Jade City
Ratings519
Average rating4.1
I don't have the energy or patience for 400+ page books with this much toxic masculinity, fat-shaming, and only one (sort of) main female character. BYEEEEE.
six chapters in:
two female characters called whores (one by her very own brother), one called a bitch in the second sentence introducing her, two female characters whose main plot points seem to be running away to be with men. it does not look good for women in this book and i don't have any desire to read further.
i am not into gangster/crime family stories and didn't realize that's what this was. it just wasn't interesting enough to keep my attention, but if you're into gangsters and political intrigue, you'll probably be a fan.
I really enjoyed this read; the worldbuilding is top notch. The way the magic system intertwines with the political intrigue is something I don't normally enjoy, but was enthralled by in this case.
2.5 stars
this might be my largest disappointment of the year. jade city has been on my tbr for numerous months and i'm more than aware it is a much beloved story.
before i list my issues with this story, let me preface by saying fonda lee's writing is good. i enjoyed some characters decently, especially lan and anden. and the premise had a lot of potential. in terms of actual reading experience though, it was just... okay.
the overarching conflict of clan conquest felt too distant. maybe i had gone into this book with the presumption of it having high stakes (which is naturally my taste with fantasy, i need the world to be ending to pique my interest) and was severely let down because jade city read more like a semi-draggy family drama.
i massively wish there was more exposition on the jade disciplines. the portions of the story where the kauls wielded their jade abilities were some of my favorite, though they were quite few. that last fight scene between hilo and gont where anden is inserted as a secret weapon was cool. speaking of, as of the moment, i'm considering continuing the series even if this first installment was quite subpar, i'm curious to see anden's relationship with jade and its addictive qualities develop.
covered interesting themes: from imperialism, nationalism, politics, to ethnocentrism, all of which i don't encounter frequently in the books that i read, so the thematic coverage was pleasant, albeit it fell short. wish it was explored more directly.
lan's death was too abrupt. maybe i think this way because he was my favorite character. had to slog through the remainder of the book after his death. truly what wasted potential. also felt his dependence on shine wasn't nearly explored enough. overall, his death felt like a contrite device to trigger shae's return to green bone life and establishment as weather man. which by the way, was majorly abrupt too.
moving on to some miscellaneous thoughts about the book:
i felt ambivalent with the family dynamics. i cared little for hilo, minutely for shae, and a fair amount for lan. their interactions were interesting at times and boring at others.
the character angst felt off-putting. especially hilo.
i had virtually no care for the clan conflicts. no peak this, mountain that. ayt madashi this, kaul lan that.
bero's plot line was useless, other than being the cause for lan's death.
the deitist religion was random and unexplored.
the female characters (kaul shae, maik wen, ayt madashi) did not get nearly as much development as the male ones.
overall, not a very satisfying read. promising premise, disappointing execution and focus. no tangible sense of escalation. not for me.
This was a different type of urban fantasy. A world set in a island nations wtih cities ruled by mafia families, powered by mystical Jade only found on the island nation of Kekon,
for sure a unique approach to urban fantasy at least different from the other urban fantasy I have read.
the characters overall I did not findmyself really being in love with but still enjoyed seeing how their stories played out, this book really sets up for the next few in the series which I will get to eventually lol, 60/40 split between plot vs character driven story, 60% plot 40% character i found
Originally posted at www.youtube.com.
I really wanted to like this book given that I love fantasy and The Godfather is one of my all-time favourite books. Unfortunately, in the end, Jade City managed to be neither a good fantasy book, nor a good mafia book.
The first half of the book was relatively strong, but by the second half I found myself rolling my eyes every chapter. A two dimensional world filled with boring, annoying characters.
May be some people's cup of tea, but if you love The Godfather, this book isn't for you.
3.5 out of 5 rounded up. This book is a mixed bag of excellent moments and storytelling. But it's not perfect imo. Mostly overused exposition at times. I also wish we got more attached to some characters.
World building +
Fight scenes and tension ++
Diverse characters +
Exposition heavy -
This book was a genre bending blast that reads like a Hong Kong mob movie meets Mistborn meets Game of Thrones. The politics, characters, emotional gut punches, and twists made this a ton of fun all the way through - great action sequences, an elegant magic system and an aesthetic that just bleeds cool. It's the mash up I didn't know I needed and now that I've got a taste... I'm hooked. “On my honor, my life, and my jade” the clan is my blood now guys... this book is very good at what it does.
It was ok. I couldn't really connect fully with the characters. The pace was a bit uneven, with some interesting and good scenes that had faster pace or something else interesting that held my interest. I think could be edited for a more tighter package. Unfortunately, I seem to have middling reactions to books with huge hype behind them. Personally as an overall package it's a solid 3 out of 5.
