I was so excited to get back to Ying's story! I really enjoyed the pirate aspect and getting to see more engineering. I was a little disappointed to find out that this is only a duology, especially since the ending was a little unsatisfying. I'm really hoping we get more in this world!

2.5

We begin 2 years after the first book in the series begins. The first book was good and left things open ended which one would expect in a duology. I loved the idea of this series, the asian steam punk Jules Verne aspect. I think I saw someone call it silk-punk. There are a lot of interesting things happening in this book but what really bothered me was the lack of character development. The characters just seemed lifeless to me which cause me to get bored at times and loose interest. This story had a lot of potential but it just did not come through for me.

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this beauty in exchange of a review.
I have to confess, I asked for the arc before reading Of Jade and Dragons.
But it was the best Idea I've ever had because once I finished the first book of this Duology, I was craving for more!!!

And I wasn't disappointed at all by this sequel!!!!
I felt completely immersed in the story and absolutely loved having Nian pov in this book.
I couldn't stop reading and putting my kindle down to work was the hardest thing I had to do.

I think the only sad thing about this book is that we won't get a book 3 (and I need one very much).

**Firstly, thank you Penguin Teen, Viking, NetGalley, & Ms. Amber Chen for providing me with a free ARC copy; here is my honest review.**


Unfortunately, I’m going to have this book six stars out of five, again.

Of Jade & Dragons was my first 6 star book since the Cruel Prince, which I read back in 2019. A Mulan, high-stakes, silk punk fantasy? Yes yes yes. I gobbled that novel up.

I’m harrowed to say that The Blood Phoenix lived up to everything I remembered and more. While the first novel follows Ying on her Mulan-like adventure into the competitive Engineering Guild, to solve her father’s murder, this one explores her close personal relationships with family, friends, and the broody Prince Ye-Yang, of course. The quiet tension of intimacy and secrets was starkly contrast to the plot—a high stakes, political-driven warfare between the Nine Isles and a league of Pirates threatening desolation.

I knew from chapter 2 this book was going to have me in chokehold. Ms. Chen’s mastery of imagery and world building is on par with the greats—very comparable to Ms. Leigh Bardugo in my opinion. If you are a fantasy fanatic, this duet is for you. I would quote certain passages for example, but I read an ARC and don’t want to spoil the sheer richness of her descriptions.

Regarding the plot: I’ll be the first to admit I was weary, because my love for the first book may have been influenced from my Mulan-obssession. I am happy to report that even without that trope/backbone, this book was equally, if not more, enjoyable to me. The pacing and feel was very similar to a Ranger’s Apprentice book, where we get to see Ying in an “adventure” arc, rather than the “school” arc we saw her in before.

I found myself disinterested by a particular character of the storyline, and had a few grievances with the ending.

But what truly, and utterly broke me was reading the acknowledgments to find out this is only a duology. I do hope Ms. Chen reconsiders a third book, as I fear it will be a long, long time before I feel this invested in a fantasy book again. Ye-Yang and Ying will have my heart for a while.

6/5⭐️ plot
6/5⭐️ prose
6/5⭐️ world building
6/5⭐️ engineering inventions
6/5⭐️ Ye-Kan


thanks,

maeve.

[besides this review I have also posted several tiktoks on this book. thank you again for letting me arc read.]

So compared to the first book in the series - this one had a much slower pace. The plot felt dragged out and I found myself pretty bored at times. Chen's writing has improved, but much of the book still leans more toward telling rather than showing what was happening. The characters still felt pretty flat and not much development. The love triangle between Ye-Yang, Nian, and Ying was unnecessary and didn't feel like it did much other than to just add more to the plot. The ending was disappointing—it felt rushed and incomplete. I also disagreed with certain plot choices, like Anxi’s death and Chang-en being made a traitor, as they felt unnecessary. Overall 3/5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguins for an eARC of The Blood Phoenix! This book is the follow-up to the first book, Of Jade and Dragons. I loved the world-building but I was left wanting more. The ending was really up to interpretation and that’s always hit or miss for me, and unfortunately, this time it was a miss. However, I loved the concept and I felt that the book was really well written.

