The Blood Phoenix is an exhilarating follow-up to Of Jade and Dragons, and this time, it comes with the added thrill of pirates!
Ying has grown from the first book's events, yet she still grapples with unresolved emotions. The story fast-forwards two years, with Ying hiding away in an isolated province, trying to escape her past. However, she is soon drawn back into the orbit of the capital—and of Ye-yang. This time, we also follow her sister and Ye-kan as they navigate a dangerous investigation. While I truly enjoyed their chapters, I did feel that they made the overall story a bit more dispersive.
Through intense battles, we also get to meet a found-family pirate crew, the Blood Phoenix is led by a powerful disabled woman, and they quickly throw our protagonists in the midst of a new slice of the world. I quickly grew fond of these new characters, but with the vastness of the world and all the intriguing developments, the pace did slow down, while still making me feel like we skipped a lot of interesting possible interactions during this arc! .
Despite this slower pace, The Blood Phoenix still left me wanting more. I’m eager to learn more about the world, its history, and the engineering challenges hinted at but never fully explored. While the central romance didn’t fully captivate me, I’m definitely excited to dive into any future books or companion stories set in this rich world.

The chapters were long but the story wasn't boring. The thing for me is.....the ending left me unsatisfied.
With all the build up and drama, the battles and schemes, the back and forth with the love interests.....I expected more, I guess, and it just felt unfinished.
We get more inventions and such but the bonds and friendships formed in book seemed splintered in the book. Disappointed, but doesn't take away from the fact it was well written, the plot was good, and .... it involved Pirates! Haha
Overall a good read.

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Valerie Contreras's review Sep 19, 2024
it was ok

I’m so sad to say that I was disappointed by this story. I enjoyed the first book so much that I had high hopes for this one. This is a duology but the story ended feeling unfinished or like there might be another book. I understand the need to include Nian’s POV in this story but I didn’t particularly care much for it. I was hoping for more romance especially at the end but it seems like it wasn’t important or the focal point. I also felt like 2 years is too much of a time jump for it to make sense in this story. The story throughout the book was interesting enough for me to continue reading but it was very different from what I expected. I am debating to continue reading if another book does come out.

Thank you to Amber Chen, Penguin Young Readers Group, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

This book was a struggle. On paper it sounded wonderful - but the same issues I had with book 1 - Of Jade and Dragons, I had with this book as well. Two years have passed since we last saw our characters and believe me, the characters are more confused with what is going on and what happened than the readers are. In this book we had chapters from Nian which frankly I enjoyed more than Ying’s - and I feel that Nian is truly more intelligent. However, this book does so much telling instead of showing. Why is there a random equivalent of a Tattoine podrace but make it pirates? Major plot points felt shoe horned in at random leaving the reader confused as to if the stakes are actually high or are we going to brush over it again without digging too deep. The “twists” you could see from miles away. The ending - extremely confusing and I was shocked to turn the page to see the series referenced as a duology. I thought for sure there was something more with the way that it ended. Spoiler - the phoenix is also not a mythical creature that has an appearance in this book in case you were like me and picked up the first book after being told there are dragons when there really weren’t.
On a positive note - I am obsessed with the world building in these books! The steampunk elements are fascinating and I truly love having engineers as protagonists. Thank you to NetGalley and to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. This review is solely my own thoughts and opinions - everyone likes different things so I hope you enjoy this book more than I did.

Don't mind me spending the first 50% of the book rooting for An-xi and Chang-en to end up together...

The Blood Phoenix is the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons, and I just want to start by saying that if you're here for the romance, I would recommend not reading the sequel and just pretending book one ended however you wanted it to. You won't be happy with this book. If you enjoyed the fantasy/political intrigue aspects...maybe continue? Look, I'm gonna be honest right away and say the ending isn't super satisfying. If the author doesn't end up doing some sort of spin-off series, I'm going to be disappointed because she said this is a duology, and the story ends here...which I'm not happy about.
Two years have passed since the events of book one. Ying has been hiding from Ye-yang after he took on the role of High Commander, but when attacks by the pirates called the Blood Phoenixes force her back to the capital, she must face Ye-yang once more. Meanwhile, Nian is navigating life as the betrothed of the High Commander...despite her growing feelings for Ye-kan. The book alternates between Ying and Nian's POVs, and while I saw a lot of reviews hating Nian's POVs, I didn't mind them too much. While Ying's POVs tend to have more action, Nian's are a nice break from the tension (for the most part) and provide some much-needed answers. The pacing is a bit slow at times, and there are some time jumps that I felt were a bit awkward, but overall, I enjoyed the first 80% of the book or so. The ending is where I'm tempted to drop my rating, but I'm holding out hope for closure in some other form (and also, the shock factor of some plot twists was pretty intense).
This book had my opinions about certain characters completely flipped around. I was really invested in An-xi and Chang-en's friendship for some reason...I just found it really compelling. I did miss the dynamics between Ying and Ye-kan, but I liked Ye-kan and Nian even more in some respects. While their connection did feel a bit forced at the beginning, I liked seeing how Nian's strengths lie in Ying's weaknesses, and I enjoyed seeing Ye-kan grow into his leadership roles...and their chemistry was well-done. I also apologize, but I'm not a fan of Ye-yang. I found him a bit manipulative and was really hoping for a corruption arc based on the events of book one. He just felt a bit flat in this book, too. Ying was fine, but I felt like she was constantly worried about Ye-yang, and it made her POV a little less fun for me.
The Blood Phoenix is the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons that takes place in a fantasy "silkpunk" world and mixes political intrigue with a splash of romance and action.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.5/5

