Jade Fire Gold is perfect for readers looking for unique and diverse fantasy books but don't want overcomplicated worldbuilding. This book was so fast-paced I didn't realize I was nearing the end while reading. I love Ahn, Altan, and all the side characters. Though it tends to be predictable at times, the way it's so readable makes up for it.

I had a lot of fun with this one! For a fantasy book, this was honestly easy to read while being lyrical at the same time. Tan did a wonderful job putting into words the adventures of these characters and their portrayals. The only thing I did not quite enjoy was the climax of the story--I felt like there were a bunch of time jumps and I ended up not quite enjoying the conflict resolution. For the characters alone I want to give this book 4 stars.

- The dual POV of the main characters gave us an in-depth understanding on the character’s goals and feelings. Both of them share a miserable past and a rather complicated family relationships. For the most part, I appreciate the inner struggles when they try to make sense of what is happening around them over what they originally believed in. They are both strong individual characters.

- I must say that this is a great debut novel and something I would really pick up.

-Read this if you enjoy slow burn romance, the chosen one and runaway heir tropes and if you are looking for a new Asian-inspired fantasy story to devour. The vibe and aesthetic also reminded me of The Bone Witch series by Rin Chupeco and Avatar the Last Air Bender.

This story had a great plot and I think the author executed it fairly well. While I did enjoy the descriptions of scenes and places, it did make me feel like I was there, sometimes I got the feeling that it was sometimes overkill. Overall it was a good book, and it is nice to read books with diverse characters.

A fun, action packed, fantasy! I'm not sure what I expected, but I still had fun when I was reading this! Thank you so much for the arc!

omg! i heard so much hype for this one, and I was not let down. Stunningly rendered, it felt like I was walking through the world of 'jade fire gold' as a real onlooker to the magic that was happening Desperately need the sequel.

The storyline was solid! I really loved the worldbuilding, but the characters felt a bit mundane to me. I was disappointed with the characters but thoroughly enjoyed other aspects. It was a solid debut!

Jade Fire Gold is a story of coming to terms with the past, finding a way to live with it. Both Altan and Ahn lived through traumatic events in their childhood and both aren’t really ready to truly deal with them just yet. Ahn is blocking most of it from her mind, trying to forget while Altan is set on revenge. On taking back what’s rightfully his.

I absolutely loved the first, say, third of Jade Fire Gold. It was incredibly easy to get into and the prologue? Fantastic. The writing fits the overall tone of the story very well and is really good, considering this is a debut. The descriptions were my favorite part of it. The information was revealed slowly and carefully integrated into the flow of the story.

I’m also a fan of the dual POV. Both were equally intriguing and I flew through the pages. I loved how both characters had some mentor figure in their life, who patiently and carefully guide them with love and acceptance.

All in all, the side characters and their relationships with the two main characters but also with each other were lovely to read about. Linxi and Tang Wei are so adorable together and both seem like so much fun. I’d love to read a book about these two! (I also really loved, how accepted lgbt people seem to be here, no one bats an eye at non-hetero relationships.)

Leiye is another character that I’d love to read more about. He’s quite the mysterious character here and I’m curious about his past and what he’s thinking.

Both Ahn and Altan, have a clear character arc and I really appreciated seeing their growth. I also really liked seeing them so intent on acting themselves instead of just letting everything happen to them.

They complemented each other really well, but I have to say I didn’t really feel their romance. They are awesome as partners and friends, but I didn’t connect to them as a couple. Which was a little disappointing since I’m a sucker for a good slow-burn romance. It also felt a little too quick for me, though that is probably personal preference because it is not insta-love. They do take their time, but I think since I didn’t really get their chemistry it still felt too quick to me.

The book can totally stand without its romance though and shines with its atmosphere, the Chinese lore/myths included, and its themes from wuxia & xianxia. I loved that it explores themes of history, destiny, sacrifice, and family. And forgiveness.

Both Ahn and Altan have to let go of their past and I really enjoyed their journey.

