This a delightful read! Ying, our mc, was a fun character to follow--intelligent, headstrong, and bravely determined. This first installment had really great set up, and I'm excited to see where the story goes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! I loved that this book was Mulan inspired. Truly a beautiful story and a quick read. I’m so excited for this to be a series and read more of Ying’s journey!

This is a variation of a Mulan retelling. The FMC has to dress up as her brother in an attempt to get into the engineering guild to solve her father's murder.

I loved the fact that the FMC was an engineer. There aren't enough stories out there with strong women in STEM.

I wish the story flowed a bit better. At times I would just get lost in what I was reading.

Of Jade and Dragons was an exciting read, easily a four star rating! With a strongwilled and relatable FMC (Ying), the book was fun and had me hooked from the start until the very end. That being said, I was slightly baffled by how all of Ying's problems were solved. The solutions were all too convenient, and apart from that, there were some details that felt glossed over. An example would be Ying's reaction to her father's death. Surely, a family relative's passing would affect the main character to a large extent, right? Especially since it was someone the FMC was close to, but to me, it read like Ying barely even mourned him. However, those might just be me nitpicking, so I swear, this read was truly worthwhile! The academic rivalry had me kicking my feet and squealing ( as per usual), as did her dynamic with both male leads, Ye-Yang and Ye-Kan.

First, a heads up to fantasy readers: despite the title, there are no actual dragons in this book.

There's also very little engineering in this book. I was excited for a fantasy book about a woman in STEM, but the engineering often fell to the wayside in favor of things like the romance.

But the romance also didn't feel fully fleshed out. In my opinion, it wasn't clear why the MC was so deeply attracted to the love interest and everything felt surface-level.

The mystery/revenge side of the story was interesting, but it too sometimes was forgotten in favor of the school competition or the romance.

It's like all three threads competed with each other instead of weaving together into a cohesive, satisfying story.

I saw the potential in this story, but it never quite reached that for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the ARC.

I really wanted to love this book to the point of obsession because I now have a beautiful Illumicrate version that I don't know what to do with.

Overall this book was ok. My main issue is with the main character Ying. She watches her father die in the first chapter and before he dies he tells her to burn the journal the murderer was looking for and not to look into his death...well, you can guess from the blurb that she did the exact opposite. Ying comes across as selfish and reckless in the beginning of this book and while there is character growth, it wasn't enough for me.

The world building was interesting and I liked the side characters. I was a bit meh on the love interest and actually preferred her friendship with his brother.

This book has an interesting concept, but I'm not sure about the execution.

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for the eARC

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a perfectly good YA fantasy. I loved the silkpunk worldbuilding of the book and the fact that it was inspired by Mulan. Loved the airships and that Ying was a strong FMC who wanted a career instead of being stuck in society's role for women. This was a quick, fun read that felt like a YA book should. However, the pacing was off in my opinion - things happened to quickly and conveniently, especially at the beginning of the story. I probably won't read the sequel, but this was fun for what it was.

Solid 2.5 stars.

There is much to like about this book - the plot, though derivative, is compelling. It's, as many have noted, Mulan inspired, with a boarding school/competition aspect added. I like the world, I like the steampunk-esque feel.

However, this book feels like a rough first draft. The writing is clunky and uneven, the character development is minimal. There's an almost insta-love aspect, but I have no idea why these characters are attracted to each other. They really don't interact all that much. And I found the school competition to be also rather rushed.

I feel like this could have done so much better with a very good edit and some bulking up of aspects of the book.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

This was such an atmospheric, enjoyable tale!

It was giving Mulan in the best way. The female main character is like-able & well developed, she was so easy to root for. The relationships were complex and I loved the dynamic between the the FMC and the MMC, as well as the side characters!

The ending was great and I will be readily awaiting the next!

Book Name: Of Jade and Dragons
Author: Amber Chen

ARC

Thank you to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers

Stars: 4

- Thoughts.
- much younger YA than anticipated
- Love the plot
- Charetaers felt good for younger YA
- the vibes were immaculate
- very Mulan twelfth-night vibes

This was absolutely beautiful and delightful. The world was so interesting, the pace was perfect, and the entire story was just really fun. Definitely a top read of the year.

