This book was incredible! I had high expectations because I love Jade City and Jade War so much, and Fonda Lee did not disappoint me. I think she handled the time span required by the plot expertly and seamlessly, and I found it easy to follow the time jumps. This book was meticulously crafted, and I was hooked from the first page. These characters are so realistic and fleshed out, and I love them so much, despite their flaws. I ran through the gamut of emotions while reading this, and as soon as I finished, I wanted to reread the entire trilogy. I cannot recommend this series enough. Jade Legacy is one of the most epic and satisfying conclusions to a series that I have ever read!

What an incredible ending to an incredible series. All these characters grew on us and we see them growing up not only in their personality, but literally growing up because there are a lot of time jumps. The story spans decades and it takes us through so much that I'm in awe about just how much world and character building went into creating this trilogy. I applaude Fonda Lee for making me care so much about everything, and I applaude sadly for all the heartbreak that I went through. It was hard. There were tears, My heart? In a million pieces. My hope? Often shattered. Gasps? Galore.
I loved how everything was connected even when the characters were far away from each other. I just simply loved everything and everything brought me all the feelings.
I will certainly read everything Fonda Lee writes from now on!

I'm sure I'm not the only person with a sort of internal taxonomy when it comes to categorizing books. This, the third of Fonda Lee's Green Bone Saga, comes squarely under the heading of what I think of as the Shostakovich's 11th Symphony heading: books that develop theme after theme, character after character, building and building until it the climactic supernova that nearly catapults you out of your reading chair from tension and emotional overdrive.

I don't want to explain Janloon or its two contending families, and the power of jade, for any new readers who might cruise this review because it would not do justice to these terrific books to begin here.

This is the concluding volume of a three-book series that Lee, a martial artist, created as an homage to her favorite kung fu movies. In those, the magical blends with real life in a way that won't surprise anyone who's read the Four Great Classics of Chinese literature, through which dragons and ghosts drift alongside people who actually lived--whose tombs can be found--as well as the very long tradition of Jianghu tales.

This could easily have been four, even five books. Some readers might complain that this third volume compresses the storyline pretty tightly, introducing an entirely new generation. But Lee does a terrific job of bringing her characters, and her setting to life, building to powerful poignancy of that ending.

I might expand this review after a second, more leisurely reading: the takeaway here is that I was so enthralled I had to read in one sitting, as I could not put this book down. A satisfying finish to the series, which could not have ended any other way.

A stunning conclusion to a complex, intriguing trilogy with unique world-building. I’ve been talking up this book in some of the other urban fantasy book groups I’m a member of because it appeals to fans of Brandon Sanderson and George R.R. Martin and also has elements of Kung Fu and gangster movies from Asia. So many great entry points for fans. It’s hard to wrap up a series with so many characters, but Lee does a great job wrapping everything up in a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.

I've been sitting on this review for a few days because I wasn't even sure how to put my feelings down into words. Because wow. Just wow. Fonda Lee stuck the landing of this series with a perfect 10.

This book covers about 20 years, and I'm very impressed with how Fonda Lee was able to pull that writing feat off. It felt like so much was put into this book, and yet it never felt like there was too much happening. She managed to write the time jumps in a way that I was never left wishing we had spent more time in the previous time span, it was perfectly balanced and paced.

The characters in this book were immaculate. Seeing how Hilo and Shae and Anden and everyone we've been following has evolved as they aged was incredibly well done. And seeing the kids growing up and becoming the next generation of the clans was so good.

I truly don't have anything negative to say about this book. In the previous books I had a little bit of an issue with the pacing as I found it almost too slow for my taste, but despite it still being a slow burn story I really didn't have that issue with Jade Legacy.

I absolutely recommend this book and series to any fantasy fan looking for an epic scale saga in a trilogy length book series.

If you have made it this far in the series, then you are clearly a fan. This was a near flawless conclusion to the series. I could go on about the great characters, the fast pacing, the overall plot...but I think it is something that you will have to experience for yourself.

The saga continues (and ends)! This entire trilogy could be a single book. I feel like everything I've said in my reviews for the first two could also be said for this one.

The world building is absolutely incredible. It is colorful, stylized, and has strong vibes. It is easy to imagine and become immersed in. It is wildly expansive and detailed. Literally an entire globe has been imagined with a variety of countries, cultures, religions, values, etc.

The characters feel authentic and are very complicated. They are morally gray and sometimes evil, but manage to still maintain the reader's sympathy and support. They are varied and have distinct voices and motivations.