3.75/5 stars

Hm, I really liked the story in this book. I loved the contrast between Altan, lost heir, and Ahn, girl from nowhere with incredible power. I just feel like the pacing was a little off, both in the beginning and in the end of the book. There were a few twists and turns that I didn't *quite* buy into.

I will say, one part of this book that I loved was that the characters failed sometimes. There were moments where they were simply outwitted by older, more seasoned political tacticians, and considering they're all teenagers and the people they're going up against are seasoned pros...that made a lot of sense to me. I liked how even despite these occasional failings they still regrouped countless times.

I need the sequel to this book immediately! The book is well-paced and the characters are amazing. The jumping around throughout the book made it feel off. I'm not sure how this could've been fixed, but it did take away from the overall story.

While a little lackluster, I think Jade Fire Gold was still a solid debut. This book is incredibly plot driven and many other things (world building, characterization, magic system etc) kind of fell flat. I can see the potential in June Tan's book and writing but unfortunately I just don't think JFG delivered it as much as it could have.

I was really excited for Jade, Fire, Gold which probably just makes the disappointment more crushing. I don't think this is a bad book by any means, but I had high expectations and unfortunatlely this book fell short. Let's get into why exactly this did not work for me.

The biggest source of disappointment for me was the characters. I felt like we barely got to know our two protagonists, let alone any of the side characters. Ahn and Altan both felt inconsistent, and the author didn't really give us time to get connected to them. I liked both of them fairly well, but I just didn't feel like they were fleshed out enough to forge anything deeper.

Pacing is another thing that I think could have bneen done better as well. Sometimes things seemed to be running at breakneck speed, and then suddenly it felt like we were limping along. It just felt rather inconsistent, and sometimes didn't make sense for the actual goings on of the plot.

I went back and forth on Ahn and Altan's relationship. I felt like their connection was real, but I don't think Tan explored enough for me to truly say I shipped them. Like a lot of this book I really just feel like it needed a touch more development. Like the finish line in sight but we tripped over a rock with 10 feet between us and that ribbon.

Also, I'm not a Zutara shipper, but I really do not think it's a good comparison to this book. Ahn and Altan aren't really anything like Katara and Zuko, both individually or as a (prospective) couple. I can tell that some of the inspiration probably came from them, but I think it does this book and future readers a disservice to compare the two.

I would be remiss not to talk about the stuff I loved which, for one, was the writing. Tan's style is absolutely beautiful. Her descriptions are some of the most evocative I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It was insanely easy to picture this world and all the scenes we were thrust into and I think that takes an intense amount of skill to capture.

And of course, the world-building. If you've read any of my other reviews you know I'm a masive sucker for world-building. I found the complicated web of politics within the palace so interesting, a power structure that left too many people feeling like the top of the food chain in a way that makes everything that happens in the book feel so organic.

There is an incredibly high chance I will be checking out June C.L. Tan's next books, and even a sequel to this one if that happens, but I just don't think this book was quite fleshed out enough for me. I think *Jade Fire Gold* had a lot of great potential but it just didn't quite live up to the expectations I had set for it.

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children's Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I left this book at 40%.

Jade Fire Gold follows two points of views, one POV where an orphaned girl raised by a kind old lady keeps her magic a secret but wonders about where she comes from in the first place. The other POV is a prince trying to reclaim his kingdom after it was stolen from him.

I couldn't really connect emotionally with the characters and that made it hard to read in the first place. Sure, they have interesting backstories but they didn't have a strong enough personality to connect to.

It's also super slow which doesn't help. There's supposed to be this epic journey but 40% of the way through nothing has happened... The magic had a lot of potential but like I said it's slow so there's not a lot of magic early on, mostly just dull politics. Kind of a disappointing read.

It began with a girl and a sword, and it will end with a girl and her sword. Once again, the gods have shown no mercy in their humour.

If I were to describe Jade Fire Gold in a single word, it would be dramatic.

In an empire that has a rather unforgiving stance towards magic, Jade Fire Gold follows Altan, a rightful heir to the throne, on a path of vengeance whose path intersects with that of Ahn, one who is struggling financially, trying her best to provide for her ailing grandmother.