If I had read this 15 years ago, maybe I would've just loved it. But here today...

I don't mind a number of tropes if they're used well, but I don't think this one did it for me. This one felt like it was using some classic elements of fantasy (let's throw in some trials, cross-dressing, and princes!) and formulaically making a plot. (Surprise, the plot was underwhelming.) The prose was also pretty unremarkable.

1. Ying's character and family - she's presented as this pretty flat character -- smart but impulsive. We don't get that many opportunities to see her be... smart though. She's mainly just reckless. Her family members are not given much context either. Her father is larger than life amazing but dead. Her mother is just dead. Her brother is sexist, overbearing, and easily manipulated. Her sister is a nice and "socially acceptable female." All of them don't really have much beyond these 3-4 word descriptions.

2. Ye-yang was... a pretty boring person tbh. I was really hoping he'd be the big bad in the end, and it was slightly satisfying that he was complicit. It didn't make sense for him to be the person to tell Wen to *not* investigate the murder though, since he used Ying's investigation of the murder to help him kill his father.... Plot inconsistencies smh.

3. Allllll the side characters were useless. None of them were notable or important in any way.

4. The trials were a joke. I feel like I didn't get any sense that they learned much or proved much from these. No major feats of engineering were really described... I wish we got more extensive descriptions of Ying's engineering prowess as well.

5. The romance... sucked. Besides Ye-yang's stormy eyes, Ying didn't seem to care about any other feature of him (or know anything about him really). It would have been more interesting if Ye-yang was honeypot-ing her the whole time too, but nah.

If I were to read the second book, it would be purely for Ye-kan.

Asian steampunk/silkpunk engineering academy retelling of Mulan with a murder mystery twist
🐉
Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨(3.75)
Aihui Ying is an engineer and inventor like her father, but she’s a girl so she is not allowed to enter the Engineers Guild in the capital. But when she witnesses her father’s murder and finds a secret journal, she disguises herself as a boy and enrolls in the Guild trials to compete for the loan spot available to become an Engineering Apprentice, and to hopefully learn more about her father’s time with the Guild, why he left, and who murdered him.

But who can she trust?
🐉
I enjoyed the story and the creative world building of steampunk meets ancient Asian culture.

The story had some issues with unbelievable plot lines.

And I’m not sure how I feel about the ending. However, I guess it’s a series or trilogy so the story isn’t over yet.

I am curious where the story will go so I will probably continue the series when the next book is released.

**I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Amber Chen debuts with her Asian-inspired YA fantasy, Of Jade and Dragons. Marketed as a retelling of Mulan, main character Ying disguises herself as her brother as she pursues information about the man who assassinated her father. When the clues lead her to the esteemed, male-only Engineering Guild, Ying decides to sit the exam for entry aided by the eighth prince of the High Command who has promised to keep her disguise a secret. When the capital is revealed to have secrets on top of secrets, Ying must learn whether knowledge and vengeance are worth the price she must pay to obtain them.

I am a fast reader. I read 58 books in June. This book took me an embarrassing amount of time to read. I got about 21% of the way in and realized that I was completely not feeling the writing style, which was a true YA conversational-type style despite the characters being new adult ages. In order to give this book the best shot, I waited for the book to be on audio at my library which is how I completed it. I would have otherwise DNFed. I also knew this was going to be June's Illumicrate book and skipped it after the initial 21% since I knew it would not be a book I kept on my shelves after reading it.

That being said, I did enjoy my time with this book. The steampunk approach to fantasy with heavy emphasis on weapon design and engineering was very much my kind of thing. There were a lot of complicated relationships with family and with characters exploring the morality of their situations. The audiobook narrator did a great job at maintaining Ying's youthful, small-town naivete while also ensuring that she came across as capable and intelligent.

I was happy to have read Of Jade and Dragons, and would not hesitate to recommend it. I would consider picking up the next book in the series, provided I had access to the audiobook.

Thank you NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for this early review copy.

