In an effort to avenge her murdered father, Ying dresses up like a boy to enter the trials for the Guild of Engineers.

This was a fun fantasy read! Ying is a proactive young woman, fighting against the odds expectations of her family and her clan, but also fighting to avenge her father when he is brutally murdered in front of her for his experimental work. We spent a lot of getting to know her classmates in the trial, which was fun. They were all interesting characters. But the time we spent with them definitely made me think they were all going to play a larger part in the end of the novel.

There was a good balance in the background, where there was not so much world building as to be overwhelming, but enough that the world didn’t feel flat. We get glimpses and discussions of a huge conflict and space beyond what we experience with Ying, and I’d love to explore the world even more.

The pacing was really where this story lost me. It was so slow for so long, that as we got closer to the end, I was sure that it was going to end on a cliffhanger. The sudden hurry to get to a resolution left me feeling rushed. The ending is open enough that there could be further stories down the line, but I really wasn’t given space to appreciate the climactic moment, because we jumped immediately to an epilogue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this arc.

3.5 stars
This honestly took me a little while to read and a little while to review I kinda have mixed feelings on it. I did really enjoy the story and I found it very intriguing. I just found some parts felt kind of slow and I feel like during those parts, the book just dragged out for me, causing me to lose interest overall.
Aihui Ying, who poses as her younger brother in order to infiltrate the Engineers Guild and earn a place as the first female engineer, is determined, sassy and follows in her father's footsteps with her engineering intelligence. I liked her as a main character, although some of the romance with one of the princes, Ye-Yang, felt a bit contrived and emotionless.
This book had a super interesting premise and a really strong set up. I feel like for a debut, it wasn’t bad by any means. I just feel like a lot of this book fell into the more telling and not showing aspect. It felt like there was a lot of drawn out scenes that didn’t exactly lead too much or slightly inconsistent world building at times. I feel like this book in general just could’ve been shorter and maybe fine-tuned a bit more again. I can definitely see that coming in maybe like the future of the series! I can definitely see this book that my younger self would’ve absolutely loved, it definitely had that YA fantasy, anything with trials or games I would’ve ate up lol
Honestly though, thinking back on this book, there was a lot of stuff I liked. The friendships and the bonds that were grown throughout. The book was definitely really interesting and watching how everything tied together, especially the ending, definitely left me intrigued. There is a lot I remember enjoying this book, I just feel like it was a bit overshadowed by excesses scenes that didn’t necessarily feel too needed in the story as a whole.


*Thank you so much to Penguin Teen and team for an arc of this book! All opinions above are 100% my own!*

This had so much potential, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver for me. I was initially drawn in by the promise of a steampunk fantasy, but I found myself STRUGGLING to stay engaged. The premise is undeniably strong—a young woman seeking revenge for her father’s murder while disguised as her brother.

However, the execution left me wanting more. I often found myself zoning out and losing track of the plot, which is never a good sign. HI had to re-read pages because I wasn’t invested in what was happening.

One of my biggest disappointments was that the engineering aspect, which I was so excited about, didn’t play as central a role in the story as I had hoped. I wanted to see more of Ying’s skills in action, more inventive uses of her engineering knowledge, and more challenges that put her abilities to the test. Instead, it felt like a background detail rather than a driving force in the plot.

The characters didn’t feel fully fleshed out, and I struggled to connect with them. The lack of character development made it hard to care about their fates or the outcome of their journeys. While I appreciated the diversity in the cast and the world, the story felt flat. I kept waiting for that moment when everything would click into place, but it never quite happened. Instead, I was left with a sense of disappointment, feeling like the book had all the right elements but didn’t know how to use them effectively.

I wanted more—more excitement, more character development, more depth.

Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin, and Viking Books for the opportunity to review. This review is based on a complimentary pre-released copy and it is voluntary. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I absolutely loved this story and concept. It was definitely very different from anything I have read previously but not different in a bad way. I hope to read more books like this!