The "magic" system is super cool. I would love to see this as a tv series because it looked amazing in my head.

Fonda Lee explained in an interview I saw that she set out to write the story of a single generation of the Kaul family. And she does. This entire saga feels like a birds eye view of this family and I found the ending to be satisfying.

Sexual violence? Yes. Other content warnings? Violence, drug use, suicide, religion, death, grief.

Fonda Lee’s talent is just out of this world. I’m still so shocked at how easily her story pulled me in with Jade City, and now with Jade Legacy.

I am so impressed and in awed of the way she built her world and wove the story around it. I absolutely adore her characters. Each has their individual struggles and their own unique personalities. What fascinates me the most is how she managed to have me so emotionally attached to the characters.

I have rarely seen a story where we follow the characters over decades, and Fonda Lee did it in such a seamless way.

The political intrigue is also one of the strongest aspects of her novel. The political maneuvering the Kaul family has to do is out of this world, and it was masterfully executed.

This story is immaculate. I have no words. Jade Legacy is a very powerful final installment that deeply marked me. I’m really looking forward to anything the author puts out in the future, whether that be in the same world or a completely different story.

Wow. All I can say is wow. This one is hard to review without spoiling, and anyone reading the third book of a series will be super sensitive to this. That said, Imagine a Bruce lee movie, but with magic. Or something like the HBO max show of warrior, with warring gangs, but mix in some fantasy elements, and you can imagine the cool that Fonda Lee has brewed up here. This is a book that makes me wish I had better words because this is amazing. People should start with the first book, however...and the payoff is completely worthwhile.

I was given a free copy of Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee (author), Orbit (publisher), and Net Galley. Jade Legacy is the final book in the Green Bone Saga. I did not read Jade City (2017) and Jade War (2019) which are the first two in the series.

As I read Jade Legacy, I did not feel lost or confused because I did not read the previous two novels in the Green Bone Saga. I did think, though, that I may have not appreciated the emotional significance of events from previous books that are mentioned in Jade Legacy because I did not read them.

This review will be spoiler free.

I would characterize Jade Legacy as a novel about a generational family that are involved in crime and has some fantastical elements.

The story takes place in a few countries that are equivalent to Asian countries in the late twentieth century of our world. Ms. Lee does a very commendable job in featuring each country to be unique from the other countries in this world. She does the same in featuring the people and how diverse they are in a country and how they are different from people living in the other countries.

In Jade Legacy, the magic system is in the form of jade. Only some people can use jade and enables them to enhance their physical abilities. When people with jade duel, and that is prominently featured in this story, the winner can claim the jade of the loser and could make the winner more powerful, and the winner’s reputation is burnished and enhance as well.

Jade Legacy is shown through several characters’ perspectives including major, significant minor, and minor characters. The way the story unfolds through these perspectives is very organic and I was immersed and enthralled from start to finish. Each character is fully developed, engaging, interesting, and had an important role in the story. I was emotionally invested in the trials and tribulations of each of the characters including the antagonists.

I believed one of the inspirations Ms. Lee had in writing this series is the Godfather. There is more than one instance when I was reading Jade Legacy that I thought about Godfather, especially the part of the story pertaining to the movie business. Another instance is regarding a significant minor character who reminded me of Tom Hagen.

As much as I enjoyed the characters, I really enjoyed the story. Ms. Lee has weaved a tale that is not only emotional and immersive, but I really cared about what was happening. The story employs time jumps that are very organic and did not take me out of the story. The story flows at steady pace but still enabled scenes to breath and to understand the characters and their motivations.

I enjoyed Jade Legacy as much as I did that I bought Jade City and Jade War. I am really looking forward to reading them.

I am looking forward to Ms. Lee’s next book.

I rate Jade Legacy 5 stars.

I would like to thank Ms. Lee, Orbit, and Net Galley for the free E-ARC.

Fonda Lee has truly outdone herself with this book. This whole series is amazing, but Jade Legacy has solidified itself as my favorite of the three and The Green Bone Saga as my favorite series. Jade City and Jade War both gave me the feeling of having binged a season of a tv series after reading them. Jade Legacy, however felt like 2-3 seasons in one book with a masterful series finale to conclude our time in Janloon. I am going to miss this world and these characters so much, but I definitely will revisit them real soon upon reread.

