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.

This book was described as Mulan meets Iron Widow, two things I love, so I was excited to read it. Iron Widow is probably one of my favorite books, that being said, I don’t really see much of the iron widow similarities in it. Ying is not as ruthless as Zetian, but she is as driven. She does what she needs to do in the end to achieve her goals, but where Zetian had no remorse really for that, Ying does. I don’t think this is a fault by any means. I really love both FMCs. Ying is a well rounded character and I can understand her motivations and empathize with her.

I enjoyed the characters and the pacing was really good. This is a great set up for more books, and I’m very interested to see how the next book will play out.

thank you to penguin teen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i worry i may feel a ton more neutral about this book than most seem to be. there were a ton of things i loved and a ton of things that i thought should’ve been executed differently. and all together it put this as a middle of the road debut, for me personally. however, up front i want to say that i’d absolutely want to continue in this series. while i don’t fully have ideas of where this will go (as i felt it wrapped up in a way that totally could’ve been considered the true end point), i will stick around. i think amber chen has incredible potential to expand on this story, with the greater universe becoming involved.

i think, for me, personally it was the toughest for me to get along with the fact that everyone BUT the love interest believed in her disguise. i still don’t understand how he was able to clock her literally right away. but over the course of multiple months not another person discovered her out (of course not including ye-kan). but also, with him knowing about her kind of fueled an insta-love type romance. i do wish we had more of a chance to see them interact before developing their relationship. and yes, this might just be me, but i really really wish that we could’ve had a queer sub-context story in true mulan retelling fashion. but! we persist.

i do think the story was interesting, even if i felt like ying’s story essentially strayed a tad from her original goal (find her father’s killer). but i think chen did a fairly good job weaving that story with the apprentice path she pursued. it was definitely an interesting take on one of these kind of, sort of chosen one stories. and of course, with it centering around her experience as a women, facing very misogynistic thoughts, i think it was handled fairly well. ying experienced a lot of second hand misogynistic comments from her fellow competitors and from the guild members. and she never let that stop her from working hard and essentially proving them wrong (even if they didn’t directly know).

overall, while this wasn’t a personal fave for me, i truly adored the characters. and i will be eagerly waiting to see more, especially from ye-yang’s story. i would love to see us in his mind in the next book, even if i know we’ll likely continue to follow ying. ye-yang was truly as stand-out for me. ever the graceful, his deadly instincts but quiet demeanor truly were so fun to read about. color me intrigued.

This was a fun read! I really enjoyed reading Chen's debut set in a prestigious engineering guild. The main character Ying was super determined, but at times super reckless which caused me a bit of frustration but I loved how the story played out. I can see where the criticism of the romance comes from because it didn't seem totally necessary but I'm hopeful in future installments it won't play such a large role. The ending was perfect and I look forward to reading the next as soon as I can.

DNF after a third of this book hoping for better development of the protagonist and for more show-don't-tell writing. Pretty great worldbuilding though, I loved the steampunk fantasy aesthetic and definitely would recommend this to YA fantasy lovers.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book; this is a fantasy set in a steampunk world engineers are valued. A girl goes undercover as a boy to solve and avenge her father's murder. I enjoyed the world building, not the ending. I hope there are more books that have her explore the other lands as I hate that she gave up her career to be at home with her siblings who have essentially betrayed and left her.

This book definitely has some Mulan vibes. It reminded me a bit of Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, especially in the first quarter. (Girl goes to a big city and attempts to enter an elite, male-only guild.) I liked the relationships Ying cultivates with the other guild hopefuls, especially a younger one who becomes a close ally. (I hope book two includes this character.)

When I first saw this book, for some reason, I thought it was a middle grade book. It’s not. It’s clearly intended for a young adult audience. Sometimes, the writing and the way the characters related to one another felt more in line with a middle grade story. That isn’t to say anything is wrong with the writing or character relationships. It’s possible I felt that way because I had the other age group stuck in my head already.

There is a romantic subplot in the story, too. I love that the author doesn’t follow every expectation readers might have with a romance story. Ying is a strong character and has a deep commitment to her mission. She doesn’t want anything to distract her from finding out who had her father killed. She wants entry into the engineers’ guild to finish his work.