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me. The writing was slow and failed to grab my attention. The blurb was so good but when I started reading it seemed like just another fantasy book.

Aihui Ying witnesses her father’s murder and is left with his journal of engineering secrets and a mysterious jade pendant from the assassin. She begins her quest for revenge and heads to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild. To infiltrate the male-only Engineers Guild apprenticeship, Ying disguises herself as a boy and befriends Aogiya Ye-yang, the eighth prince. Ye-yang sponsors Ying’s apprenticeship while Ying bests her competitors and secretly hunts for her father’s killer. The secrets Ying uncovers are deadly and may cost her more than her life.

Slow to start, this silkpunk fantasy has several nods to the legend of Mulan. Ying’s prowess in engineering and ingenuity demonstrates value in intelligence which makes for a welcome twist in a Mulan retelling. Paired with her compassion and desire to protect others, Ying is a more approachable and relatable character as the story progresses.

Rating 3/5 ⭐️s - I had a lot of trouble connecting with Ying and the first chapters felt like they dragged. It took awhile before Ying grew into a character I liked. I waver on whether or not I would read this book again or keep it in my library but the cover art is absolutely gorgeous.

That being said, I loved the way the story ended and feel that this was the best way to end Ying’s story. Highly recommended for teen girls who love fantasy. And by the way, mechanical dragons - heck yeah!

Spice Rating 1/5 🫑 - While there is some romance, this book is mainly a fantasy with some heated glances and longing but not much else. Totally appropriate for YA readers.

Thank you Amber Chen, Penguin Teen, and NetGalley for this read. My feelings for this book are a little convoluted but I enjoyed it and am curious about what’s next for Amber.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5/5 stars

This was fine - very formulaic, not bad, but not great. It felt like a better To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods but a worse She Who Became the Sun in a lot of ways. I never felt terribly invested in the characters and the story felt very expected...but I do think this would be a great intro to fantasy for younger readers.

I would read more from this author and will likely continue with the series, but I think I would prefer something written by her with an older audience in mind. There is a very real possibility my ambivalence for this book comes from age and the amount of similar books I've read - I may no longer be the target audience. It's worth a chance for most fantasy readers, especially younger!

I’m a slow reader, but I was hooked from the first chapter! Though not what I expected the book to be about, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

DNF at 30%. Theres nothing wrong I can say about this book. I think I would have loved a few years ago. But right now, theres nothing there thats really gripping me to the story. Theres nothing completely new and the trials is something I have been reading a lot lately so thats not grabbing me either, though I know its a me problem.
I still see potential in the story and author I will look up for anything else she writes from now on

This one was tough to get through. It didn’t keep my attention.
The cover was promising but the story was lacking. I felt like I was told so much, but shown so little?

Unfortunately, not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author & the publisher for the copy of the ARC!

This book took me some time to get into, but once the story really got rolling I found it hard to put down. I really enjoyed Ying as a main character, and am hoping for some more romance in the next book because I’m a sucker for that. This book was so close to a 5 star, but I feel Ying just running away like her father did solves nothing and it was a little frustrating.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC even though it took me forever to get to this one 😂 Super excited for the next installment.

When Ying's father is brutally murdered in front of her by a mysterious cloaked stranger, she decides the only way to find justice is to disguise herself as a boy and discover when he fled from the prestigious Engineer's Guild into obscurity on their island home. This book is full of twists and turns and surprises, which made it a great read. Every time I thought we had fallen into a predictable pattern, Chen veers (slightly or significantly!) from the standard path and tropes. Ying is a great, likeable character and the worldbuilding was fantastic. Overall, a great read.

Of Jade and Dragons

4.5/5 Stars


Of Jade and Dragons felt like a Mulan retelling, but had additional elements that allow it to have an identity that is more than that. I felt like there could have been a bit more attention given to worldbuilding, as I found myself very interested in the asian fantasy setting, with elements of steampunk. I was also sad that there were no dragons, but am hopeful for future books ;)


I loved Of Jade and Dragons, and cannot wait to see more of Ying, Ye-Yang and Ye-Kan in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"Of Jade and Dragons" by Amber Chen is a mesmerizing fantasy that immerses readers in a world of rich cultural mythology and intricate magic. Its vivid world-building and captivating characters make it an enchanting and memorable read.