Thank you to Amber Chen, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of The Blood Phoenix in exchange for my honest review.

The Blood Phoenix is the second book in Amber Chen's Fall of the Dragons duology. This book takes place two years after the end of Of Jade and Dragons. This book follows both Ying and her sister Nian as they navigate the current political climate. I have seen reviews saying that they did not enjoy Nian's POV, but I have to agree, I thought her POV was outstanding and essential to the plot and the character development on several characters. I also enjoyed Ying's POV, but it was different, though in a way that I still enjoyed. I really liked watching both Ying and Nian throughout this book. I appreciated that while Ying grew, she still stuck to her guns and her beliefs that she held, which made it feel more realistic. Plot wise, I also truly enjoyed this book. It kept me on my toes and felt like a good sequel to Fall of the Dragons

I will say that I have seen a lot of mixed opinions on the ending so I wanted to give my thoughts on that. I actually appreciated the ending and liked that I was able to come to my own conclusions. I will say this is something that I do not normally appreciate, but it worked in this situation. It did remind me of another duology ending, but this ending still felt unique. While I do hope there is another book or duology maybe following the fallout of this book thought Nian's POV, which would give clarity to this ending, but even if there is not, I would be happy. I think this book ended in a way that was both satisfying and left room for more stories in this world if Chen choose. I will say that if there is more books in this world, I will pick it up instantly because I love the concept and feel as though there are more stories that could be told. Either way this was a great ending to a great duology.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

The Blood Phoenix was one of my most anticipated reads after reading Of Jade and Dragons, and it did not disappoint. It's a harrowing tale of forgiveness, revenge, and romance as Ying must decide if she can forgive Ye-Yang for his treachery and work together to prevent the kingdom from going to war. I devoured every second of this book and couldn't put it down.

I was very excited to see this available as an ARC so I welcomed the excuse to reread Of Jade and Dragons first and get reacquainted with Chen's silkpunk setting. Overall I'd say this is a very welcome sequel to the first book, particularly with the 2-year timeskip to give us more of a mature Ying to follow!

While the pacing feels a bit slow at the start of this one, it definitely begins to pick up over time and I particularly enjoyed the last third of the book the most, so I felt that it was worth holding out for. it Having multiple POVs was also a welcome edition and gave us some more exposure to to different moving parts of the plot/setting, which I can never complain about.

The ending of this one is probably going to be the most divisive thing, but personally I really liked the ambiguity of it! Whether or not any future books in this setting are ever released it gives the reader's imagination some space to play which is a choice I wholly support.

This was an excellent conclusion to the Duology and I was super excited to be approved for an ARC read so soon after finishing the first book.
This book takes place 2 years after the events of the first book and focuses more on how to handle the refugee and lack of food situation and the pirates that are causing the situation. Yins chapters are more focused on the pirate situation and how to stop them whereas Nians chapters are more political based and what goes on behind the scenes.
It's good to keep in mind that the main characters are loosely based on real life people. So as the ending is left open ended where you don't know what happened to two of the main characters definitively we can sort of guess what happened to them based on their real life counterparts. Maybe the author will revisit this world again and we'll get complete closure on some storylines or maybe not. Either way I was happy with ending and am happy to draw my own conclusions.