Jade Fire Gold was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, because of the pitching (go read the synopsis and try can’t tell me it doesn’t sound epic, you can’t convince me), and more so because it was by an author who grew up in Singapore (the homeland, of yours truly). Like many, I’ve grown up reading the works of White authors, these past few years, have diversified my reading by picking up the works of BIPOC authors. It was such a vastly different but even more meaningful experience, however, until now though I’ve read many books by Chinese authors which I have resonated with, I’ve yet to encounter any by Singaporean authors, until Land of Sand and Song (which I read in September) and now Jade Fire Gold, which made me immediately keen to love JFG.


The gods were cruel, and men were merely puppets in a grand play staged for the amusement of bored mortals.

The element I loved the most about Jade Fire Gold would be the atmosphere. It takes inspiration from Chinese mythology, as well as 武侠 (wuxia) and 仙侠 (xianxia) films. For those reading that are unfamiliar, wuxia is a genre of Chinese dramas which follow the adventures of martial artists, while xianxia is wuxia but with fantastical elements such as gods. The high stakes, the chosen one trope, a quest to find some special artifact, the prophecies, some celestial influence in JFG felt so reminiscent of these 武侠 (wuxia) and 仙侠 (xianxia) films that are such big influences in Chinese culture, and I loved it. Another small nuance I loved was the theme of family, sacrifice and duty in Jade Fire Gold, with duty and revenge because of family, being a great driving force behind both Ahn and Atlan. There was a deep sense of filial piety: xiao (孝), one of the most, if not, the most important Chinese virtue ingrained in the story that I resonated with, something that I enjoyed a lot in These Violent Delights too!

Woven into the lore and myths in the vibrant world of Jade Fire Gold, are traces of Chinese mythology which I loved picking up, for example the “peach of immortality”. One that I realised only after reading the book thanks to a review on GR was the Mandate of Heaven philosophy (天命), a political philosophy that explains dynastial rule as well as why emperors are deeply revered “sons of heaven”. Heaven itself gives its blessings to the ruler, and this is deeply tied in with the land, evident through how famine, natural disasters were seen as emperors losing the Mandate of Heaven, and in turn losing the “approval” to rule. When a new ruler gains the Mandate of Heaven, a new dynasty begins, as dictated by the Chinese saying “成者为王，败者为寇” (the victor becomes king, and the loser is banished). Ah but back to Jade Fire Gold, the Mandate of Heaven accounted for the people’s loyal devotion to the rulers, and more intriguingly, how magic was tied to the land and kept in balance.

History is written by its victims.

Another thing I truly appreciated about Jade Fire Gold was its effort to talk about the themes of empire, history and fate. Coupled with the political intrigue, JFG did delve a bit into manipulations of history to divide and shape perspectives as a tool of empire, another book that did that well would be Descendant of the Crane!


Till now, this review isn’t like my normal ones, more so touching on the cultural aspect, and less on the actual plot devices and characterisation as I felt that those lacked ardour. And hence, while sharing how I resonated with the way my own culture was fleshed out in Jade Fire Gold, I would also like to spend a bit of thought in responding to some other #OwnVoices reviewers response towards Jade Fire Gold as one myself. All these are my own opinions, everyone is entitled to theirs, I’m open to discussion!

Some pointed out that it was wrong for one character to be portrayed as putting chopsticks in her hair bun. When I got to that bit, I was a bit “weirded out”, because friends, do you put forks in your hair? I understand the author meant it to be part of the ancient China aesthetic along with all the outfits like hanfu that characters wear. However, there has been feedback that some find it culturally offensive, with chopsticks in one hair being a common stereotype found in Western media.

Honestly, for me, I’m at a loss of how to respond. On one hand, I don’t feel that it is cultural appropriation as a Singaporean-Chinese, merely that in the author’s attempt to recreate the aesthetic she was aiming for, to make a move that may not make much sense to some readers (because modernly, who the heck puts chopsticks in their hair when it’s a eating utensil). I’m not defending anyone, I think that this arises because a Chinese identity isn’t a monolith, everyone’s experience and perceptions are different, especially with race and ethnicity something that can take roots around the world. Something that may be seen as disrespectful to some Chinese, may seem as an Ancient China aesthetic to some, and to others may seem to be just a meaningless addition to the book. I don’t discourage anyone from reading Jade Fire Gold, in fact it was a story that resonated with me from an #OwnVoices point of view so I would definitely recommend it, just be aware of the discussion with regards to the representation in the book.

