It’s been two years since Ying infiltrated the Engineers’ Guild to uncover the truth behind her father’s death. Two years since she left Ye-Yang, who is engaged to her sister. Two years since she left all the bloodshed in the city of Fei. Now living on a smaller island, all Ying is looking forward to is the opportunity to escape and leave all those painful memories behind. But when the Blood Phoenix, legendary pirates with an unbeatable weapon, attack the island’s shores, Ying finds herself drawn back to the capital and back to Ye-Yang, and trying to stop a war before it begins and takes the lives of thousands.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Blood Phoenix in exchange for an honest review.

The Blood Phoenix is a fantasy novel by Amber Chen. It’s also the sequel to Of Jade and Dragons and the final novel in the Fall of the Dragons duology. After having the chance to read Of Jade and Dragons last year, of course I was excited to get the sequel to it!

There will be spoilers to book one in this review, so keep that in mind as you read on!

The Blood Phoenix starts two years after the events of Of Jade and Dragons, which was a bit of a surprise to me. Two years is a long time for things to change, and we quickly learn just how much has happened in the first chapters of the book. There’s not a lot of time for reminiscing, though, since the plot very quickly jumps into action, when there is an attack on the island where Ying has gone to escape. This action continues at a breakneck speed throughout the whole book. Every time I thought the pace would slow down to give the characters a chance to breathe, it would pick up again and keep moving.

Something that I think helped keep the pace up was the fact that this book is a dual-POV, which was also a bit surprise to me. We don’t just get Ying’s POV here, but also Nian’s, her little sister. Nian has been living in the capital these last two years, engaged to Ye-Yang (Ying’s not-so-former love), learning about how to keep the city running and maneuvering through complicated politics. So, whenever things quieted in Ying’s POV, we moved over to Nian, who had new twists awaiting her. But, while we have two POVs in this book, I want to be clear that this is still Ying’s story, and most of the chapters belong to her.

If you read the first book, you’ll know that Ying and Ye-Yang struck up a relationship, but after the events of the last few chapters, Ying had to leave. I really appreciated that, even as they reconnect in this book, they still have a lot of issues to work through, so while that initial attraction still exists, so do the reasons that caused Ying to leave in the first place, giving them both more room to grow if they ever want to be together.

The romance is very much in the background of the much larger stakes, however. There’s a war about to be ignited, and an unbeatable pirate fleet stalking the islands’ shores.

Something else that I really liked about this book is that, despite being a sequel, it could almost be read as a stand-alone. Sure, it would be much better to read both books, but since a lot of this plot is self-contained, and the characters have a lot left to grow, it can stand very well by itself rather than leaning heavily on Of Jade and Dragons. This isn’t a case of a duology being a single story cut into two parts, but two connected events featuring the same characters, and seeing them grow in both installments.

Also, I need to scream about the ending but I also can’t, since that would spoil it for everyone. Just know that I almost dropped the book as I reached the last few chapters, and I still can’t believe that final twist. Once you read it, let me know in the comments and maybe we can talk about it!

The Blood Phoenix was an epic continuation to Of Jade and Dragons, and gave us a great opportunity to explore more of this world of Chen’s creation. I had a great time reading it, and recommend the duology to anyone looking for a silkpunk fantasy, or just a fantasy featuring engineering as a main plot point.

The Blood Phoenix will be released on June 17. You can preorder your copy from Viking Books for Young Readers here.

After thoroughly enjoying the first book in this duology, I had high hopes for the sequel. Unfortunately, it fell flat in some areas. While the sequel did retain some of the elements I loved from the first book, such as the intricate world-building and the steampunk flair, it struggled to deliver a satisfying continuation of the story.

The pacing felt uneven at times and the story didn’t really hit its stride until the last 30% or so. The ending left a lot to be desired due to its ambiguity and open-endedness, which left some loose ends and not enough closure to feel satisfying. That said, the author does a great job at crafting immersive settings. The expansion of the steampunk elements and character dynamics added depth to the story. Overall, it was a decent read, just not the conclusion I was hoping for.

Thank you to Viking and Netgalley for the ARC!

I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD SEQUEL.