Thank you to NetGalley and to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers

2.75 🌟 I had high hopes for this sequel, but it completely missed the mark for me. The pacing felt disjointed, with too many time jumps that drained the tension from the story. Nian’s POV didn’t add much, and the romance, something I was really looking forward to, felt like an afterthought. The ending was especially frustrating, leaving things feeling unfinished despite this being the final book. I loved the first one, but this was a letdown :(

The Blood Phoenix is an exhilarating follow-up to Of Jade and Dragons, and this time, it comes with the added thrill of pirates!
Ying has grown from the first book's events, yet she still grapples with unresolved emotions. The story fast-forwards two years, with Ying hiding away in an isolated province, trying to escape her past. However, she is soon drawn back into the orbit of the capital—and of Ye-yang. This time, we also follow her sister and Ye-kan as they navigate a dangerous investigation. While I truly enjoyed their chapters, I did feel that they made the overall story a bit more dispersive.
Through intense battles, we also get to meet a found-family pirate crew, the Blood Phoenix is led by a powerful disabled woman, and they quickly throw our protagonists in the midst of a new slice of the world. I quickly grew fond of these new characters, but with the vastness of the world and all the intriguing developments, the pace did slow down, while still making me feel like we skipped a lot of interesting possible interactions during this arc! .
Despite this slower pace, The Blood Phoenix still left me wanting more. I’m eager to learn more about the world, its history, and the engineering challenges hinted at but never fully explored. While the central romance didn’t fully captivate me, I’m definitely excited to dive into any future books or companion stories set in this rich world.

The chapters were long but the story wasn't boring. The thing for me is.....the ending left me unsatisfied.
With all the build up and drama, the battles and schemes, the back and forth with the love interests.....I expected more, I guess, and it just felt unfinished.
We get more inventions and such but the bonds and friendships formed in book seemed splintered in the book. Disappointed, but doesn't take away from the fact it was well written, the plot was good, and .... it involved Pirates! Haha
Overall a good read.

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Valerie Contreras's review Sep 19, 2024
it was ok

I’m so sad to say that I was disappointed by this story. I enjoyed the first book so much that I had high hopes for this one. This is a duology but the story ended feeling unfinished or like there might be another book. I understand the need to include Nian’s POV in this story but I didn’t particularly care much for it. I was hoping for more romance especially at the end but it seems like it wasn’t important or the focal point. I also felt like 2 years is too much of a time jump for it to make sense in this story. The story throughout the book was interesting enough for me to continue reading but it was very different from what I expected. I am debating to continue reading if another book does come out.

Thank you to Amber Chen, Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

This book was a struggle. On paper it sounded wonderful - but the same issues I had with book 1 - Of Jade and Dragons, I had with this book as well. Two years have passed since we last saw our characters and believe me, the characters are more confused with what is going on and what happened than the readers are. In this book we had chapters from Nian which frankly I enjoyed more than Ying’s - and I feel that Nian is truly more intelligent. However, this book does so much telling instead of showing. Why is there a random equivalent of a Tattoine podrace but make it pirates? Major plot points felt shoe horned in at random leaving the reader confused as to if the stakes are actually high or are we going to brush over it again without digging too deep. The “twists” you could see from miles away. The ending - extremely confusing and I was shocked to turn the page to see the series referenced as a duology. I thought for sure there was something more with the way that it ended. Spoiler - the phoenix is also not a mythical creature that has an appearance in this book in case you were like me and picked up the first book after being told there are dragons when there really weren’t.
On a positive note - I am obsessed with the world building in these books! The steampunk elements are fascinating and I truly love having engineers as protagonists. Thank you to NetGalley and to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. This review is solely my own thoughts and opinions - everyone likes different things so I hope you enjoy this book more than I did.

Don't mind me spending the first 50% of the book rooting for An-xi and Chang-en to end up together...

