahouse afloat. But as the emperor’s war drags on, the number of customers is quickly dwindling. So, Sai has turned his gift into a side hustle to bring in extra money. He has the ability to see the red threads of fate that connect soulmates and he’ll take clients to meet their soulmate - for a price. But there’s something wrong with his own thread - it’s gray and fraying.

Ignoring his thread, Sai focuses on his mother’s ailing health instead. He purchases a pair of dragon scales from his mother’s doctor who claims they’re a miracle cure, but Sai isn’t so sure. He gives the dragon scales to his mother and watches her health improve right before his eyes, but the brutal emperor has learned of the cure and sends Sai on a dangerous mission to find the dragon he’d always believed to be extinct.

This fast-paced adventure had me sucked into the story immediately! I kept turning the pages, rooting for Sai and his Fated One. There was so much action as they encountered many new foes on their journey. Sai’s resilience is tested many times and he has to learn to step into his power if he wants to repair his fraying Thread of Fate.

I also enjoyed the mini-chapters that wove in the dragon mythology and piqued my curiosity about where the story was heading. The only complaint I have is about the way the dialogue for one of the characters from a southern territory was written - it was a bit off-putting. But I’m definitely excited to see what’s coming next from this author!

✨️ Review: The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan ✨️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars
🌶/5 spice
😭😭😭😭/5 feels

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this book to review.

When I finished The Last Dragon of the East, I believe the words that flew out of my mouth were "INSTANT 5 STARS" - which I promptly took to my stories and shared with the world. Annnnd, I haven't shut up about it since.

Sai lives a quiet life: keeping his family's tea shop running while tending to his ailing mother. He has a gift of being able to see the red threads of fate that connect soulmates together - which he uses as a side hustle of sorts to earn extra money to buy medicine for his mother. His own thread of fate, however, is gray and fraying - a fact he ignores for most of his life. Sai is unwillingly forced by the Emperor to hunt down the last dragon of the east when it is discovered that he procured a green dragon scale as medicine for his mother. What he discovers on his journey changes his life.

I loved Sai as the main character! It was so refreshing to read a story from the MMC pov and to have an "unwilling hero" type of main character. Guys, he just wanted to stay home! He misses the teashop, okay? Someone roll him up in a blanket and tell him everything will be okay 🥲

There are so many parts of this story that I'm dying to talk about, but I need to keep this review spoiler free. So I'll just say that as the plot unraveled, I found myself drawn into the story and needing to learn more. This is definitely a "just one more chapter" book. As a mom, certain parts of this story broke my heart. My heart was broken multiple times throughout this book, but rest assured it was lovingly put back together by the time I finished it. I loved how the concept of fated ones was written, and I loved how the plot was executed. All in all, this book is a fantastic addition to the adult fantasy romance genre.

Even though I've already read it, I'm definitely going to purchase a physical book when it comes out *cough, cough OCTOBER 8TH! cough, cough* so that my husband can read it too. I hope beyond hope that this can become a series

When I was granted an arc copy of this book, I was simply over the moon; the cover art caught my attention within seconds of opening NetGalley, and once I read the description, I knew I needed to read it. However, upon starting the book, I soon realized that perhaps this book was not written for me. As a reviewer, I come across many different types of books to recommend: five star reads that shape my entire world, all around good books that I want readers to give a try, and, most frustratingly, books that I didn't enjoy but that would still recommend. Unfortunately, The Last Dragon of the East was one of the unlucky ones...

While I found the charming storytelling and whimsical folklore influences to be deeply captivating, this book was written in a way that simply did not resonate with me. I found our characters to be rather bland and two dimensional, the story itself nonsensical at times in a way that irked me, and overall there was not much I found rewarding about reading it.

