This was a fantastic book! I have to say I was initially interested in the book based on the authors, and they did not disappoint! This was such an engrossing read, I got sucked into the story early, and it became very hard to put it down. I am greatly looking forward to the following books in the series to see where they take the story. The world building in the story was so good, I think sometimes when a book is the first in a series too much of the time is spent on world building and the story gets lost. I don’t think that was this case with this book at all. The background information was woven into the story in such a way that I did not feel like I was getting bored with the story. The characters were very vivid and I felt a connection with them while I was reading. I think this would be a great read for anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction, fantasy or adventure novels. It’s absolutely great for anyone who loves an action-packed emotional story!

Fun read! Enjoyed all the action sequences and I liked the character development with Jun. The pace did lull in some areas and some scenes were predictable but overall enjoyed it and I look forward to book two!

Anything Fonda Lee touches, I will read!!

A cinematic martial arts fantasy blending honor, self-discovery, and a touch of magic!

*"Marked or not, every one of us has Breath enough to will our own destiny into being."*

**Read this for:**

🐉 Dynamic martial arts battles that leap off the page

🏯 Themes of honor, resilience, and personal growth

✨ A sprinkle of magic with the fascinating "Breathmarked" powers

Jun, a sixteen-year-old outcast, dreams of redeeming his family’s honor by winning the elite Guardian’s Tournament—a deadly competition where Breathmarked warriors with dragon-granted powers fight for the right to protect a sacred scroll. Though unmarked and untrained, Jun’s determination to carve his own path leads him to face not only fierce opponents but also the political machinations threatening his world.

**Why you’ll love it:**

This book is *Avatar: The Last Airbender* meets *Cobra Kai*, with the depth and emotional resonance of Fonda Lee’s *Green Bone Saga*. The martial arts sequences are vivid and precise, thanks to Shannon Lee’s unique insight into Bruce Lee’s philosophy and techniques. The world-building is rich, the stakes are high, and Jun’s journey from impulsive youth to self-aware fighter is deeply satisfying.

Whether you’re a martial arts enthusiast, a fan of fantasy with rich lore, or simply in search of an inspiring underdog story, *Breath of the Dragon* will keep you hooked from start to finish.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!*

Thank you @wednesdaybooks @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the complimentary DRC & ALC.
#smpinfluencers #macaudio2025

Book one in a duology, the start was a little slow with the world building and character introductions, but once we got to the tournament things really took off. Twists and turns all the way to the end. I loved the friendships that were built and am grateful for a fantasy without romance! As always with YA for me it can be hit or miss, especially when the characters are as young as Jun, however this is one that gets it right for a wider audience and not just the teens. I can’t wait for book 2!

I mostly listened to the audio and Eric Yang was great! I hope he narrates book 2.

(Actual: 3.75⭐, rounded up) When I first read JADE CITY by Fonda Lee about a year or so ago (my first book by her!), I did so and left it upon finishing being equal parts intrigued, intimidated and, in all honesty, frankly a bit overwhelmed. I've said it time and time again how I'm not the biggest Fantasy reader, especially "High" Fantasy because (and just to add some quick context) I know how much of a commitment they are when it comes to world-building, character & relationship development, and just... the sheer breadth of plot that needs to be covered and properly paced/fleshed out in order to successfully tell a cohesive story. That all being said, I know solid and engaging writing when I see it - and reading even just ONE of Lee's past works made me instantly see that she has *IT* ✨✨ BREATH OF THE DRAGON was an enjoyable & engaging read - a love letter to martial arts, especially - and one I found to be very accessible for someone "like me" (aka, again: a novice in F/HF reads) and a great introduction to both the authors & the genre itself (especially since it is also categorized under YA). I'd say this story is pretty fast-paced and written in such a way that makes you want to keep turning pages— the tournament-centric & romance-free plot, various action-packed scenes (hand-to-hand combat!), and use of the "MC/Underdog with A Lot of Growing Up to Do & Something to Prove™" trope also gave BotD an almost anime/manga-like feel to it, which I thought was very fun and a nice little Easter Egg/nod, however intentional or not. And while I do think, upon reflection, that there could (and should) have been more moments/scenes added or expanded upon in order to further establish character motivations, certain plot points, and just the story's overall world-building, I still believe enough was provided to give readers a clear & vibrant basic foundation of how this world functions and what to expect. Definitely recommend not only to Fantasy lovers and martial arts enthusiasts, but also Shonen anime/manga fans also!