I love that this book includes so much about engineering as a field of study. A lot of the lessons and tests shown in the story involve defensive or offensive vehicles and weaponry, but some characters mention other kinds of engineering. I would have enjoyed seeing more of a spectrum of engineering projects, but I can see why those focuses would fit better in the story because of the push toward war.

On the whole, I enjoyed this one. It looks like the start of a series, so I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.

I DNF this novel because I wasn’t in the right mind set. But from what I did read it was enjoyable. I will pick it up again. I blame my TBR list.

DNF a few chapters in.

I can tell from the writing style and the very fast pace that this is too YA for me, sadly. Beautiful cover though.

Transparently, I wanted to DNF a fifth of the way through. If it hadn’t been a #fantasyfrenemies selection and gifted to me by Penguin Teen, I probably would have. See that four-star rating, though? Guess what? I ended up truly enjoying the novel, and I'm happy that I saw it through! I agree with the reviews that didn’t care for the romance. More and more, it feels like romance is added to increase marketability, but this story had so much strength without it. Ye-yang gave off a lot of red flags, and it was challenging to understand the why behind his and Ying's mutual attraction. That said, I wouldn’t mind a friends-to-lovers arc with Ye-kan later. OF JADE AND DRAGONS offers a combination of unique elements culminating in a fun experience that left me wanting the next installment immediately.

Many thanks to Penguin Teen for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father's engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father's hidden past-determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.
This book for me was a pretty solid read. I liked the character development and Ying’s clumsy journey of blending in as a boy to find out who had her father killed. The romance aspect was kind of meh. He seemed like a character that didn’t care about anyone’s choices except for his own and just expected everyone to fall in line with what he wanted. Which made me not really care for him. But I did like how the author was able to to show how that at a young age, when you have all the worlds weight on your shoulders, how it can turn you into a hardened young adult.
The storyline was interesting. I liked the characters want to go against the grain of society and pursue something that meant a lot to her. While trying to solve who killed her father and learn more about his past.
Overall I liked this book. It wasn’t a favorite but it’s floating around a 3.7 star read.
Would I recommend this book? Sure if you like fiery main character a story line about fighting for what you want no matter what society tries to tell you.

Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for an ARC of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

Steam punk and dragons say no more. That is all I needed to be persuaded to grab this one. I was not disappointed. Ying is out for revenge when she sees her father murdered. She will stop at nothing to find his killer. She dresses as a boy Mulan style to get into the Engineer Guild to continue her search. There she makes more discoveries than she bargained for. There is lots of action and some tense moments. I cannot wait to read the next one. Thank you to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Of Jade and Dragon is Amber Chen's debut novel dives into Asian mythology combined with steam-punk. The novel is fast-paced, and quick to deliver twists and turns that leave the reader wanting more. With its steam-punk background, the author has managed to create a fantastical world that is still rooted in its real-world counterpart. I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed A Poppy War and Mulan. There are some great action sequences and beautiful prose and I look forward to reading the next book.

Of Jade and Dragons

Women in stem but make it fantasy(steampunk?). I throughly enjoyed reading this book, that is, until the end, because I thought it was a stand alone. 🤣 Now I have to wait for another book for resolution. Which is fine. It’s fine. I’m fine.

This story is really technical. Engineering plays a big part in the storyline. Hence my women in stem reference. There’s some mystery and the start of a romance storyline.

I will for sure be continuing the series.

Content: death, violence

The moment I saw this cover, I knew I needed to read it. Then I read the summary- and it's Mulan retelling with a twist? DONE. I'M BOUGHT IN.

This wound up being a very easy read (which is a plus in my book), with an FMC that I thought was delightful. I really enjoyed the secrets and plot twists- and I am SO excited that it's finally out in to the world so everyone else can read it too!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Viking Books for Young Readers, and Penguin Young Readers Group for this eARC!!

4.5 ⭐ rounded up to 5 ⭐

Loose Mulan retelling set in a steampunk world. Started off a bit slow in the beginning, picked up alot in the middle, the ENDING!!! I literally can't wait for book 2. This might end up being my favorite debut book of this year.