I’m not going to lie, the early reviews for this one had made me nervous because I loved Of Jade and Dragons so I’ve been trying to do everything to get my hands on book two, and for me? It was not a disappointment (do I wish I could give it five stars, sure, but I am not mad that I read it).

ANYWAYS. I loved seeing all of the STEM aspects and the guilds and how everything works together in this world. It’s brutal and full of failings, but the rise of many of these characters, especially the FMC was fantastic.

It had an ending that I can see people being somewhat frustrated with but I have read multiple books like this before and prefer to live in the fantasy of it all so I think it fits where the author was trying to lead us. AND it helped create a better sense for why there was a second POV added that wasn’t the MMC (it’s Ying’s sister, Nian, if you’re curious).

I think these characters had to go through some hard things and make some hard decisions. Was every decision the best choice? Probably not but that’s from the viewpoint of a reader. I liked that it was complicated, the struggle felt real.

The middle of this book side quested hard. A little too hard. I had an issue from the pacing of that, but otherwise, I liked the action and politicking and not quite knowing who was behind it all. I really enjoy Amber Chen’s writing style and story telling so I will absolutely be back for her next book.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy + Romance
Language: mild
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Books for Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the first book in this duology, Of Jade and Dragons last year and was very excited to read the sequel. I really enjoyed the world building and the friendships Ying developed, particularly with the prickly Ye-Kan. The way that Of Jade and Dragons ends necessitates the addition of a new POV in this sequel, we split time from Ying's point of view and her sister Nian. Unfortunately, it's always hard to split time between characters, especially when we as readers already have a connection with Ying from the first book. Nian eventually finds her footing in this book and I enjoyed watching her grow into herself and become more confident in her abilities. Across the first book and this sequel Amber Chen does a great job showing male dominated fields and then giving us strong women who are excelling, despite the hardships they face. In Of Jade and Dragons we got to see Master Lianshu as one of the best engineers in the country. In The Blood Phoenix Ying encounters a pirate ship of women, run by a captain with a different goal in mind from her male counterparts.

One of my issues with the first book was the romantic relationship between Ying and Ye-Yang. It just didn't develop in a way that felt genuine. This remains an issue in this book as one of the main plot points is Ying and Ye-Yang keeping their past relationship a secret from Nian and ignoring the feelings they still have. Meanwhile Nian is developing her own romantic relationship with Ye-Kan. While this was another one that I think needed at least a few more scenes to feel genuine I did like the relationship between Nian and Ye-Kan much better.

It's hard to wrap up this review without mentioning the ending. I don't want to get into spoilers but I will say I think it's going to be very divisive for some readers and I still go back and forth on how I feel about the way this book ended. Overall, I liked The Blood Phoenix and am excited to see what Amber Chen writes next.

This was a tough review to write, so much so that I delayed writing it. I loved the first book so much. The hidden gender trope and romance between the two main characters hit the spot. I loved the engineering aspect and Ying having to prove herself to the guild.

Unfortunately, those elements didn't come through for me in the sequel. It felt more like a pirate adventure? It was almost like a different series. There's an additional storyline following Nian which was nice to see the world expanded, but it felt like we didn't get enough time for relationship development with any of the characters. Things were happening, but the pacing didn't allow any time for breathing or reflection. To me, the heart of a story are those soft moments in between the action.

Some of the world building was confusing as we are still not really facing the looming empire. Instead the troubles are the pirates and the 10th isle. As I was reading this, it felt like there was still too much left to cover with how much I had left in the book... and that proved to be the case. There were still too many unresolved plot lines for this to be a satisfying end to a duology. I believe it's possible it may continue with Nian, but I think I'll end my reading journey here.

It was fine, but it needed more emotional depth like I got in the first book. I honestly think this needed to be a trilogy with a more satisfying conclusion to Ying and Ye-yang's story. I would have then chalked this up to a case of "middle book syndrome" where events are happening to set everything up in place, and could see it concluding in a banger of a book with the final showdown against the empire. But alas, that is not the case... and instead I was left disappointed.

Arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

The second book in this duology unfortunately came up short for me.

I enjoyed the plot and the setting. I liked the writing style, the adventurous tone, and the pacing of the first half, but it felt a bit disjointed in the second. I wanted more for these characters and the ending fell a little flat for me. There were a lot of plot points that are never resolved. This could have used a better outline and more editing to ensure that those issues didn’t happen as the story progressed.

** Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Teen for providing me with an E-ARC of this book for review purposes **
A sequel to a book I really enjoyed from 2024, this book fell short in the character dynamics and pacing compared to book one. A lot happens in this book, with action up until the very final page, that made it feel like there was no breathing room, or a chance for deeper character development. I want to learn about and grow to love the new characters, but we ultimately don’t get enough important interactions with them to leave any lasting impact. Some of the overall shifts in the main antagonists also was strange, and made it feel like this book should’ve been the second in a trilogy over this being the last book in the series?
The thing I loved the most of Of Jade and Dragons was the relationship between Ying and Ye-Yang. Normally I’m not one for toxic male leads, but something about Ye-Yang really hits different. Still, I wish we had gotten more of his redemption and Ying realizing why specifically she doesn’t like their relationship earlier on, so that he could’ve grown more in the second half. Some of the stuff he did in the previous book seriously didn’t feel like it ever got properly addressed as well, like the author wrote herself into a corner in making him unlikable and then just brushed that off in favor of other topics.
Overall, I think this book had too many ideas that needed to be stretched to be longer or as an additional book, with better articulation of the character interactions and overall plot and pacing. It really sucks to give this a low rating, since I think some of the concepts and the characters are really good! I love Ying as our FMC, and I feel like she never got to shine as much as she did in Of Jade and Dragons. I'll still love and recommend the first book in the series, but wish that we had ended off on a better note.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for a honest review.

This is a solid ending to the duology, but unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much as the first book. Of Jade and Dragons really was something quite special, and The Blood Phoenix did give it a rocky send off. However, like book 1, I enjoyed the steampunk setting and the unique importance engineering plays in the story and to the main characters.

There was a lot of pirate time in this book and considering what else was going on in the world, I found this shift less interesting. The page time could’ve been dedicated to pivotal character scenes. The introduction of a Nina perspective, while necessary, quickly became the less interesting chapters to read. Although, it was the only time we got to see Ye-Kan. His relationship with Ying, which was my favourite part of book 1, was something I mourned in this one because of how everyone was separated.

The characters in this series are forced into many extenuating circumstances and must make morally questionable decisions. As a whole this was well done for a debut, but I wish we could’ve went deeper with the character work. The most developed and interesting was Ye-Yang. I will applaud Amber Chen for willing to make a character in his position do the difficult things he realistically had to do, even if it had to hurt our other characters in the process. If we had more time to explore the inner turmoil of all of our characters, this would have made the book stronger.

Reading the last 10% with so much to wrap up left me worried, and my fears were correct. The ending was quite rushed and the repercussions for many decisions were only briefly shown or alluded to. Some duologies and trilogies are unnecessarily stretched out and would benefit from having one less book, but this story would was not the case; only having two books didn’t give the conclusion to the plot and character arcs they deserved. Ambiguous endings are not my favourite either, and I don’t feel like i got the closure that I needed.

Overall, there is a lot of potential here and I can definitely see this author’s work continuing to improve given the strengths this series showed.

Wowww! This was a phenomenal sequel. Book 1 ended in a tough spot for the characters’ relationships, so I liked that this sequel jumped ahead a couple of years to give them time to heal from the betrayals. I loved the romance. I loved the silkpunk. The plot from book 1 was basically resolved, so I loved the new plot! PIRATES! I honestly wish we could have a book 3, but the story ends here. :’)

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

Unfortunately, this was a disappointing sequel to the first book which I really enjoyed. While I typically appreciate a snappy duology, TBP feels like a second & third book of a trilogy being crammed into one finale. You know that Netflix series that should've a full 20-episode season to get all the proper development and resolution but is contracted for 8 episodes instead? Yeah, this is TBP. So with limited page space, the story suffers as it's trying to balance the high stakes plot of an invasion with a ""romance"" that's absolutely not important nor necessary.

In OJAD, I was deeply invested in Ying's goal of avenging her father and her journey of proving herself competent and talented enough to enter the boys club that is the Engineers Guild. When it comes to TBP, technically she does have a goal—put her engineering skills to good use and repel a pirate threat—but every now and then, I feel the whiplash that she's not really as invested as she should be. First Ying wants to step up and contribute to protecting her home of the Nine Isles; next moment she wants to get it done and over with and leave so that she can avoid the awkward situation that is her sister Nian being engaged to her ex-crush Ye-yang. Rinse and repeat.