With that being said, while reading I saw a great potential within it that made me think twice (or maybe ten times) about my review. As I didn't resonate with it myself, I would not recommend this book to everybody. However, I think that there is a market for this novel and in spite of my lack of a spark with its prose, I am confident that there are readers out there who would eat this book up. Again, the magical folklore inspired world is breathtaking at times, and the imagery within the story itself was undeniably good, it just didn't resonate with me specifically. Still, I am glad to have read it and I wouldn't say no to recommending it from time to time.

Kwan weaves a solid quest fantasy, drawing from Chinese mythology and classic storytelling. The owner of a humble tea house possesses an inexplicable magical ability and a strong sense of justice but goes about his ordinary life in the midst of a country at war until he is caught with the illegal dragon scales he acquired to heal his ailing mother, it feels like a classic tale yet it’s quite different from current romantasies. There’s also a role reversal here, the protagonist is a weak (but snarky) man with no training and only (seemingly) non-offensive magic sight, and his love interest is a strong, beautiful, powerful, and immortal woman who comes to his rescue many times. However, despite not being the usual kind of male protagonist that’s popular in this genre, Sai’s character has a brave spirit and a golden heart that readers will warm to. This was also a lot more intense and darker than I expected. My heart was in my throat at certain scenes. Action-packed, a little dark, and yet quite whimsical; it’s a feast for the mythological fantasy lovers! It certainly was for me, especially since I love the legend of the red string of fate and adore dragons. Content warnings: graphic violence, gruesome depictions, only two very short open door scenes. Thank you Simon and Schuster for the eARC.

Chock full of Chinese mythology, the storytelling, writing and world building was so well done.

Sai inherits his father's struggling teahouse after he dies unexpectedly. As a side gig, he plays a matchmaker, claiming he can see the red threads of fate connecting two soul mates. Sai also looks after his ailing mother. Desperate to find any medication to help her ease her aches and pains, he meets the village doctor who gives him dragon scales as a possible cure.

On his way back to the teahouse Sai has a run in with some soldiers who are pissed he wasn't conscripted to join the war. The emperor is not pleased and finds out he has coveted dragon scales. He's tasked with finding and killing the dragon it comes from. Poor Sai is such a sweet momma's boy, who's never left home and definitely can't fight. Whilst on his journey to find the dragon, he finds his own fated one.

I loved Sai's character arc, his genuine infatuation with his mooncake soulmate. He's so far from being strong and macho, he has such a sweet vulnerability. The intertwining storyline reads like a fairy tale and it adds to the mystery and plot twists throughout. I highly recommend this book if you like dragons, chinese mythology, romance and epic adventure. There's so much lore that add to the story.

It features some of my favourite tropes and themes:
🌞 reverse grumpy sunshine
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 fated mates
🩹she takes care of him
🐲 Dragons
🤕 Touch her and die

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You know I'm stingy with the stars, but I really liked this one. Looking forward to reading more from Katrina Kwan and I'm genuinely happy to have been able to read and review this arc from Netgalley. I looked up the author on Goodreads and am surprised that this is one of the two books she's published it's so well done.

4.5 (rounded up)

The Last Dragon of the East is an evocative and lush adult romantasy following Sai, who has been able see the red threads of fate all his life, suddenly finds himself forced to go on a journey in order to save his ailing mother from the hands of The Emperor and finally solves the mystery of his Fated One along the way. Full of Chinese mythology, witty banter and prose that will captivate you from start to finish, Kwan weaves together an emotional story about fate, destiny and love through multiple lifetimes.

I absolutely adored Sai’s humour and his character right from the start, and I loved the way his character arc played out. Further, I adored the use of the red threads of fate mythology and how it was incorporated throughout the story. While I don’t tend to be a huge romantasy reader, I found myself enjoying this one from start to finish. Kwan’s prose is particularly captivating and the emotions of both Sai and Jyn are wonderfully captured on the page. The only thing I will say is that the pacing in the last third of the book felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book, which made it feel a little imbalanced but not a noticeable detractor from the story.

All in all, I laughed, I cried, and I found myself immersed in Sai and Jyn’s story and I’m so excited to see what the author comes up with next!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing this eArc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.