The Blood Phoenix is the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons, and I just want to start by saying that if you're here for the romance, I would recommend not reading the sequel and just pretending book one ended however you wanted it to. You won't be happy with this book. If you enjoyed the fantasy/political intrigue aspects...maybe continue? Look, I'm gonna be honest right away and say the ending isn't super satisfying. If the author doesn't end up doing some sort of spin-off series, I'm going to be disappointed because she said this is a duology, and the story ends here...which I'm not happy about.
Two years have passed since the events of book one. Ying has been hiding from Ye-yang after he took on the role of High Commander, but when attacks by the pirates called the Blood Phoenixes force her back to the capital, she must face Ye-yang once more. Meanwhile, Nian is navigating life as the betrothed of the High Commander...despite her growing feelings for Ye-kan. The book alternates between Ying and Nian's POVs, and while I saw a lot of reviews hating Nian's POVs, I didn't mind them too much. While Ying's POVs tend to have more action, Nian's are a nice break from the tension (for the most part) and provide some much-needed answers. The pacing is a bit slow at times, and there are some time jumps that I felt were a bit awkward, but overall, I enjoyed the first 80% of the book or so. The ending is where I'm tempted to drop my rating, but I'm holding out hope for closure in some other form (and also, the shock factor of some plot twists was pretty intense).
This book had my opinions about certain characters completely flipped around. I was really invested in An-xi and Chang-en's friendship for some reason...I just found it really compelling. I did miss the dynamics between Ying and Ye-kan, but I liked Ye-kan and Nian even more in some respects. While their connection did feel a bit forced at the beginning, I liked seeing how Nian's strengths lie in Ying's weaknesses, and I enjoyed seeing Ye-kan grow into his leadership roles...and their chemistry was well-done. I also apologize, but I'm not a fan of Ye-yang. I found him a bit manipulative and was really hoping for a corruption arc based on the events of book one. He just felt a bit flat in this book, too. Ying was fine, but I felt like she was constantly worried about Ye-yang, and it made her POV a little less fun for me.
The Blood Phoenix is the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons that takes place in a fantasy "silkpunk" world and mixes political intrigue with a splash of romance and action.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.5/5

The Blood Phoenix is set two years after the events that happened in 'Of Jade and Dragons'. Ying retreats to the capital, giving up on her dreams to be in the Engineer's guild but doesn't exactly give up on inventing in its entirety. She's brought back into the midst of chaos when the new High Commander, Ye-kang calls for her and she's swept back into the world she left behind.

In this sequel, we are given Nian's POV (mentioned in 'Of Jade and Dragons'), Ying's younger sister, and of course, return to Ying's perspective of things as well. A lot of the things we learned from 'Of Jade and Dragons' don't come full circle until about the last 35% of the book and I was left wanting more. It feels like this du0logy could have flourished into a trilogy as the ending seemed rushed and I feel there is still much to tell for Ying and Ye-kang's story.

Aside from that, Chen's growth as a writer can be seen here as everything was fast-paced and included more violence albeit some pieces felt glazed over. I still thoroughly enjoyed some parts of the sequel even if some of the characters felt flat to me while others were multi-faceted and flawed.

Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for the E-ARC for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. Although the ending of the first book had left me somewhat unsatisfied I still had high hopes for the second book. I really enjoyed the world and it's silk-punk elements. But for a majority of the second book I found myself frustrated with some of the choices and actions of the characters. If they would just talk to each other so many problems could have been solved so much quicker. I still enjoyed parts of the book, some things played out the way I was hoping but the ending once again left me unsatisfied. I kind of thought there was going to be another book but it says it's just a dualogy. There was definitely more violence in this one, although there was a bit at the end of the first. But still no swearing or sex so I appreciate that aspect of the series. Actually if there had just been a little more to the epilog I might have bumped it up by one star. If you do read it you'll probably know what I mean.

The Blood Phoenix is the the follow-up to last year's Of Jade and Dragons and picks up 2 years after the events of the last book.

I unfortunately did not enjoy this book as much as I did the first book. The characters felt flat in comparison to the first and the pacing was a bit all over the place. I do love the world the author built and we got to see much more of that world this time around.

The ending felt as if it was leading up to a third book and felt rushed to a conclusion. I think there is enough story there where this could have been a trilogy, but maybe we'll get more stories set in this universe from the author.

Thank you the Penguin / Viking for an early copy of this book! All thoughts are my own.