This is going down as an all time favorite. Everything I have been through with this books is invaluable. I will always cherish this series deeply and is sad that it's finished but is blessed that NetGalley gave me this wonderful opportunity to read the eARC before the book is published on the 30th. Thank you so much!
I shall go cry and possibly reread this saga again, because now I don't think I can ever read anything that would top this.

thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free eARC for this review!

Wow wow what a ride! Enjoyed this a lot, a good conclusion to the whole series. The plot of this book is kind of bam-bam-bam fast paced action as in the first two, but Jade Legacy does an interesting narrative choice imo. The first books took place over maybe, 3-4 years each-- neither was like, one of those books where the whole story takes place over a week-- but Jade War is like, the book where Andon is in Port Massy for a couple years. Jade Legacy however covers, like, the WHOLE latter part of all our main characters' careers-- this is like a 30 year long book? and honestly I respect that. Certainly preferable to like, a 30 year time skip where nothing has changed.

Really enjoyed a lot of the characters and narratives of this book. Since it's over such a time span the characters have a lot of chance to act one way, and then grow and change, act another way, change again, and that kind of gives the character interactions a very dynamic feeling. There were a LOT of events in this, and I think that even kind of made the book feel longer than it was, but not in a "this is dragging" way, rather in like, the way of a long exciting day where you think about getting up in the morning and are surprised that's the same day. same here. also I really enjoyed the continuing recurrence of Bato through every major time skip. poetic.

In general: big ride, long story arc, wild in the same manner as the rest of the series, 5/5 definitely recommend if you too want to read about crime families who do magic martial arts

WOW!!! I swear if I could give this book even higher rating I would.
If you read the previous books I suggest you go read this book NOW!! It's a chunky book but it is so good .

Every time I read a Fonda Lee book; I’m always blown away at how talented she is. The way she can connect so many characters and tie so many plot threads together is insanely impressive. This book is her best work yet. Its over 700 pages long yet not once was I bored. I love seeing how far these characters have come, and adore the entire Kaul family, especially the kids. I adored all of them and seeing how alike they are to their family members was both fun and heartbreaking. Niko’s is by far my favourite character. His entire character arc BROKE ME. He’s so much like his dad and having seen him go through everything he does after... a certain event, was too much for me to handle. Seriously, I cried my way through the last few chapters and most of it is because the events were going to affect Niko. ITS LIKE THE FAMILY DOESN’T EVEN SEE HOW MUCH THIS IS EATING HIM FROM THE INSIDE OUT AND HE DOESN’T HAVE ANYONE HE CAN CONFIDE HIS TRUE FEELINGS TOO. I HATE IT. The scene with Ato where Hilo’s says that a man’s heart is his own and he just says that he says his heart is more sensible than others?? I can’t even mention it without wanting to cry. He’s just like Lan and is going to put his responsibilities and the Clan above his own feelings and wants and it destroys me. Someone please check in on him and give him a well-deserved hug.
My only complaint is that I felt like Jaya and some of the other female characters were under-utilized. And I felt like unnecessarily brutalized. Is it realistic and make sense to the world? Yeah, it does, but it felt excessive sometimes? One specific line that Lula says felt so unnecessarily crude and still upsets me to think about even days after I’ve read it. I had gotten what was going on with her without the inclusion of that line.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought it was a solid conclusion.

This series will live in my head rent free for a while now. This finale destroyed me in the best way possible. The writing is impeccable and the plot line and characters will keep you engaged. As long as you like fantasy, you would like this book I'd think. It's hard to say much without spoiling this finale, but it is well worth the read. And also worth the money. I received an arc for this, but I own two different editions of this series: the paperback version and the Illumicrate version which I hope to receive soon. I regret nothing. It was money well spent.

I seem to be reading a lot of books this Autumn that end, or at least pause, series. I'm not sure which Jade Legacy does - it certainly rounds off The Green Bone Saga in a satisfying way (that is with conflict, reconciliation, drama, heartbreak and loss) but in doing that it brings onto the stage a whole new generation of the Kaul family. And it's a book that covers such a long period - twenty years or so - in which so much happens that it's conspicouosly more than "just" a conclusion to the series. This book left me asking so many questions about what might come next!

Taking the three books together - the others are Jade City and Jade War - I'm impressed by the sheer scale of Fonda Lee's storytelling. Through all those books, her fantasy world has just hummed with life. Their focus is on the island of Kekon, a place inspired by South East Asian cultures and set in a wider world with enough echoes overall of our own to seem achingly familiar. That familiarity means that the key fantasy idea - of "bioenergetic" jade which imbues its wearers with almost superhero level powers, if they can learn to control them - just seems, well, everyday, and the politics and culture and codes and jealousies that arise from this idea appear as natural consequences of it.