Ciudad de Jade, de Fonda Lee, te transporta a un mundo fascinante donde la magia se encuentra entretejida en la vida cotidiana. La historia gira en torno a una familia con toques de mafia (por no decir mafia per sé) que hace parte del control de la Isla de Kekon y el comercio de jade, una piedra preciosa que otorga habilidades especiales a sus usuarios.
Los personajes son uno de los puntos fuertes del libro. Son complejos, llenos de matices y muy entretenidos. La autora te permite conocer a profundidad sus motivaciones, lo que te hace conectar con ellos estrechamente.
La trama está llena de acción, intriga y giros inesperados. Uno de estos giros, bastante repentino (pero a la vez previsible), cambia por completo el ritmo del libro y te mantiene en vilo hasta el final.
El sistema de magia es original e interesante. La autora lo explica de manera clara y concisa, sin que resulte abrumador. Además, la forma en que la magia se integra en la historia es muy creativa.
En cuanto a los puntos negativos, hay que mencionar que la solución al conflicto principal se siente un tanto apresurada. Después de tanta tensión y suspenso, la resolución llega de forma rápida y aunque tiene sentido lo sentí muy...“fácil”.
En general, Ciudad de Jade es una lectura muy recomendable. Te atrapa desde el principio con su mundo único, sus personajes memorables y su ambiente 70tero/80tero Si te gustan las historias de fantasía con toques de mafia y un sistema de magia original, este libro te encantará.
3.8/5
In all honesty, with how many times I've seen this trilogy on people's “Best Fantasy Series” lists I expected more fantasy but I still really enjoyed this.
If you go into it expected an urban fantasy which is more focused on clan power, family drama and some fantasy/action then it will likely be an instant 5 stars.
For me, I did find the first 50% enjoyable to read but quite slow, I could tell it was setting the scene, building the world and introducing us to the characters then an event happened which propelled the story forwards and turned it up a few notches.
I already feel so invested in these characters and this world, so whilst this wasn't a perfect first book for me, I know I'm going to love the rest of the series and can't wait to continue.
TITLE Jade City
AUTHOR Fonda Lee
Genre Fantasy
—
Emotional Impact 8.25
Characters 9
Plot 7.75
Worldbuilding / Magic System 7.75
Dialogue / Prose 8.25
Official Rating 8.20
Goodreads Rating 4
Date Started 1/18/2024
Date Finished 1/22/2024
—
NOTES Really fun asian-inspired story with a unique low magic system, loved the big clan dynamics. Reminds me of 1980s Hong Kong / Mafia movies
TITLE Jade City
AUTHOR Fonda Lee
Genre Fantasy
—
Emotional Impact 8.25
Characters 9
Plot 7.75
Worldbuilding / Magic System 7.75
Dialogue / Prose 8.25
Official Rating 8.20
Goodreads Rating 4
Date Started 1/18/2024
Date Finished 1/22/2024
—
NOTES Really fun asian-inspired story with a unique low magic system, loved the big clan dynamics. Reminds me of 1980s Hong Kong / Mafia movies
A unique mix of kung fu and mobster films that sets the stage for what is surely a fun trilogy.
Update after finishing Jade Legacy:
I take my rating and my previous review back. I was wrong. I began reading Jade City at an inopportune time and in the wrong frame of mind. I should have waited a few months until I was prepared to delve into something meaningful, instead of using it merely as a distraction.
Original review:
I heard about this book so many good things. So I expected a lot more from this book.
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS. half of the book was such a slog to get through and i honestly would have dnf'd if i didn't buy the entire trilogy at once like an insane person. still not sure why i did that, but at least now i probably won't sell the books like i was thinking of doing until this one finally picked up.
the worldbuilding and setting is the strongest part of this novel for sure– characters felt a little flat (love Hilo though), and the prose occasionally got on my nerves in the way of its VEHEMENT insistence on telling and not showing. it sort of felt like the author didn't have much faith in her readers to parse subtleties without explicitly just writing it out. an example:
“[Lan] was worried about Anden. The young man was like a true nephew to him, and Lan felt a great deal of responsibility for him.”
