This story kept me hooked. It was like a Chinese fantasy drama mixed with steampunk technology, all in a book. The only drawback was that it had some minor language (a-- being the main one).
This book had swoon worthy scenes that hinted at a budding romance between Ying and Yeyang. You know, those epic scenes where the girl is about to get hurt and the hero sweeps her into his arms and protects her. And don't forget daring rescues. Add in that there is danger between them--both are harboring secrets. Will they still love each other when everything is revealed?

Then there is Yekan (second male lead syndrome!) one of Ying's classmates who seems to have growing feelings for her too. (My growing preference was him. Can't wait to see what's in the next book.)
This is definitely an author to pay attention to. She's a solid story teller, with characters that are unique and make a great ensemble. (I'd watch this is it was a drama for sure.)

Thank you NetFirst off! Thank you Net Galley and Viking Books for the ARC of this. This is the first ARC I've read in a long time and I'm happy that a few people told me about Net Galley.

I went in knowing next to nothing about this book. All I read was that it was Mulan meets Iron Widow and I clicked request copy with a "say less" attitude because I freaking LOVED Iron Widow and needed the sequel like six months ago. With that being said...

Would I describe this book as Mulan? Not really, thats a stretch. Would I describe this book as Iron Widow? No. I really don't see the connection. Would I even say its a combo? Again, no. This was something I realized a few chapters in and so I discarded that connection from my head. Once I did that I found I really enjoyed this book on its own.

(Side note, did I have to look up what silkpunk fantasy was? Yeah. That's new knowledge in my brain.)

This book had the perfect pace of plot and character development and was good at introducing things as they became relevant and didn't oversaturate the reader while doing so. I loved seeing the "silkpunk" air around this novel and that the inventions were very time relevant. The inventions and technology were believable in this with how the world is described and I think that's something really important a lot of authors forget about. They write something that seems to be in a time where flashlights wouldn't exist but then boom, plot convenient flashlight at your service. In this the author stayed consistent with the technology and inventions. Things were mostly made to run with steam or gas and that was that. It was refreshing and just that small attention to detail that really stuck out to me.

Ying was a fantastic character and I felt myself wither rooting for her, worrying about her, or yelling at her through the book. Her motivations and goals changed slightly with each thing she learned and it just felt like such real growth. She didn't drastically change for anyone, she changed based on what she learned and what her ideals are.

Ye-Yang was a stressful man to read about. I'd love to see a book from his POV because I'd like to know what was running through his head and learn more about him and his motivations. I feel like his feelings to Ying are sincere but there's obviously something more that we're missing with him.

Same with Ye-Kan, I really hope we see more of him and the other boy (I forgot his name) in the next book. I also wonder where the next book will take us.

I found myself so stressed at the end and for me, that's a sign that I am loving what I'm reading. I was going to save the last few chapters for another day but I just found myself needing to know the ending.

And now I get to suffer extra long. I am def picking this up for a "book trophy" when it comes out.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6335234326

Please. This was everything! What is it about this type of fantasy that can do no wrong? Revenge, murder, a STEM girl in the making, a hot prince, and war all come together in this stunning debut. Yes, I said debut! You never would have guessed it by reading, but she knocked it out of the park and I simply can't wait for the sequel, which is a shame, since I'm already reading this six months in advance. One star off because me and my little brain can't handle war things, but that is NOT the author's fault and is 100% a personal preference. And a spoiler alert, there are no actual dragons, which was in fact a bit of a letdown, but if you like historical fantasy, badass heroines, and Mulan retellings (as if this didn't have enough amazing things going for it) this is for you!

Mulan meets Harry Potter in this exciting adventure. Ying is horrified to witness her father’s death. A master engineer who resigned from the Guild to reside in a rural town, he left her a notebook filled with his designs. She suspects the assassin was hired by someone he’d known at the Guild. Disguised as a boy, Ying sets off to apply to the Guild as an apprentice. Along the way, she meets Ye-Yang, a handsome prince. He sponsors her application, and she enters the academy. While involved in relationships with her classmates, tests of engineering prowess, and learning about government politics, she fears the assassin might be on her trail. She also fears exposure of her identity, which would mean her expulsion from the academy. If you enjoy coming-of-age stories, secret identities, a Hogwarts-type school for engineers instead of wizards, a romance and a murder mystery, grab your copy of this book pronto! An intriguing premise, a clever heroine, and an exotic setting make this book a keeper. I’m hoping there’s a sequel in the works.