What particularly comes across in Jade Legacy though is that this world isn't static, it's not just a background for the protagonists, it is evolving, technologically, politically and culturally.

In technology, we start to see changes as camcorders and videogames appear; as Green Bones who get in a spot of bother on nighttime Janloon streets no longer need a phone box to report back to base, but can use a cellphone; as computers and then flat screen TVs are mentioned.

In politics, the dominant power in this world, the Republic of Espenia, has been in a state of "Slow War" with a rival nation but is now stepping back form that (while leaving a good few small but hot wars to be fought by private contractors).

And in culture, the Kekonese-Espenian community is finally winning a degree of acceptance for its traditions, such as the use of jade for healing. One of the things these books, and especially Jade Legacy, do so well is to explore the cultural challenges faced by this minority community - placed as they are between the cultural milieu of Kekon with its Green Bones clans such as the Kauls' No Peak, and that of the self-proclaimedly "modern" Espenia which still has its criminal gangs or "Crews", many of them rather highly connected, and its religious fanatics devoted to Truthtelling. The rich layering of detail allows many aspects of this to be explored, from the family whose daughter, ensconced in a powerful Government job, chillily disrespects the Kauls' envoy, to the Kekonese-Espenian gang boss who earns opprobrium from his own community and from the Espenians.

Technology, politics, and culture. But there is much more here. The heart of Jade Legacy is, I think family, and love. New characters come onto the scene - such as Niko, son of murdered clan leader Lan, adopted son of the current leader Hilo, Lan's brother - and old ones mature and develop - it was wonderful to see Shae again and to find some of her wounds healing, even as she suffered new ones. But they all have to face the same choices, none more so perhaps than Hilo. Hilo and his wife Wen saw their relationship severely tested in Jade War, and much of this book circles around whether they can rebuild it: the emotional hurt and physical wounds went very deep.

There is so much here about finding the right way forward - whether by embracing tradition with a twist (as does Jaya with her force of Little Knives) or by challenging or doubting it (as Shae had done before the Saga even began, as Anden did in Jade City and Jade War, and as others do here). So many themes and currents. What about those (like the indigenous inhabitants of Kekon) who cannot wield jade? Clan members so born are referred to as 'stone-eyes' and considered unlucky, but will they continue to accept that status? Others chafe at the arrogance and dominance of Clan resting on the laurels of their role in freeing Kekon during the Many Nations War. New ways of thinking, new ways of living (Anden finally finds love with another man), new demands for inclusion and recognition.

And all through the story, like a chorus, unlucky Bero, who we saw in both the previous books, a clanless man trying to carve himself a niche from the outside. Through chance or effort, he's caused grave hurt to No Peak but done himself little good in the process. Yet here he is, still trying and in so doing, casting a light on the assumptions which uphold Clan power (as well as giving an in to lots of new mischief!)

What else can I say about Jade Legacy? There is just so much to praise, I could go on and on. Loved characters with real human dilemmas, fears, weaknesses and, many of them, willingness to do terrible things. Nobody here here is exactly a hero. It would be easy to see many of them as a pack of cutthroats, even others in Kekon point that out. This world can be - generally is - patriarchal, hierarchical and kind of corrupt. At the same time, the struggles we see here have their own moral context and more, a deeply human appeal - Hilo and Wen seeking to repair their marriage, Shae trying to reconcile her role in the clan with a love that may do the family harm, Niko's need for his own identity, Ru's need to find a new way to be a member of his family.

None of it is easily achieved. There are so many frictions between these characters, and others, often accentuated for the reader because Fonda Lee's writing makes it impossible to dismiss anyone's perspective or to hope for a simple, single correct answer. And all this is being worked out as No Peak struggles for its existence against the larger, even more ruthless Mountain clan so that actions are constrained, resources limited and options often poor.

In all, this is a glorious read, a zinging, exciting, absorbing book stuffed with drama and sadness, love, fear and tragedy. It wrung my heart again and again, but also had me punching the air, laughing and crying for joy. Whether it is the end for the Kauls and their enemies, or a pause, it is a terrific end, or pause, cementing this series as a magnificent achievement in 21st century fantasy.

i was still excited to read this last book to see how the series concluded. A lot of things happened here and frankly i don't believe we needed this much. Getting too many big 'important' events actually diminished the importance of each in my opinion. And gettng a few chapters for every single living Kaul minimized the attachment or understanding we could've had of each character. It was very exciting to meet all the new members of the family and to slightly understand them and their mindsets, however a lot was left unexplored which felt unfair to these interesting characters.