Then, in the midst of it all, she ends up onboard a pirate ship run by an all-women crew and forced to participate in a sea race to save her and her friends' lives. That entire pirate ship subplot feels too short for me to actually give a proper damn about, which is a shame because it was a great antithesis to the patriarchal Guild that Ying spends so much time in. There's also one too many instances of timeskips that's just "Ying works on this engineering thing for weeks". Because there's limited page space but we *had* to devote that space to Ye-yang taking Ying to see the stars after he essentially lies to her about her submarines being used as their version of kamikaze aircraft.

Yes, I am so bitter that Ye-yang was at the forefront over more interesting, deserving characters.

If you thought that the Qirin Empire introduced in Book 1 was finally going to be important here, wow were we wrong about that. And if you wanted more of the best dynamic of Book 1, i.e. Ying & Ye-kan's friendship, well forget about that too. Ying is instead saddled with her EXHAUSTING romance with Ye-yang, who continues to withhold honesty from her and overrides her agency whenever he sees fit. Does he finally learn what an asshole he really is to her at the VERY END? Yes, but it comes too little too late. The novel keeps having Ying think well maybe THIS time opening up her heart to him would go somewhere, only to be disappointed because he is the kind of guy who thinks he knows what's good for you better than yourself. If TBP wanted to have Ye-yang as any sort of redeeming love interest, it should've ceased all those romantic beats and have him learn NOT to be shitty to Ying first. And THEN earn that kiss and declaration of love.

Ye-kan finally gets a love interest in the form of Nian. They're aggressively Just Fine, because I don't feel like we spend enough time with them as a couple for me to care. I also don't think that Ye-kan has the same easy chemistry with Nian as he does with Ying. And as for Nian herself, there's nothing wrong or terrible with her character per se. She's fine, just fine. Unmemorable at worst. Should've gotten way WAY more time with Ying than a passable romance. The novel hits us over the head with how different Nian is from Ying—quieter, prim, proper, more feminine, not rebellious, wouldn't jump off a cliff to test a hypothesis—but also just as brave and smart, to show that there's no one way for a female character to be Strong™. Not very subtly executed, but I don't mind this for a YA book.

The main villain, the Evil Uncle that's suddenly relevant, was meh. The final 20% of the novel was easily the most interesting because Ying is finally free of whatever burdens she's had with Ye-yang. There's underwater battles, for one. Ying also FINALLY gets that much needed meaningful interaction with Master Lianshu, the only other woman in the Engineers Guild introduced to us in OJAD. Honestly, she should've been the other person with Ying in the pirate ship subplot mentioned earlier. But we got Ye-yang. Boo.

I've seen polarizing reactions to the ending of OJAD, and this one in TBP might be even more so. Personally, I don't necessarily mind an Ambiguous Ending, had the journey we got to it was actually enjoyable and not a slog. But I was already very dissatisfied with the rest of the novel, so the ending did nothing to endear itself to me.

The tale from 'Of jade and dragons' continues in the brilliant epic ending to the Fall of the Dragon duology. Amber Chen has made a wonderful YA fantasy, where the each of the main characters have distinct facets, clans, inclinations and driven by differing ambitions.

This book sees the Ying return back to the Order to deal with the threat facing the Antarans. Her younger sister, Nian. is engaged to the High Commander, unaware that Ying herself lost her heart to him. This book follows Ying and Ye-Yang's relationship while also seeing the blossoming of the love between Ye-kan and Nian.

The multiple plot twists, the use of engineering in the tracking and elimination of threats, the subterfuge and duplicity of the enemies and the facing of your own personal demons while relinquishing the need to protect love and instead let love free, are the key reasons you should pick up this series. Ying's self doubt in whether her skills should create or destroy, her feelin of inadequacy to Ye-yang's regard create the emotional roller coaster that rocks this tale. Set at a counterpoint, is the slow romance that blooms between ye-Kan and Nian as they manage the political quagmire of the beiles in the palace.