"These seas can never trap those who are meant to fly."

Of Jade and Dragons is a "silk"--punk Chinese fantasy about a rural chieftain's fearless, intelligent daughter named Auhio Ying. Ying, wishes to follow in her father's footsteps in join the prestigious Engineer's Guild far away in a distant land called Fei, despite it being taboo as a woman. Crafting and engineering intricate, creative tools, from a fan that whips out bamboo arrows to a wing glider, Ying's goal is to complete the apprenticeship trial for the Guild. When a mysterious figure brutally attacks her father, she is tasked to burn a book as her father's final words. However, curiosity strikes her, and she investigates the reason why the book is so important to take a life for. Disguised as a boy (hence the Mulan reference), Ying sets off on her first journey from her isolated clan to seek answers to her father’s murder, the contents of the book, and its possible connection to the Qirin Empire.

The writing is well done, but the dialogue is a little stiff in the beginning and her connection to Huarin and to her father, before he died, was too quick in my opinion. The worldbuilding is unique, imaginative, and honestly a breath of fresh air from popular fantasy books. Ying is brave, foolhardy, and naïve. She contradicts herself, but I chalked it up to her trying to find herself-- belief in a just world with peace, or should war and bloodshed be utilized for peace?

She is helped by the fourth son of the High Commander—Beile Ye-Yang—(the titles are a bit confusing, with the term “Beile” as a noble/high rank/royal, I believe), and has a host of interesting friends. It reads like a YA novel, with lots of cliché and young love, but it’s a fun and interesting read with lots of twists toward the end. I found myself liking Ye- Kan and looking forward to his appearance throughout the book. Ye-Yang gave me red flags and bad vibes from the start, but I tend to overlook those :(

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Group for this ARC! It will be published June 18th. I'm excited for the next installment!

Spoilers:

Towards the end, I found myself disappointed with the direction of the book. Her ultimate goal was to become an engineer, but she was more focused on her love interest. In fact, in the epilogue, when she goes and flees to her village, I find that really unlike her as a character, and confusing. She is so brave, and she always said she wanted peace and even looked down on Ye-Yang for violence, but she makes the most gruesome weapon and then flees, refusing to become an engineer like she wants. In the end, the seas really did trap her. Instead of finding a way to make her passion for good after her realizations, she runs away.
The pitting of women against her also is frustrating-- all the three women characters were irritating to read, and positioned against Ying.

THIS MIGHT BE MY FAVORITE YA FANTASY OF THE YEAR?!?

Unpopular opinion: I love it when a YA book starts with a parent’s death. Sue me. Ying’s father’s death launches her into investigating his murder leading her to the capital city of Fei. Here, she must go undercover as a boy and complete the three trials in the Engineers Guild, all while trying to unravel the mystery and soothe her own heartbreak and grief.

I am obsessed with this book and the world that Amber Chen created. Silkpunk as a genre is just so COOL!? The setting reminded me so much of Avatar the Last Airbender meeting a traditional Historical Cdrama. I had a wonderful time imagining the city of Fei with the glittering pagodas and mechanical airships floating in the skyline.

This book was inspired by the real-life love story between the first Qing dynasty emperor Hong Taiji and his wife Harjol. Ye-yang, the eighth prince (Beile-ye), is the reason Ying can enter the Engineers Guild and I loved watching their interactions as the book progressed. I cannot wait to read the sequel to this book because oh my god what an ending 👀

Thank you to @penguinteen and @netgalley for an advanced ARC for an honest review!

OF JADE AND DRAGONS will be out JUNE 18TH, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Of Jade and Dragons, by Amber Chen, was a well paced story and a easy read.
The heroine, Aihui Ying, has a non-traditional dream for her future and marriage is not part of it. She is the type of female that will jump off a cliff to test a glider she constructed and not care about the whispers of her Aihui clan thinking she is eccentric. Her dream is to go to the Engineers Guild and become a master following her father’s footsteps.
Dressed as a boy, armed with a jade pendant from her father’s assassin and her father’s dangerous journal she sets off to the capital to search for answers. Aided by a prince, Aogiya Ye-yang, who sponsors Ying in the guild’s male only apprenticeship trials, she must watch her back as the assassin seeks the journal, secrets of the guild are revealed, dark lies are brought to light, and plots may not turn out as expected.
If you like stories about different cultures, mythology, mystery with a little romance this is a story for you.