The Blood Phoenix is set two years after the events that happened in 'Of Jade and Dragons'. Ying retreats to the capital, giving up on her dreams to be in the Engineer's guild but doesn't exactly give up on inventing in its entirety. She's brought back into the midst of chaos when the new High Commander, Ye-kang calls for her and she's swept back into the world she left behind.

In this sequel, we are given Nian's POV (mentioned in 'Of Jade and Dragons'), Ying's younger sister, and of course, return to Ying's perspective of things as well. A lot of the things we learned from 'Of Jade and Dragons' don't come full circle until about the last 35% of the book and I was left wanting more. It feels like this du0logy could have flourished into a trilogy as the ending seemed rushed and I feel there is still much to tell for Ying and Ye-kang's story.

Aside from that, Chen's growth as a writer can be seen here as everything was fast-paced and included more violence albeit some pieces felt glazed over. I still thoroughly enjoyed some parts of the sequel even if some of the characters felt flat to me while others were multi-faceted and flawed.

Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for the E-ARC for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. Although the ending of the first book had left me somewhat unsatisfied I still had high hopes for the second book. I really enjoyed the world and it's silk-punk elements. But for a majority of the second book I found myself frustrated with some of the choices and actions of the characters. If they would just talk to each other so many problems could have been solved so much quicker. I still enjoyed parts of the book, some things played out the way I was hoping but the ending once again left me unsatisfied. I kind of thought there was going to be another book but it says it's just a dualogy. There was definitely more violence in this one, although there was a bit at the end of the first. But still no swearing or sex so I appreciate that aspect of the series. Actually if there had just been a little more to the epilog I might have bumped it up by one star. If you do read it you'll probably know what I mean.

The Blood Phoenix is the the follow-up to last year's Of Jade and Dragons and picks up 2 years after the events of the last book.

I unfortunately did not enjoy this book as much as I did the first book. The characters felt flat in comparison to the first and the pacing was a bit all over the place. I do love the world the author built and we got to see much more of that world this time around.

The ending felt as if it was leading up to a third book and felt rushed to a conclusion. I think there is enough story there where this could have been a trilogy, but maybe we'll get more stories set in this universe from the author.

Thank you the Penguin / Viking for an early copy of this book! All thoughts are my own.

The 1st book is so promising, that's why I wanted to read the second book, BUT do not expect to much, this is................................not what i expect to. But the epilogue is kinda hangover; should I wait for the next book?

The cover is still a chef's kiss btw.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Young Readers Group, Viking Books for Young Readers for the ARC!!!

I still do not know how I feel about this book. It's my fault as I usually only read romance, so I have certain expectations despite the genre.
It wasn't what I was expecting......I didn't hate it but I also did not like ending as is, hopefully there is more resolution in the final published book.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

It was ok, but fell shore for me and seemed disjointed by adding in NIAN’s POV and the ending kind of just left things open. Seemed a bit anticlimactic in comparison to the first book

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The Blood Phoenix unfortunately just wasn't for me. I didn't like the pacing, and the characters weren't pulling me into the story enough. I liked the first book but had similar issues with it, and unfortunately I feel like the issues carried over enough that the series just wasn't meant for me.

First of all this cover is beautiful. I enjoyed the first book in this series but it was not my favorite and the sequel is basically the same for me. It was a good book but the pacing felt off and did not flow.

Look. I was obsessed with the first book. Like begging for an ARC for the second one. Why didn’t this one hit the same?? I understand needing Nian’s POV but I just…. didn’t care? Im genuinely so upset that I didn’t love it more.