Some months ago I read the first few pages of [b:Foul Lady Fortune 57190453 Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune, #1) Chloe Gong https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642713157l/57190453.SY75.jpg 89504589] and I realised that I didn't like it. THIS was what I expected it to be. Jade City has such atmosphere. Mafia stories are extremely easy to mess up. You can go way too romanticised or you can go too bleak and needlessly violent. Both makes the characters unrealistic; no perfect little cinnamon bun will also make people sleep with fishes, but also a mindless killing machine will never be the biggest force and base of a working criminal enterprise. Here we have the Kaul family, war hero granddad and his three grown grandchildren who form the leadership of the No Peak gang of superpowered people, who can use jade to give themselves abilities. (Then there is their young adopted cousin, not quite ready for a life like this. He is a cinnamon bun, but that's his point, so there is that.) Don't get me wrong, they are likeable characters; they have nice moments, they bond, they can be incredibly brave and noble. But when the middle one, Hilo, snaps... HE SNAPS. They are all capable of being cruel and calculating. You can buy them having dimension, their dilemmas feel hard. The grandfather is hardly ever around, but he is very interesting. The nation's hero from a time of foreign occupation. Now here he is, unable to connect with his grandkids. Nobody measures up, but he himself is slowly dying and losing what made him special. Is he angry with his own mortality? Is he truly dissatisfied with his family? He was made for and in a completely different world, the one he can't let go. He is insanely cruel. Is that his mind just going? Or was he always like that, because it was needed during wartime? So much of this book is about that. The perception and the reality, the characters using that distinction to work politics. The difference between the measured Lan, who is liked, but provokes no passion, as opposed to Hilo, who is passionate and dangerously hot-headed, yet incredibly charismatic. What will work in the end? Does it matter? Then there is Shae, who is trying to do something completely different, yet having to realise that maybe she doesn't even have an option, parallelled by Anden, who is coming from the outside, trying to get in. And this powerful family's story is framed by something very little. Someone little, doing something petty. In the story it's often mentioned that lanternmen (civilian supporters of the gangs) were the most important during the war and even for the working of the gangs, which makes it extra ironic that the events were started by one of those civilians. A lot of the story is based on those clever little twists. The lore is a lot. A lot of language, the way they use suffixes and the different forms of people's names. The different words they use for the internal structures of the gangs. The history, religion, culture. Now that was one of my worries. Will it make sense? And it did. I never felt like Lee added any of that just to pad things and make things feel more. It's all enough. It's all needed, it all adds up. The way the island of Kekon is described is so atmospheric. I have never even been to Asia (just you wait!), but everything felt so cinematic. The little shops and restaurants, the way they have temples next to gambling dens. So amazing, it truly feels like a city in transition. I think Shae's chapters bring out a lot of it, because she spends a good part of the book walking around like a normal person. (I don't even think Lee intentionally made it “food porn”, but mentions of food made me hungry. Weird.) A lot of the book is progress. We have a culture that is between modern and traditional. They are over a war, but not yet at peace. They have something specific to them, jade, which they have kept for themselves, but now they are staring to open up to the world. All the characters' individual stories are about transformation as well, though I wouldn't want to spoil them. That said, I don't feel there are such big plot twists. The events are on a trajectory towards... well, absolute chaos and it's exceptionally done, but I don't think this book hinges on surprising you with the absolutely unexpected. I personally don't need those, though. In my opinion just riding things out is much better than some so-so twist. I will go there and say it, I didn't need the sex scenes. I don't care about romance much and I usually just skim sex scenes, so there is that. They weren't overwhelming, I just didn't expect them. At this point, I have to read the rest. I have my doubts about a happy ending being possible, but I want to keep my hopes high. DEFINITELY recommending this to others.
I started this series off of the Goodreads average reviews for it alone. Didn't do much research into what it was about other than that it was fantasy and well loved. I should have. I am not a fan of gang politics and that's all this series is about. Pretty upset with myself for purchasing the whole series. That being said, there were aspects that I liked. The existential questioning that all the Kaul children went through and the growth, guilt, pressures and how they handled the pressures were great. I have a hard time with books that create a fictional world with a specific emphasis on prejudices based off of skin color and parentage and aren't trying to combat it. The way the Abukei are talked about and the Stone Eyes, it's just uncomfy. Like Wen got to smuggle shit...that's not really redemptive or honorable. This book read as if a man wrote it, and that's really not a compliment from me. The women were few and didn't have anywhere near the depth or respect as any of the male characters. I find it incredibly hard to believe that if Shae were an actual woman that had a close friend SA'd by Uncle Doru, would she have pardoned him at the end. Even if it was to keep grandpa company. I'm almost tempted to complete this series just to enjoy Doru's death, but I fear I would not enjoy anything else about it.
Simply magnificent. I loved the characters and action scenes so much. Although I don't see The Godfather comparisons, unless you mean mafia movies in general.
This is one of those books that take a long time to get you hooked, but it's good to read nonetheless.
The concept of Jade being used as something to give you powers wasn't strange for me, for I have read other Chinese novels with it as a magical element. It's a very solid read and I will continue the series.