Thank you to NetGalley, Viking Books for Young Readers, and Penguin Young Readers Group for this advanced copy.
This book surprised me by how much it captivated me, stealing hour after hour without my realizing it. Not only was it action-packed and fast-paced, but it also had a very compelling world-building element that never felt overwhelming. Elements of it reminded me of different books that I liked. The trials element reminded me of the Scarlet Alchemist; Gerel as a Guild master was very reminiscent of Snape in that he also had hated the MC's father and the resentment passed on; and, Mulan because our main girl, Ying, pretends to be Min during most of the book.
Speaking of Ying, I really appreciated her arc and her motives. I felt like she might have been naive and impulsive, but never dumb or stupid. Her actions made sense and her train of thought was always consistent with a very strict set of morals and self-doubts. As a character, she felt very real. Ying's relationship with her father was also explored very beautifully with moments of exposition that felt well-timed and never overbearing. I felt like I understood their dynamic pretty well, and that contributed to her motivation always seeming aligned with my expectations of her.
On the romance side, I definitely was taken with Ye-lang from the get-go, but I fear that he is now wholly incompatible with Ying. He needs to review his priorities and face his inner demons before he can be that person for her. Especially with how things ended between them. Ye-kan, on the other hand, is definitely harboring a one-sided crush on Ying and it would be a very plausible (and cute) friends-to-lovers sort-of situation that I would 100% approve of because I love Ye-kan.
I'm very curious about the next installment. I want to see how the world will be shaken by the ending of Book 1, and how Ying will be forced back into the action because she's very adamant she wants nothing to do with Fei and the Guild anymore. I'm wondering if her sister's wedding will force her to go back to the capital or if something else will motivate her this time.
Overall, highly recommend this book for people who are seeking a well-developed plot set in an interesting world with a badass female character and an angsty slow burn romance.

A 4.5 for sure.

I’ve been so excited to read this book since I first saw the cover, but more so since the author gave details about the historical character inspirations and I’m such a sucker for fantasies which take some inspo from Chinese history. I waited till I managed to get the audiobook, and I have to say, it was a very enjoyable experience.

I love how this book is a great combination of very easy breezy prose, all the super fun YA tropes, fast paced plot progression, a very cool world with inspirations from the rise of the Qing dynasty but with steampunk elements, well fleshed out main character who is easy to root for supported by an interesting ensemble cast, great audio narration, and an end I did not at all see coming. I particularly enjoyed listening to this while working out because despite the high stakes for our main character, it’s not too much on the angsty side, just like I prefer.

Aihui Ying is a rebel at heart, determined both on her path to find the truth behind her father’s murder as well as about exploring her true love of being a part of the engineering guild. She maybe naive and sheltered in some aspects, but mostly has a good head on her shoulders, resilient in her goals and a good friend to others. I really enjoyed following her every step of the way, learning the secrets of the guild, her father, and the High Commander’s family, right alongside her. Her story is made more enjoyable by her equations with Aogiya Yeyang, a Prince with high ambitions who is equal parts supportive and mysterious: Aogiya Yekan, another prince who comes across as arrogant and snobbish but is a secret softie who values his friendships and wants to be something other than what’s expected of him; the other apprentices who start off a bit hostile but become reluctant comrades as the trials go on; the various eccentric guild masters who range from outright vindictive to indifferent to intrigued; and her sister Nian who just wants a happy and fulfilling life.

Some may find this book a bit predictable because of the common YA fantasy tropes in it but that’s precisely why I really enjoyed it - the trials to become a member of the engineering guild, the eventual camaraderie between the apprentices, the impossible romance between characters of varying backgrounds, and a deadly secret - it was all familiar ground but in a very unique silk punk setting, making it a fresh entertaining voice in YA fantasy. I thoroughly had fun and can’t wait to see what the author does next in the sequel.

This book was the perfect mix of my favorite Disney movie and academia. I am a total nerd so I love anything set in schools and the sciences. I just needed to know that it was a Mulan retelling to read it and it absolutely delivered.