This book was wonderful. I haven’t read a good 5 star read in a while so this was a pleasant surprise. The execution of this book was amazing and the plot kept me hooked the entire time. We start the book immediately jumping into action and that’s a surefire way to keep me interested. I loved all of the characters and how they interacted, especially the dynamic between Ye-kan and Ying. Ying is such a badass FMC and she is so much stronger than me because honestly I would’ve folded at the end (IYKYK). She was such an interesting character to see the world from and her determination and the choices she makes are inspiring. The end did have me questioning about a sequel? But I can also understand if the story ends here. I loved this book and this is such an amazing debut novel!

I really, really wanted to love this book, but ultimately my feelings are that it’s just fine. It does nothing egregious but does nothing to stand out either. I really should’ve DNF’ed around the 50% mark but I pushed through because I liked the ideas that were presented.

Let’s start with the things I kinda liked:

This was my first introduction to silkpunk, and I think it was an excellent introduction to this genre.
This book reads very much like a C-drama, and that appealed to me.

What I didn’t like:

The writing felt clunky, and a little juvenile for the content itself.
The pacing was all over the place.
The execution of this concept/idea just simply wasn’t my cup of tea.

To be more specific about what I said above…

Amber Chen takes on the ambitious job of introducing a complex fantasy world that’s based in the silkpunk genre. I keep mentioning this because it’s important to make a distinction between steampunk and silkpunk, especially since it is so explicitly stated that this is what this book is. In the words of Lyndsie Manusos from the Book Riot article on silkpunk:

“It’s more organic than steampunk. With silkpunk, form is just as important as function [...] It’s not a big chunk of metal coughing steam. It is beautiful. It is art.
The “punk” part, however, is pretty classic to the other “punk” sub-genres. Resistance and rebellion against authority are key elements.”

Ying’s resistance is obvious at first; secretly entering a guild that has only ever exclusively recruited and taught men, and succeeding despite everything thrown at her. Her choice, at the end of the novel, feels very in tune with resistance and rebellion, to me.

I remember while I was reading having the exact thought “This totally feels like a C-drama.” And lo and behold! That was the point. Having grown up around C-dramas and watching a few myself, I loved having that exact vibe shine through. That was very entertaining.

This has the bones of a good story. However, I don’t love the writing half the time, and the dialogue was often the sore thumb sticking out. It felt awkward, stilted, and unnatural. This was often the problem between Ye-yang and Ying and it made their scenes a drag. And speaking of dragging…the pacing was never consistent. I got about 50% and really struggled with how slow everything felt, especially since the story started incredibly fast.

All of this, the things I disliked, stem from a middling execution of the story. This really could’ve used a second look before publication, just to clean up sections of the story that feel slow, and really focus in on the themes. I have a hard time figuring out who to recommend this to; the content is not too heavy, but there are violent moments that don’t necessarily match up tonally with the writing. I’d say this is appropriate for the middle-older end of YA, and for those who wanted to experience a different punk subgenre, with C-drama vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Young Readers Group, and Viking Books for Young Readers for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Real rating is a 2.75, reduced down to 2 stars for the NetGalley rating system.

Wow. I really, really enjoyed this book. Ying is an incredible main character and I loved being inside her head. She’s so strong and I lived reading her wrestle with her morality and her ambition.

The world itself is so cool. I really like the steampunk-fantasy setting and all of the political intricacies were so interesting to read.

All in all, this is probably one of my favorite reads of this year so far! It looks like this will be the first in a series, I can’t wait to see where else this world may go!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book had everything; there is action, a dash of romance, and women in engineering! This was a fun coming-of-age story and it is so refreshing to see a strong woman like Ying take on her patriarchal society headlong. I am always excited to read anything even remotely similar to a Mulan retelling and I feel like this did it justice. I can’t wait to see what the second installment has in store.