Update 15 October 7AM SGT: June CL Tan, the author, had a little chat with me, and she explained her rationale behind this, which I found illuminating. The hair accessories characters wear are called 发簪(fazan), a kind of Chinese style hairpin. HOwever, there are custom made chopsticks as weapons that are not meant as utensils. Though I’ve watched my fair share of wuxia, I never encountered them being wuxia, and the author wanted to personify this through Tang Wei’s outfit. I’m heartened by her intention to decenter the White stereotype of Chinese ladies putting chopsticks in their hair, with many white women jumping aboard the bandwagon and doing so without any knowledge. I was also intrigued to find out that it is considered a tred by Chinese women? Haha I have to go read up more, but after hearing from the author this definitely added another important layer to the argument.


Wishing is pointless. Praying is for fools. I am the only one who can control my fate.

If you’ve just scrolled here to hear my final thoughts, I would appreciate if you could read the section on my response to some #OwnVoices comments which called the author out for disrespect of Chinese culture.

However, as a whole Jade Fire Gold still resonated with me so much, it was so heartening to see a Singaporean author bring Chinese culture into the western dominated world of books. A solid debut, I’m excited to see where June CL Tan goes next!

This book will probably be my top YA read this year. I fell in love with everything about this book. The characters, the world, the conflict, the romance, it was all fantastic! Ahn surprised me. I thought for sure there would come a point where she got on my nerves, but it never happened. She grew on me and I was rooting for her the whole way through. Altan was everything that I expected. The broody male counterpart. I really did enjoy watching his inner struggle play out and seeing how that changed him for the better. The twists were so perfect. Right when I thought that I had figured everything out, BAM! Out of nowhere a new twist comes and smacks you in the face. This book was clean and one I would recommend to my teen/preteen kids. I seriously can't think of anything bad to say about it.
I was given this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Trigger Warnings:
Fantasy elements - souls being sucked out, War Scenarios, Disfigurement, Loss of Family memebers, Poisoning, Drug and Alcohol Use, Child abuse and manipulation

Jade Fire Gold grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let you go even after you turn the last page.

Ahn spends a decade living in a desert village where she’s lost her job, her grandmother-the only family she has- is sick, and Ahn is suppressing her own dangerous secret.

Altan is hell bent on vengeance for the parents who were murdered and the sister he couldn’t save. He is searching for the one thing to set all of his vengeance into motion- a weapon he plans on using or destroying if it comes to it.

Author June CL Tan doesn’t disappoint with resplendent world building, brilliant characters, a fascinating magic system and an exhilarating plot that will leave you both breathless and eager for more.

Once I started Jade Fire Gold, there was no stopping unless absolutely necessary. If it hadn’t have been 1am, I would’ve kept devouring this book in one straight sitting. Tan has a brilliant way with words, as well as moving the plot forward at the same time as developing her characters in a way that you don’t even realize you’ve read half the book already. I was completely enthralled in the world of Jade Fire Gold and I had no plans of coming up for air. I fell in love with so many of Tan’s characters, especially seeing the story through two sets of minds. Multiple points of view can be a struggle when storytelling for some, but Tan does this perfectly as we see this story unfold between Ahn and Altan.

Plot twists and heart wrenching moments are interwoven so beautifully and seamlessly that my scope of emotions ran the gamut from page one to page 464. Tan’s magic system is well thought out, understood and easy to follow from the start. There was no part of this book that tripped me up, no info dumps that brought me to a lull. Tan’s writing is superb and exquisite.

And that ending! I love a book that has an ending you don’t see coming. I mean you absolutely don’t see this coming until you read it- and let me tell you, I am here for it! I cannot wait for Tan’s next book, and any future books. June CL Tan is definitely going on my auto buy authors list.

