Book Review: For a Younger Reader Getting Into Fantasy, ‘Of Jade and Dragons’ is a Great YA Fantasy Intro
I am determined to whittle down my physical TBR this year, and my pretty Illumicrate special edition of Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen has been sitting on it for a couple years. It’s a beautiful edition, and of course, any mention of dragons in fantasy catches my attention. Spoiler alert: there aren’t really dragons in this book, which was a tad disappointing. This is one of those books that reads very YA, and is perfect for a younger audience. The storyline, magic system, and plot are all overly simplified, but the actual setting is a super cool world. There are magical mechanical chimeras, and airships—it feels very steampunk, but set in a traditional Asian-inspired Kingdom. I would have liked there to be some more relationship development because what do you mean you’ve talked to this prince three times and you’re in love with him?! BUT I will say, if I was 16 or 17, I would have eaten this story up. It’s also great for fans of Cdramas, as you’ll find a lot of our favorite tropes present. If you like political intrigue and murder mysteries, you’ll probably enjoy this quick read. And I do mean quick: the font size in this book is HUGE, which was kind of a nice change, to be honest. Of course I did an immersive read, so I’d also highly recommend the audiobook as well. Curious about more? Read on for more of my thoughts…
Things to Know:
YA Fantasy
Asian-inspired setting
Hidden Identities
Steampunk era magic
Murder mystery
Academic Trials
Romantic subplot
Ying is a typical precocious teenager (or at least I got the impression that she’s like 18), who is always getting into trouble and doing things that boy do, because obviously girls can do it just as well. Her father was the engineering guild’s best engineer, but for some unknown reason he left and became the Chief of their super remotion region. The book starts out with Ying seeing her father murdered and with only one clue, she decides to make her way to the capitol city to get answers. Of course there’s a handsome prince who saves her, and they form a unique partnership.
There are academic trials, super cool mechanical contraptions and inventions, and some very Mulan moments where she’s trying to maintain her cover as a boy in a place women aren’t allowed (rude). I thoroughly enjoyed her brotherly friendship with the youngest prince who also snuck into the Guild.
I would have loved to see more relationship development between the main couple though, because he was out of the picture for most of it. There were definitely some cute moments between them that came right out of a Cdrama, but not enough of them for me to really believe the relationship if that makes sense. Perhaps because I wanted a bit more depth to the story overall.
And I’ll be honest, the ending was a little rushed and not super satisfying, but I believe there’s going to be a sequel, so while this doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, the next book might give the people what they want. Overall, I would recommend this book to a younger audience as a great beginner fantasy.
As mentioned above, I did an immersive read with my physical hardcover and the audiobook, and I really enjoyed this narrator. You can find the audiobook on Audible or Libro.fm (ProTips: Audible is 99 cents/mo for three months right now AND you can get two free audiobooks on Libro.fm with the code SWITCH right now).
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