Truthfully, I didn't finish this book. I didn't even make it halfway. It would be unfair of me to give an immediate 1 star to any book I didn't finish, but I can't in good conscience give this book anything higher than 2 stars. The dialogue was clunky and clinical, and the story itself felt so ragged that I felt zero investment in what was happening. I think it would have been a better idea to spend more time with Ying pre-her father's murder, so we would be able to get an idea of her relationships with her family, and the skills that she possessed. The immediacy of the death stifled any opportunity to really feel for Ying in a meaningful way, and made the rest of the story seem empty.

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a brilliant engineer just like her beloved father - but her life is torn apart when she arrives a moment too late to stop his murder, and worse, lets the killer slip out of reach. Left with only a journal containing his greatest engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, Ying vows to take revenge into her own hands.

Disguised as her brother, Ying heads to the capital city, and discovers that the answer to finding who killed her father lies behind the walls of the prestigious Engineers Guild - the home of a past her father never wanted to talk about. With the help of an unlikely ally - Aogiya Ye-yang, a taciturn (but very handsome) young prince - Ying must navigate a world fraught with rules, challenges and politics she can barely grasp, let alone understand.

But to survive, she must fight to stay one step ahead of everyone. And when faced with the choice between doing what's right and what's necessary, Ying will have to decide if her revenge is truly worthwhile, if it means going against everything her father stood for . . .

While I am probably not the darget demographic for this type of story, and I tend to not enjoy romance in my fantasy, this one had enough going for it that I stuck with it until the end. I didn't click with some of the characters as they seemed like pretty typical YA tropey, whiny idiots. But the plot was fun and interesting and moved along at a good pace. If you're into romantasy or like YA fantasy, then give this one a shot:)

Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

★☆☆☆☆ || 1.5/5

---

ARC received on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I convinced myself to finish this book by repeating to myself that this is an YA novel, and somehow that sort of managed to make the journey a bit more bearable. But upon speaking to a friend, there's no reason why I should set my expectations so low. I've read many beautifully written YA novels with incredible depth.

Unfortunately, Of Jade and Dragons is not one of them. Apart from the incredibly juvenile prose, the pacing was inconsistent and the world-building lacking. For a plot that incorporated warring political landscape and a war between two nations, I knew next to nothing about the world. Or even the setting, for that matter - for me, the story suffered from severe white room syndrome.

I am conflicted about Ying as a character. She had a lot of potential marred by questionable character depth. There was no depth to her grief after she witnesses her father’s murder. She dives straight into revenge, traversing to a city as a simple country girl that’s never known more - yet has no issues navigating away around the fast-paced world. Her father’s death was only ever used to move proceeding plot points when convenient, and then abruptly forgotten when not. The book needed to take a firmer direction between Ying's dream to become the first female guild master or uncovering the secrets of her father's death.

Something that really irked be was her jumping straight into suspecting Gerel as her father’s murderer. I appreciate Ying trying to figure out her father's murderer, but to jump at Gerel being the culprit due to former animosity with her father just didn’t make sense when in consideration of the motives. This is consistent with her actions throughout the book - she never thought twice about anything, and instead just enacts the very first idea that comes into her mind.

I don’t even really have anything to say regarding the side characters, because they were barely developed. If anything, I would say Ye-Kan was my favourite character in the story.

The only saving grace was the last 20% of the book, where I felt the plot finally picked up and unveiled something interesting. I will give kudos to a rather good foreshadowing. However, it would have been more impactful had the pacing not been so horrendous. What could have been a bittersweet ending was marred by the lack of development of plot points and a lack of commitment between Ying's revenge or her goal as guild master.

Thank you, Net Galley and Penguin Group, for providing me with an ARC for this book!

Reading “Of Jade and Dragons” was a delight, as I could vividly imagine every scene of this book unfold before my eyes like a movie. It was evident the author thoroughly researched the principles of engineering and the crafts that were inspired within this book. Witnessing Ying masterfully navigate through each trial with the wisdom learned from her father was such a captivating experience. Ying is a strong female character that is resolute in her goals and very knowledgable (a role model for women in STEM). Additionally, I appreciated the flawed nature of each character, which added depth and allowed them to appear more real. My absolute favorite character in this book was Ye-kan. He was a complex character whose background contributed to some of his personality traits yet he was also kind and had a strong moral compass despite his young age. I hope there is more of him if there is a sequel. Moreover, I also liked where the book left off, which highlighted Ying’s portrayal as a strong independent woman.