Thank you to NetGalley for approving me for the eARC/digital review copy of The Blood Phoenix! And of course, thank you to Amber Chen for writing such a beautiful story.

I read Of Jade and Dragons around a year ago after getting approved for the eARC. It was my first ever ARC of any kind and I felt so excited to delve into it. While I loved the book, I still only rated it 4 stars because at times it felt a little slow or as if it were missing something.

The Blood Phoenix had that something. It was exciting, expansive, and emotional. It’s so worth 5 stars and I enjoyed the entire journey!

The characters have grown between the first book and this one and Amber Chen does a great job of detailing that growth while also keeping the characters’ true to who they are. I was especially excited to see more of Ye-kan and also have Nian featured more prominently!

I am a sucker for pirate stories and when I heard that the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons would have a pirate-heavy plot it made me all the more delighted to read it. The plot was so fluid and never felt like it was getting stuck. You can really see Amber Chen’s growth as an author and I loved every moment of her prose.

My only complaint is that my heart is broken. For some reason I was under the impression that this would be a trilogy (I know, I should have done some research…) so when this book ended I was left wanting more. And I believe (or maybe I’m delusional) that maybe someday down the line, we’ll get more stories set in the Nine Isles. I know I really hope so!

It has been two years since the events in Of Jade and Dragons. FMC Ying is living on a remote island with a new fiance while she works on new inventions. Her heart still belongs to Ye-Yang but they cannot be together after he was forced into an engagement with Ying’s sister and the whole pesky him being involved in the death of her father. Also Yings sister is in love with Ye-Yangs brother. Love triangle? Who needs one of those when you can have a love rectangle instead!
Thank you for NetGalley and Viking Books for the opportunity to read and review this book which I am giving 3⭐️.
The good news is that I did enjoy this book slightly more than the first book. This time I enjoyed the love rectangle that is happening in this book and I enjoyed that the world was expanded upon and that readers get to experience a pirate adventure this time around.
While I did get a bit bored by all the conspiracies and politicking around the High Commander position it was really the end that disappointed me. This book really seemed like it was leading into a third book especially around the 85% mark but no an unsatisfying ending was slapped on and that’s it end of story.
This duology didn’t really work for me, but I think it would work well for newer YA readers. I really don’t think these two books were strong enough to support being picked by Illumicrate as special edition books.

It has been two years since Of Jade and Dragons, and Ying has retreated from the capital, giving up her dreams of the Engineer's Guild. However, she has not stopped inventing, and when her new life is disrupted she finds herself once again embroiled in something much bigger than herself.

I didn't think this sequel was quite as good as the first book, but it was still a very good read! The world was an easy one to return to, and I enjoyed seeing familiar characters having grown up and moved on. I'll definitely be picking up the next book!

Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy

Of Jade And Dragons is a fascinating and unique duology that I've really enjoyed reading. The Blood Phoenix picks up two years after the end of the first book and follows both Ying and Nian as they navigate their new lives.
I really liked reading about Nian's character and watching her grow in strength and cunning throughout the story. Ying, Ye-yang and Ye-kan were all multifaceted and flawed, which I enjoyed. I do feel like the chemistry was lacking in terms of romance and Ye-yang drove me crazy most of the time, but the ending was really nicely done. I hope we get to see more of these characters in Amber Chen's future books!
The worldbuilding is probably my favorite part of the duology - the silkpunk setting combined with court intrigue, war, and pirates was just wonderful and made this story so fun to read. I did struggle a bit with the time skips in the narration, as it felt choppy and incomplete at times. The ambiguous ending was interesting, though, and I'd love a short story or novella detailing the aftermath of the final battle. Fans of the first book will love this conclusion to Ying and Ye-yang's story!
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for the eARC!

I was hoping for a fulfilling ending for Ying with both her position in the guild and her personal life, but this very much didn’t end that way. It didn’t read like the last book but rather a second book in a longer series. It was also very scattered in plot and character. I felt like the focus was more on Nina than Ying, and it divided my focus to the point that I’m not sure about either character. I loved Of Jade and Dragons, but this book was not the sequel I was hoping for.

Another beautiful cover for this duology!

I’m not too sure how to rate this one. Another ambiguous ending, odd pacing, and a lackluster follow up. I was hoping there would be more world building and character development, but there really wasn’t much. However, the new cast of characters were interesting to follow, especially the captain, but I wish their backgrounds were fleshed out a bit more and that there was more time with them. Overall a decent novel, but the first book in this duology was much more intriguing with the high stakes it had. The Blood Phoenix felt a bit out of place at times in continuing the story, but was still an entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review.