The romance takes backstage to the threat of piracy which brings the friends of the Engineering guild back together to brainstorm how to combat the invisible ships attacking the ports. Add to this already explosive mix, a race to the death, a coup, a betrayal, it all culminates to an amazing and satisfying finish to the tale - in peace!

Thank you to Netgalley, Viking Books for young readers for providing me an opportunity to read the ARC! A million thank yous to Amber Chen for executing a flawless duology - one of the best reads of 2025!

I was vibing with this one much more than book one until the second half when the timeline was just too short to be believable (still not sure how much time the main cast spent with the pirates but I don’t think it was nearly long enough for the level of influence they had over each other). Ye-yang hasn’t really learned or changed from the previous book, so I feel like poor Ying was just getting dragged along with his nonsense - again. I will say, though, that Ying and Nian were strong, clear, interesting characters, and that made them great POV characters.

Things started to get a bit melodramatic in the last 1/3, and that’s where it really started to lose me. Also the ending felt a bit anticlimactic - particularly since this was the end of a duology.

The last 30% did a lot of heavy lifting for the entire novel. (And that's me being generous, sadly.) It was action-filled with the perfect amount of battle scenes and slower, more contemplative scenes.

But other than that? Meh.

Like other reviewers have mentioned, this didn't feel like the second part of a solid duology installment. The vibes were totally different. With the time jump, this felt more like a book 3 or book 4 than a sequel. Like we missed something in between the first and second books. It was odd.

Most of the plot in this book felt like watching a few filler episodes of a TV show you like just so you can finally get to the juicy storyline.

I was bored most of the time tbh. The pirate kidnapping/prisoner plotline with Ying and co. wasn't my favorite. (I couldn't even make out who was who when it came to Ying's guildmates.) The female pirates were cool but sadly, they didn't get enough airtime imo. Ying's romance with Ye-Yang was weirdly toxic (on his end) and I wanted to be done with him so badly.

I actually ended up liking Nian's POV with all the political scheming. I wouldn't mind another book with her POV. And I'm saying all of this as someone who prefers action and adventure over fantasy politics.

Maybe this should've just been a standalone with an open-ended ending left up for the readers to fill in the blanks. Idk.

Thank you to Viking Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for this arc.

What a triumphant ending to this YA Fantasy duology! The worldbuilding in this book is so impressive. I absolutely love the engineering and the introduction of new characters in this sequel.

At times the pacing was a little off. This book has a lot to accomplish, but I still really enjoyed it, and I feel like Chen achieved the perfect ending

rounded up 4

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

This is a great continuation to book one and a good conclusion to the duology, pirates? princes? possible explosion? all great.

Right as we start of there are a few different plotlines most of the threads do resolve, some are resolved open endedly.

Relationship wise, I'm not thrilled about Ye Yang and Ying, while she really annoyed me in the first book, she's still brash but more grounded here, Ye Yang constantly trampling on her boundaries was not cool, at no point did I want to champion this. in comparison Ye Kan and Nian's friendship seemed more authentic, NGL I wish I saw more of Ye Kan and Ying, their friendship in the first book was genuinely such a solid part of the story.

I would love a separate set of books about the lady pirates please 🙏🏾😌

Can't wait to see what Amber Chen writes next

The Blood Phoenix is book 2 in a duology after Of Jade and Dragons. The problem is, these books don’t feel like a duology. In book 1, we were introduced to the nine isles of Antaran, led by a high commander, with an engineering guild training the brightest minds to eventually stand up against the Empire. And then this book is a pirate adventure that has nothing to do with the Empire with a completely different adversary?

The meandering plot felt disjointed. More set up and clear direction would have probably made me feel more invested in the storyline. The side characters were also never fleshed out in book 1 or 2, so when big reveals happened, I didn’t feel the emotional connection that I should have.

Ying and Ye-Yang’s relationship is confusing. Are we supposed to be rooting for them as a couple? We are constantly told and shown how Ye-yang doesn’t respect Ying’s independence and how he repeatedly makes decisions or withholds information to manipulate, or at times forcefully change Ying’s actions. Ying keeps on saying that she is done with him and then they’re kissing a few chapters later. This doesn’t seem like a healthy relationship and is just unsatisfying all around with no redeeming aspects.

The best part of this book is probably Nian and Ye-kun. Their relationship development was cute.