If you’re a fan of Atima Kim’s Spark to Shadow, or Hafsa Faizal’s Sands of Arawiya duology- DON’T MISS THIS BOOK!

characters: 1.5/5
writing: 3/5
vibes: 3/5
plot: 1.5/5
enjoyment: 1.5/5
OVERALL: 2/5

I don't have a lot to say about Jade Fire Gold. It had such an interesting concept with loads of potential, but it, unfortunately, fell flat for me. I didn't care for the characters or about the plot, which is pretty much why my enjoyment was...absent.

I'm sad but looking forward to more from the author in the future!

I loved this book...until I didn't. While the characters were interesting in their own right, a lot of the plot relied on their dynamic, which sort of fell flat for me. Jade Fire Gold could have easily been a 5-star read if the climax wasn't so dull. I'm a sucker for tropes, but at least put your own spin on them to make it interesting!

Jade Fire Gold has been hyped up by a lot of people I trust. I'm really glad I read it because I did enjoy it very much. I loved the character development, and I loved getting to know Altan and Ahn. I also thought the world-building was really well done and the infusion of Chinese mythology was fascinating.

Ahn is a fugitive living in the desert with her Ama, the woman who has taken care of her since she was a small child.

Altan is an exiled ex-prince longing to avenge his family. The two must rely on each other to survive because they (and we as readers) have no idea who to trust. It's a non-stop action adventure thrill ride with a slow-burn romance. I definitely got the Zutara vibes, and I loved seeing how all of these pieces came together and it was so much fun to read.

“Forgiveness is not weakness. It requires more strength than you think, my boy. You may not be able to change the past, but with each action, you can change the future.”

“I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book from the publisher and Caffeine Book Tours as part of my participation in their tour.”

I haven’t read a YA fantasy book in awhile and when I saw the tour sign up of this on Caffeine Book Tours I debated if I would go through and try it. YA fantasy nowadays are a hit and miss for me but THIS was very much up my alley.

I started this book on the 10th of October and with me not getting into YA fantasy fast enough thought I wouldn’t be able to finish this by the time of my tour stop. But lo and behold I finished it in 3 days. That was how hooked I was with this book.

Jade Fire Gold focused around two characters, Ahn and Altan. Characters with very different backgrounds and personality but ironically tied together by the red strings of fate.

Ahn was a peasant girl who dreamed of living her desert town to explore the world but is keeping a secret from everyone while Atlan, the heir of the throne who everyone thought was dead, has set his mind on taking his revenge on the people who took everything from him.

The main thing I would like to comment was the writing style. I am very particular when it comes to the pacing and how an author describes a particular plot and/or setting and I was very satisfied with how this all turned out in this book. It also made me feel like I was there and at times I didn’t want to stop and just keep on reading.

Another thing I want to point out was the characters. Having a set of characters you can feel connected and attached to for me is one thing every book has to have. Ahn, Altan, Tang Wei, Linxi, Leiye, Shifu, Ama were characters I would remember for a long time. Every emotion they felt I felt as well. Happiness, anger, sadness, disappointment, forgiveness, love and even betrayal. It was also very engaging with both of the main characters perspective. From the start of the book you’ll learn and discover things in their life on the same pace and I felt like even though we were back and forth on the 2 perspectives nothing was left out.

The magic system was very interesting for me aswell and I felt Avatar vibes while reading it since it does focus on elemental magic which… I am not complaining. I also loved how Chinese mythology and history was intertwined with everything and everyone all throughout the book.

One thing I felt a little down about was how fast everything was at the last battle. I felt like it needed more impact after everything the characters have been through but overall it was a satisfying finish but that EPILOGUE though! I mean at first I thought this was a stand alone but now gurl… I need a sequel.

For me this was a very successful debut. Everything from the characters, world building, magic system, history, Chinese mythology, writing style, pacing was very well thought of and I can see how much the author spent the time and effort to make the story come to life. I loved and enjoyed every bit of it and I highly recommend this book.