Not only did I receive an ARC copy through NetGalley but I also received an exclusive signed edition in my owlcrate subscription!!! Love this book so much!!! Cannot wait to read more from this author!!

I could not get through this. I tried multiple times but just couldn't do it. I didn't connect with the characters.

Jade and Dragons tried to be a take of revenge in a steampunk-inspired world, but its execution leaves much to be desired. Instead of being action-packed, it’s boring, flat, and often forgets the plot’s purpose.

Aihui Ying, who aspires to be a brilliant engineer like her father, is devastated when she arrives too late to prevent his murder and loses the killer. Determined to find her father’s killer and learn about his past, Ying sneaks into the Engineers Guild, disguised as her brother. As she navigates politics and challenges, Ying must grapple with her quest for revenge and decide if her vengeance is worth the cost.

I did enjoy the slight taste of world-building. Steam-punk-inspired fantasy should be a mainstream genre. Unfortunately (for all the reasons listed below) the world-building is sparse and couldn’t make up for the meandering plot and lackluster characters

Ahui is hard to read about. Her reactions to mundane things or slight offenses are childish and go against the “strong female surviving in a man’s world”. I was told she's intelligent, but it’s not shown on the page. Her wit and cleverness are only mentioned and seem implausible when displayed. Her lack of focus on her father’s death is so odd considering it’s supposed to be the overarching plot in the book, yet it’s rarely mentioned and she seems to recover from the trauma completely off-page. I could have handled the lack of focus if the book had Ahui struggling with bigger problems than a crush (more on that later). For example, most of the story is set in the Royal Court and Engineer’s Guild. Yet, she never actively has to fight against gender roles or societal oppression that exist in these environments. Yes, she is disguised as a boy, but the themes are rarely brought up, or at least discussed somewhat thoroughly. It felt like a Disney movie the way societal barriers and sexism are underplayed.

The romance (which took up more page time than the actual plot) was cliche and trope. Ahui seems to find a very feminist Prince despite being raised in an environment where the patriarchy is standard. It’s never explained why he accepts women's empowerment. Their relationship is built on tropes and shallow interactions. The repeated instances where the Ahui “trips” and falls into the prince’s arms had me fighting several eye rolls. These moments and other quirky interactions highlighted the lack of anything meaningful between her and the prince, which made the love declarations even more silly.

The pacing suffers due to significant periods passing off which could have been used to build the world, develop characters, or advance the actual plot. Combining this with the problems above makes for an incredibly boring read.

Overall, Jade and Dragons is a book with an intriguing premise undermined by cringey dialogue, shallow character development, and a lack of meaningful engagement with its themes.

Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I was so excited for this one. I love fantasy and flying pirate ships. So cool! It was so fun to read its captivating world mixed with steam punk and Asian mythology. Even though I predicted some of the twists, my jaw still dropped at some points of the emotional journey. I can’t wait for the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this arc.

First, thank you for NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy to review!

It reminded me a bit of a mix of Treasure Planet and Mulan, with the punk atmosphere of the mechanical dragons, ships, and animals. I thought the idea for the story was so unique and I think I would have LOVED this if I was younger. I feel as if the writing was very middle grade surprisingly so I did not connect with it as much as I was hoping to. I even felt as if I was being spoon fed information instead of just watching how the story was being played out. I struggled a great deal in connecting with the characters of this book as well. I loved Ying’s dedication to her family and her father’s legacy but other than that the characters felt so dimensional to me. I would have loved to see them expanded beyond just their one plot point & connection to each other. This is right up my alley, it just didn’t hit like I thought it would.

After much deliberation, I’d rate this book 2.5 stars.

Es un buen libro tiene buenos personajes tiene buenos giros inesperados.
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of the book.