Overall, the progression of both the main plot and romantic subplot was lacking and I wasn’t invested in any of it. The ending did not feel like a closure to a duology but left things open for further stories.

2.0⭐️

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC for an honest review. All opinions are my own*

Rating: 4 stars for a fabulous Chinese-fantasy book 2 that leaves you searching for another read that is up to par.

My Thoughts:
Of Jade and Dragons left me heartbroken at the end. I HAD to read this second book before it came out. Thank you Net Galley for making that happen. Here is one spoiler, though. The second book starts with heartbreak and also ends with heartbreak. Perhaps that is a trope with C-drama (versus K-drama).

In a way, this brings me back to watching Kung Fu movies with subtitles (never dubbed) at the local theatre in Chinatown with my mom. The women in these movies were fierce and would sacrifice themselves and go "down with the ship" to protect what was theirs. Ying reminds me of that. Perhaps the idea of riding off into the sunset with your soulmate is so western and so anti Asian. I actually think that is what I love about this new diverse fantasy --drama, heartbreak, ferocity, verve, martydom. So Asian. It is like looking at my matriarchs in my own family.

If your students are clamoring for more, there is a short list of next reads on the first book in this duology, Of Jade and Dragons. And if you are an English teacher and you go to an NCTE conference, go to the AAPI get together. It is like a support group for these young Asian American authors and they love talking about their newest books. The giveaways are fabulous and the camaraderie is great to see.


From the Publisher:
Two years after Ying leaves the Engineer’s Guild and the ghost of her father’s unjust death behind, life seems to regain a semblance of normalcy. But the winds of unrest continue to stir within the Nine Isles, and the aftermath of a horrific pirate attack by the mysterious Blood Phoenix fleet forces Ying back into the tense political world of the new High Commander, Ye-yang. And soon, Ying, Ye-yang and her former friends from the guild must work together to find a way to outsmart the cunning pirates who terrorise the straits—and the elusive mastermind who’s controlling them.

Meanwhile, Ying’s sister, Nian, now lives in the capital, awaiting the day she will finally marry the High Commander. While her relationship with Ye-yang remains distant, she finds company in her friendship with the fourteenth prince, Ye-kan, and discovers her unexpected affinity for governance and strategy. But the capital is more dangerous than she expects, and when a dark conspiracy arises, Nian and Ye-kan must unravel the mystery in time to prevent the High Command from collapsing from within.

New dangers arise at every moment, threatening to tear the Nine Isles apart. In order to sail through this storm, Ying and her loved ones must make difficult choices amidst terrible betrayals. With the world on the brink of destruction, will they find a way to defeat their enemies and survive? And will it be worth the cost?

Publication Information:
Author: Amber Chen
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (June 17, 2025)
Print length: 464 pages

A worthy follow-up to Of Jade and dragons. I’m pleasantly surprised by the conclusion to the duology. I think the pacing is appropriate, the story satisfying, and character development natural and sincere. I love the use of technology and mechanics with fantasy epic. I’ve greatly enjoyed all I’ve read from Amber Chen and look forward to more.

My top read of the year!

The Blood Phoenix brings all the things you know and love from the first book and expands them into a brilliant new story of love and adventure.
Pirates! New inventions! Political intrigue! The Blood Phoenix has it all.
Rejoin your favorite characters from Of Jade and Dragons on their new journey and I promise you will not regret it.

The ending of the first book left us with such a mess of emotions that this book promised to explore, and boy did we do so. I was positively itching for this book because I needed to know how Ye-yang was gonna dig himself out of this ditch.

The first book was all about taking to the skies, and the sequel dives deep beneath the waters. Getting to see more of this world’s fun silkpunk engineering was a treat, and it’s part of what makes this duology stand out. Beyond the plot and worldbuilding, I was living for the twists and turns of Ying and Ye-yang’s tumultuous romance. Goals? Perhaps not. Invested? Yes ma’am.

I loved getting Nian’s perspective in this book, and the sister bond added plenty of depth to both Nian and Ying’s characters. I was initially worried about how this book might handle Nian, and while I was a little underwhelmed by how she functioned as a secondary protagonist, I ultimately enjoyed how the two narratives wove together.

I’m definitely looking forward to Chen’s next book. She pulled this series off spectacularly and I’ve had a blast.