The romantic development in this book did feel a bit underdeveloped to me. I wish there were more intimate scenes that illustrated how Ying and Ye-yang began to develop feelings for one another and them showing genuine care and affection for one another. Their romantic connection appeared somewhat superficial to me, and Ying’s occasional stubbornness and immaturity can pose challenges in relating to her character.

I know “Of Jade and Dragons” is a book that I will think of from time and time and one that I will highly recommend to other readers and friends. I eagerly anticipate the next book in the series and more works from the author, Amber Chen.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an E-ARC. All thoughts/opinions are my own.

Release Date: June 18, 2024

“‘Living in the shadows of someone else means you’ll never realize your own potential.’”

.•°°•..•°°•..•°°•..•°•.🐉🗡️⚙️🌊.•°°•..•°°•..•°°•..•°•.➷

Of Jade and Dragons tells the story of Aihui Ying, an eighteen-year-old girl who longs to follow in her father's footsteps and become an engineer. However, after his murder, Ying finds herself venturing to the capital of Fei for a different reason: to discover her father's killer and get revenge. Ying must disguise herself as a boy as she seeks to further her knowledge of engineering and her father's past and, most importantly, find his killer within the deeply sexist Engineer's Guild.

I was so excited to pick this up, and it first caught my eye because of that gorgeous cover! This book certainly did not disappoint- it is filled with unique characters, mystery, and creative concepts, all set in an intriguing world.

Of Jade and Dragons immediately captured my attention and sucked me in. The world that this story is set in is well thought out with unique customs, and the author did an amazing job painting it in my head, especially the city of Fei.

The characters were one of the biggest things that stood out to me within this book. They are unique, well thought out, and the author did an excellent job building and shifting their relationships with each other. Ying was one of my favorites: she was everything I wanted and more. She's intelligent, creative, witty, curious, and an incredible main character in general. One thing that I also really liked about her was that she wasn't too gullible. Ying wasn't immediately trusting or naive- she was alert, careful, and thoughtful. While she did pick up on many things that, if this had been written differently, she might have overlooked, she did not come across as the all-knowing heroine who faces no problems. I enjoyed reading about a sharp and intelligent heroine who doesn't let her guard down easily. I also enjoyed how this affected her relationships- the author did a nice job of taking a guarded and cautious character and slowly letting her open up.

When it came to the smaller but obvious details, Ying was hard to fool. But when it came to the mystery itself, I was pleased to find that the author had managed to pull off tricking her main character (and me) without having Ying be the typical "oh my goodness, how did I miss that" kind of character. While Ying did have a moment like that, there was clearly more to it than that, and it added to the complexity of Ying's character- this revelation that Ying hadn't noticed played into her values and what she had been hoping her life would become (I won't say any more on this to avoid spoilers!).

I also really liked the other characters, particularly Ye-Yang and Ye-Kan. I enjoyed learning more about Ye-Yang throughout the story, and the author did a nice job sprinkling little details about him that led to more intrigue and questions. I also loved reading about his and Ying's relationship and watching it shift.

Ye-Kan was one of those characters that you just hate at the beginning, but by the end, he's one of your favorites. His character development was beautifully done, and his and Ying's friendship blossomed beautifully. I'm very curious to see how the author builds on their relationship in the next book.

Ying's main goal in this book is to discover her father's murderer, and she makes that very clear in the beginning. However, most of this book did not feel very focused on that. The middle of this book is more focused on Ying's current situation trying to become a member of the engineer's guild and the trials she and the other apprentices must face. While discovering her father's murderer is still touched on, Ying makes very little progress on it during the middle of the book. It almost felt like the plot and Ying's goals had shifted- instead of trying to discover her father's murderer, she was more focused on passing the tests and becoming an engineer. I didn't find it boring, it just felt like the main focus of this book had changed.

There were also some parts of this book that I found confusing. I had a hard time understanding the political system and the ranks of different characters, but I think if I read this again it would make a lot more sense. It didn't make the story hard to follow, I was just confused at times.