Initially what caught my attention with this book was the description of a Mulan retelling. Mulan is one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. It was not quite a Mulan retelling, more just the young girl pretending to be a boy to achieve a goal in a culture that does not allow it typically. I did love this though. Overall, I loved the story. And the ending, (no real spoilers here, but slightly hinting at it) not what you'd expect! And I absolutely loved how the author took what I feel is an unpopular approach to a love story. Ying holds true to her strong and independent character. She refuses to compromise her values.

I struggled to get through this book, I wanted to DNF multiple times, but there were sections of the book that were appealing and had me interested. We follow Aihui Ying as she seeks revenge for her father's murder. She has always wanted to follow in his footsteps and go the the Engineers Guild to become a master guild member. When her father is murdered and clues lead to the guild, Ying travels to Fei where the guild is testing potential new arrivals disguised as a boy. She accidentally gets saved by the eighth prince Aogiya Ye-Yang who ends up sneaking her into the guild. Surprise surprise a romance starts to bloom between them. As Ying goes through the trials to become a guild member she starts to learn the city isn't as wonderful as she thought, and there may be a reason her father left this life behind. The bad guy wasn't surprising in this book. I didn't feel attached to any of the characters. I thought the side characters were ok., though it didn't make since it took almost 6 months for the supposedly protective mom to find out her son the 14th prince was hiding at the guild. The ending was frustrating. After everything that happens, the wedding between two characters is still going to happen? I felt that we jumped around during the 6 months Ying was at the guild., we didn't get to see her grow. She always knew what she was doing, and didn't seem to ever make mistakes with engineering. I will not be continuing this series.


Thank you Netgalley for the ARC from Penguin Group

Don't mind me as I sit here and impatiently wait for the next book. After that ending??? I need to know what happens next. Will Ye-Yang continue to grovel? Will the wedding happen?

This book did have a definite Mulan inspired story line. Ying is a great character and is fueled by her need for revenge after her father had been murdered. The romance plot line definitely took a back seat in this book, but I did not mind it one bit.

I did appreciate the fact that Ying was not a one-dimensional main character, and she was very intelligent.

Thank you Amber Chen, Penguin Group, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

Awesome setting, characters, and story backdrop. I fell in love with the characters pretty early in the story and the plot kept me hooked until the very last page. As the old saying in show business, leave them wanting more, the end of this book definitely left me with hopes that there will be a sequel. Not that the ending of the first book was not enough, it's just that I would love to spend more time in this world. Only minor complaint I have is the pacing seemed a bit disjointed at times, but it never ruined my enjoyment of the book. Easily 5 stars, this book is incredible and well worth a read or three.

This book has everything you can want in a fantasy. Betrayal, dragons, magic, suspense, and tests! Yang is the female main character and she comes home to find her dad near death from an assassin. The assassin is still in the house and she tries to stop him but only tears his black clock with a jade stone on it. On the brink of death Ying's dad tells her to burn his journal. she does the opposite and goes on a quest to find why he was killed. In order for her to do this she needs to disguise herself as a man and complete to be the next best engineer as was her father. The only problem is women are not allowed to compete, so she does the only thing she can think of, disguise herself as her brother and she gets nominated. What she learns along the way is more than she bargained for.

Thank you NetGalley and Viking for this ARC Copy!

I am not one who wants to know anything about a book going into it. I don’t usually read the blurb or listen to reviews beforehand because one of my favorite parts of the stories is learning everything along the way.
For this book that was a mistake. I went off of the name, cover, vibes alone, and I expected it to be something that it absolutely was not… I was looking for dragons, and dragons were no where to be seen for the major majority of this story, and even then.

I think that if I had known what I was getting into I may have enjoyed it more than I did.

I read a lot of YA books and I know that sometimes they have allowances that are given to the world building, lack of rules/explanation of the magic systems, and being able to get away with some things that just aren’t believable. Personally there were just too many things left unexplained, or issues overcome without a reasonable or logical explanation.

There were moments that were beautified, and I was invested enough that I just would not give up because I had to know how it ended, but this book really just was not for me.