A super fun young adult adventure with likeable characters and a world that is worth learning more about. I can't wait for future iterations to learn more about Breathmarked powers and how our initial understanding of them might not be all there is to the story. I also love the twist on the classic hero's tale with the fact that Jun doesn't have any special powers of his own, but I have a feeling that more will be revealed about his innate ability to manipuate his own Breath and his connection to his brother's powers.

I love the idea of this book and it was okay. But it's one I may not remember years down the line. I love the concept of a book surrounding characters based on Bruce Lee and I'm a HUGE Fonda Lee fan. Perhaps I may be unfairly comparing this to books like The Green Bone Saga but this just didn't hit for me,

Imgur link goes to Instagram photo scheduled for January 29th
Blog post goes live Feb 14th
Amazon and B&N review submitted
Will be covered in an upcoming Youtube wrapup


**TL;DR**: I think my expectations were too high and this was just… not for me.
**Source**: NetGalley, thank so much to the publisher!

**Plot**: Jun runs away to compete and become the Guardian, a government appointed super warrior. But learns some hard truths on the way.
**Characters**: This might have been one of the breaking parts for me. They felt very… predictable?
**Setting**: I didn’t have the clearest picture of the setting, but we were told a lot about it.
**Fantasy:** The idea here was very cool but I feel like we lost a lot of the fantastical for most of the book.

**Thoughts**:

I was so excited for this I bought myself a lovely physical copy before I’d even gotten very far in the eArc. So to say I’m disappointed, I mean I’m very disappointed. I entirely blame myself for that as I had very high expectations with Fonda Lee attached to this but alas, it didn’t work for me. Breath of the Dragon was pitched to me as a YA Fantasy based on the ideas of Bruce Lee’s style and training. Which sounds great, but didn’t connect for me.

This reads very young, something I beg of you to know going in. We have a lot of the very classic young adult - middle grade age level tropes here. A young man who is impetuous and very blind to the evils and darkness in his world. Jun is bound and determined to fight, just do martial arts. He’s so wrapped up in it he accidently gets half his family exiled while the other half goes to work for the government. So while he and his father live out their lives in poverty on one side of a divided country, his twin and his mother are at a training school on the other. Jun is very much not happy about this and it colors his story from the beginning.

I found a lot of the following twists and turns very predictable and there was just something here that kept me disconnected the whole time. I think this would be a hit for a young reader, especially one who loves martial arts. Unfortunately it wasn’t that for me.

If you’re a fan of YA fantasy with martial arts, epic fight scenes, and high-stakes tournaments, Breath of the Dragon is definitely worth picking up. This book brings a dynamic energy to the genre, and its vivid descriptions of martial arts made for an action-packed read.

Our main character, Jun, goes through solid development over the course of the story. However, if you’re someone who enjoys exploring the deeper complexities of side characters, you may find the first book a little slow or lacking in that department; however, once the story found its stride, I was invested. The pacing picked up, the stakes got higher, and I couldn’t wait to see where Jun’s journey would lead.

Jun’s character might feel frustrating at times for older readers—he’s impulsive, headstrong, and makes some questionable choices—but I think the intended YA audience will connect with him and his growth as he navigates challenges both in the arena and within himself.

Overall, Breath of the Dragon is a great addition to the YA fantasy genre, especially for readers who enjoy action-packed stories with a martial arts twist. I’m intrigued to see where Jun’s journey takes him next and how the world and characters will evolve in future installments.

I really dod enjoy the writing of this book, but theres something about it that fell kinda flat for me. It all seemed very surface level to me. But the writing makes up for that, i feel

i love this book!!!!
cant wait to get my physical copy.
I will read anything with dragons in it.

This felt like classic 80's movies while having the skillful language of this amazing author. An easy handsell!

3.5 Stars

After reading the Green Bone saga last year, Fonda Lee has become one of my favorite authors and I couldn’t wait to read her other works. However, Breath of the Dragon fell a little short for me. Don’t get me wrong, it is undoubtedly a very well-written book and the pacing was consistent. But the characters felt a bit one-dimensional and the world-building was somewhat lacking. I understand that this is first and foremost a love letter to martial arts and the action packed tournament scenes do reflect that. But this book was advertised as a fantasy and it did not deliver on that front. Overall, it’s a solid YA novel, but not a standout.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc! 3/5 stars, a decent start to a fantasy duology