While I did highly enjoy the characters in this book, I had a hard time connecting with them. The characters did have flaws and weaknesses, but I felt like they weren't deeply explored enough and touched on by the author to make them relatable. I still cared about them, I just had a hard time connecting with and relating to them.

The only other problem I had with this book was the action. It was good and it could be exciting, however, I felt like the characters had an easy time getting out of tough situations. There wasn't a moment where I was like "oh my goodness, I can't imagine how they're going to get out of this". I especially felt this way with the climax of the story. The consequences of it felt more internal and focused on Ying's thoughts and feelings as opposed to affecting her actual position in life and society.

Despite the flaws, this was such a fun read and a fantastic debut. I'm so grateful I've gotten to read this masterpiece before it comes out. But I feel confident that even if I hadn't stumbled upon this on NetGalley, this most definitely would've been a cover impulse buy! I really enjoyed the characters, concept, and plot of this story, and especially how Ying showed everyone that not just boys are capable of being engineers. It makes me so happy to see more and more stories with women in STEM, especially not just white women. I cannot wait to read the second one, and I'm looking forward to seeing this gorgeous book out on the shelves in June!

ARC provided by the publisher— Penguin Group— in exchange for an honest review.

I think the best way I can describe this book is.. mid. I enjoy the good old mulan take where the girl goes undercover, and the writing was simple enough to read in one sitting, but nothing really spoke out to me. Ying wasn’t a character I was able to really connect with, despite loving some of her characteristics I didn’t enjoy the others at all- this being a commonality with the other characters. The origin of the romance was confusing as well. It didn’t feel like anything new which was somewhat disappointing.

Dazzling and damn good, OF JADE AND DRAGONS may end up being one of the best YA debuts of the year. I’m calling it now: Amber Chen is *the* YA author to watch. Her writing style is shatteringly gorgeous, and her skill for intricate world-building is unmatched. I loved every last bit of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for an ARC.

In this Mulan-inspired historical fantasy, Aihui Ying wants two things: to uncover the truth behind her father’s murder and have a shot at an apprenticeship at the renowned male-only Engineer’s Guild. For a chance at both, she disguises herself, takes her brother’s name, and ventures off her tiny island to Fei, the main city of the Antaran Islands to face new enemies, new friends, and new feelings.

I missed reading standalones. I didn’t expect to be reading a standalone. I thought this journey was going to be long and winding, both for Ying and for readers. I am very glad to be incorrect on that account. Though I found the beginning a bit exposition-heavy, I do suppose that is to be expected in any fantasy novel. I applaud the author’s masterful weaving of historical and fantastic aspects, giving it an East Asian steampunk vibe that I very much dig. The accompanying love story was compelling to the very end, giving enough to keep this romance reader interested without taking away from the strength of Ying’s personal journey.

This book will be released on June 18, 2024 with this VERY gorgeous cover art, and it certainly will have a place on my shelves.

Thank you to Penguin Group and Netgalley for the e-ARC. I enjoyed Of Jade and Dragons. I absolutely loved the Mulan vibes throughout this book. We follow our FMC Ying who just watched her father, clan chieftain be murdered. Ying recovers a pendant with a dragon from the assassin who killed her father and her father's notebook which he tells her to burn. Upon discovery, Ying takes the pendant to her brother Wen who is next in line to become the next clan chieftain. Wen tells Ying it's basically a waste of time to figure out who murdered their father. Above all, Ying wants to be an engineer like her father. However, slight problem is the Engineer's Guild does not allow females. Ying disguises herself as her little brother and begins her journey to try to get into the Engineer's Guild to see what she could uncover about her father during his days in the guild. While traveling to the guild, she run's into Ye-yang who is a young prince. He vows to keep her secret about being a female if he could sponsor her to get Ying inside of the Engineer's Guild. Ying's father is very well respected, however other masters still harbor jealousy/mistrust toward her father which in turn throws some heat onto Ying during their tests. Eventually, we find out the pendant belongs to one of the guards to the High Commander and Ying wants to find out if he really killed her father and why? The fact that this was the Amber Chen's debut novel is amazing. The plot, politics, romance, everything was so well fully thought out.