Hilo and Wen became my favorite characters after jade war, their separate growth and development made me attached to each, however in jade legacy, they regressed (as characters) rather than develop even more, and their role in the plot was minimized due to the sheer number of characters and plotlines. I'm not personally a fan of Anden or Shae or Maik Tar or Woon, but was frustrated over how they all got less development and self-growth than freaking Bero.

The ending broke me nonetheless, it was emotional and well written, perhaps the most well-written part out of the whole saga, and it disappointed me to no ends how such a good ending had to be written after a frustrating book that tried to give us a little out of every character and event instead of a substantial amount of content about few characters and events.

All in all, this book disappointed me, not for having poor writing or bad plot or boring characters but for having good writing, a smart plot, and interesting characters but still somehow managing to make it all a huge mess. It just all felt like a hugely wasted potential.

I loved it! Check out my video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX7Ex_IUGlc

Fonda Lee has truly knocked it out of the park. I have never read a more satisfying and earned finale in a long time. The overall arcs over the course of the series are a thing of beauty. Check out my review for more thoughts.

Before thoughts: If Bero lives through everything I think I might go CRAZY

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️ (honestly it deserves every star possible !) but 11/10 on the pain scale cuz WOW did my heart go through the ringer !

“The clan is my blood, and the Pillar is its master. On my honor, my life, and my jade.”

I honestly feel like my heart got ripped out of my body and then got stomped on, ran over by, stabbed a billion times, and went through the meat grinder while reading the finale…thanks miss Fonda Lee. I’ll be sending you my therapy bills 🙂

I’m a mess and idk how to articulate my thoughts and feelings at the moment but damn did I have a great time (even though it didn't look like it judging from my daily updates!) ! Honestly, one of my favourite series to date and I can’t wait for the physical book to be in my hands so I can annotate and tab every scene and quote that I highlighted !!

It's almost been a whole month since I finished this beast of a book and I'm still having trouble wrapping my head and articulating my thoughts and feelings. When I read early reviews, a lot of people had mentioned that Lee had stuck the landing and she truly did! I've never been so satisfied but emotionally upset and wrecked over an ending in such a long time (doesn't count that I haven't been reading fantasy books tho...). I feel like I won't make this review justice because I'm so bad with my words and I'm still in awe with how everything was wrapped up so nicely and left me happy and satisfied.

I'm sure you all know how much I love and adore this series, especially the characters! If I didn't think I loved them more before then this book really elevated that for me! I had such a fun time reading the growth and development of every main character and yes that even includes Bero (wow shocking especially with how much I hate him). I was so frustrated and so upset with one character in particular but then I found myself forgiving said character and understanding why that character did what they did and I really appreciated that. Lee has such a way with her characters because if she made me hate a certain character and then made me love them again ?? then that's a craft I want when I write my own series one day! Not only was I loving the original cast, but I deeply fell in love with the younger Kaul generation but now my heart is hurting for one, in particular, *cries in Jade Legacy pain* It was just so refreshing to read from other POV's and get different views and opinions of certain political movements that played throughout the finale. Each plot device was set up deliberately and it definitely paid off in the end especially when things started to come together and everything made sense!

I know it has only been a month since I finished the finale but it has definitely caused a problem for me because now I refuse to read anything for the time being, which is something I had foreseen to happen. Not only has my reading been affected but so has my personality and my work life! I remember starting the book a day before my work rotation and then having to sleep after a somewhat chill chapter and then anxiously working for 12 hours and then coming home to read more and stress sleeping right after. It definitely caused some trouble but I wouldn't have it that way! I truly enjoyed every page and every scene that was published and I wish I could just read it again for the first time because it was such an exhilarating reading experience. I am so excited for what is next with Lee's upcoming projects and ofc anxiously waiting for the prequel book and her monthly installments on her Patreon page.

This series has cemented its place in my heart and into one of my favourite series of all time, for which I am grateful because of the meaning that it holds to me dearly. I recommend this series to honestly anyone and I am appalled that not enough people are reading this, so do yourself a favour and READ THIS MAGNIFANT SERIES.