I think having fonda lee as a cowriter hyped up this book for me maybe a bit too high - while I did have a fun time reading this book, I felt that it definitely left some things to be desired. the biggest thing to me is that this definitely felt more middle grade than ya - the writing was a bit simplistic, even though the fighting scenes were really well detailed, and jun's character is more relatable to middle schoolers in my opinion. he's immature and stubborn and very single track minded, and I genuinely think that this kind of character arc and plotline is something you see more in middle grade fiction and I do think it would market a bit better as middle grade fiction. jun definitely took time to grow on me as a character - his tenacity and boldness is admirable but he's such a fifteen year old boy about everything and it drove me insane. I honestly still have beef with him, which made reading this a bit of a slog. the plot wasn't super unique or anything particularly new so while I enjoyed the worldbuilding overall, I definitely found myself rereading parts because I would just zone out. overall, an entertaining if somewhat forgettable fantasy read!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Breath of the Dragon is the first book in a YA fantasy duology inspired by the teachings of Bruce Lee. This is my first book from Fonda Lee which is exciting since she has so many well-known fantasy novels. I found this book to be easy to read and very fast-paced which I enjoyed. I felt like I was invested really quickly and I found the magic system to be unique. I would have liked to see more worldbuilding so I hope the next book explores it more. Overall I really enjoyed this book!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for a review!

Fonda Lee's Green Bone saga is an absolute modern masterpiece and I'll pretty much read anything she works on. But this wasn't really the book for me.

What I love most about the green bone saga is the intricate world-building, the magic system (especially the very easy to visualize fights) and most importantly-- the characters. Years later, I can still fully visualize scenes, remember character names, and feel like I know how they'd act in any given situation because they're so real and fully-realized to me. I was invested in their plots and their lives, even the short stories within the same world.

Breath of the Dragon didn't find that magic again for me, unfortunately. It's still a perfectly serviceable story, but it feels very rote. I think there are a lot of original stories in the YA space, but this wasn't really one of them. It also doesn't have a whole lot of Fantasy to it, since the main character is just an ungifted martial artist and doesn't really surround himself with magical folks who are using the magic system frequently.

There's nothing wrong with this book, but I could literally drop it mid sentence (and did, multiple times) and not care about returning to it. idk why, but I felt compelled to finish it simply because it was an arc. But if I didn't have it as an arc? Eh, it's fine but I didn't need to finish it.

Shannon Lee, daughter of Bruce Lee and retired martial arts teacher Linda Lee Cadwell, and Fonda Lee, the World Fantasy Award-winning author of the Green Bone Saga come together to bring to life characters created by Bruce Lee. Breath of the Dragon features Lee’s teachings while focusing on a pair of fated twins.
The breathmarked are those given gifts by the Dragon and one in a set of twins is marked. Sai can copy any fighting technique after watching but Jun has no such magic. In an effort to show his value, Jun gives away that the children have been taught martial arts, something strictly prohibited in the West Longham. Jun and his father are exiled to the East while his Mother and brother go onto live in plenty.
Sixteen years later Jun is still trying to prove his worth by entering the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place. As Jun competes, he quickly realizes that nothing is as it seems, and the fate of the country itself is at stake.
Thanks to Fonda Lee the writing is sharp and tight. There is no space wasted. Each event in the book is needed and affects the plot or the character’s motivation. There is lots of action, but it spaced out enough that each sequence doesn’t leave you with adrenal exhaustion. The reader can savor the fights and then delve more into the characters and their personal situations. The philosophy isn’t esoterical and the politics are easy to understand. The religion/Dragon could a used a bit of fleshing out, honestly, but that’s a minor issue.
I am not a huge fan of Jun as a character. He is rather flat even as the authors try to give him some character development with the cliché death of someone he cares about. But at that point in the story, it seems more of another reason for Jun to walk away from what his fate. It takes to the very end for him to become the warrior he’s truly meant to be. And in those last few chapters, we’re past the point where he should have already been that warrior.
The first in a duology, Breath of the Dragon is action packed though it takes way too long for Jun to evolve. The authors bring to life the philosophy of Bruce Lee and fans can find easter eggs in the novel.

Breath of the Dragon by Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee was a good first book in the new series, Breathmarked. This book was very martial arts forward, so you really do need to have an interest in martial arts to fully appreciate this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Breath of the Dragon takes no time throwing the reader into the story. While it intrigued me at first, as I kept reading I wanted the story to slow a bit- to show me more of the lore, the war, and quirky personality traits of the characters. But, just as the MC had one goal that was all encompassing- so too did this story. It was so cool to read the descriptions of the fighting scenes, but other than that, I didn’t feel connected to the characters. I felt that there were many opportunities to add in inner dialogue or background but it wasn’t done. While this is marketed as YA, it read more middle grade to me, but take that with a grain of salt as I, unfortunately, DNF’d this book. It’s not something I do often, but this wasn’t the book for me. I’ve seen many reviews raving about it, so clearly it’s just a fit thing. As always, I encourage readers to try it for themselves.