Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I absolutely adored this book!

This is one book that really doesn't fall into the second-book syndrome pitfall - it's an absolutely fantastic sequel. It expands the world in a way that feels real and tangible and true to the first book.

It feels like such a unique world and story - I love the idea of jade and these clans that battle for control of it. I love the characters and the world. And the writing is excellent - the battle scenes in particular are so vivid and cinematic. It's a stunning read.

I'm very excited (and scared) to read the final book in the trilogy!

I don't feel as connected to the characters as I would like, but I think this is because there are so many to keep track of and the writing style leaves a bit of distance between you and them. However, we do get many views of the same people and I love how we see the contradictions between how they view themselves and their actions, vs how others do. The distance also feels intentional - a lot of these characters feel just out of reach, like celebrities or public figures you hear out and believe you know, but you can never know.

The stakes are higher, the fighting is more intense and the characters are wonderfully drawn. I really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy, but this second installment has just upped the ante by expanding the world in some fascinating ways. I think that the plotting is stellar and enjoyed the passage of time we have in this book. I also thought that some of the character arcs were so well done and heart wrenching. Overall, this was a fantastic installment and I will be picking up the concluding book immediately.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

After reading and really enjoying Jade City this summer, I was very much looking forward to reading the sequel. I’d been hearing for a while how Jade War was even better than the first book, so my namesake Raquel and I decided to buddy-read the second instalment in this adult Asian-inspired urban fantasy story as soon as possible to get to know what was next for the Kauls.

This second book picks up a year after the ending of Jade City. We see the ramifications the events that took place in the first instalment still have in the Kauls and the Maiks. In addition, the world gets expanded, with some of the main characters visiting the Uwiwa Islands and one them moving to Espenia. Fonda Lee also explores how an international armed conflict has ramifications in other countries, playing the civil war in Oortoko a significant role in the decisions that both the Peak Clan and the Mountain Clan—its deadly rival—make throughout the book.

I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not sure how to rate this book. I enjoyed the majority of the instalment, but until the 75% mark I wasn’t loving it as much as I loved the first one and I even got a little bit bored in some parts. That being said, the last 25% completely blew my mind and made me appreciate how Lee built up the plot of this book in order to reach that end. Those last chapters were so action-packed, shocking and emotional. I was about to cry a couple of times. And after that ending, I’m beyond excited for the third and final book. Honestly, September 2021 can’t come soon enough.

Jade War touches on some important topics such as emigration and racism while delving into the politics of the Green Bone warriors and their magical jade. And once again, the story focuses on the complex relationships inside the Kaul family and its morally grey members. Those family interactions gave me all the feels in this book and were definitely my favourite aspect in this instalment, apart from the mind-blowing plot-twists.

I’m just astonished at how Lee is able to find the balance between a character driven story, a complex plot, the political aspects and the numerous action scenes. It’s impossible not to get attached to these characters, their dreams and struggles, which makes the tragic scenes so emotional. I also love how this trilogy is more focused on the political aspects than the magic system, even though both are irretrievably intertwined.

Summing up, Jade War is a sequel with a slower pace than the first instalment, taking its time to build up an explosive climax. We get to see the characters grow up through the years and how everything related to the clan have consequences in their lives. I have the feeling the new generation of the Kauls will have a significant role in the last instalment and I really can’t wait to see how Fonda Lee wraps up this amazing trilogy in Jade Legacy. Also, my shipper heart needs Anden and Lott to be canon, just saying.

The smashing sequel to Jade City, I actually think that Jade War was better! With some of the characters scattered to the four winds and violence growing in the streets, Jade War is more cunning, more brutal, and more epic than the first book. Reading this one is a slam dunk.

The final book of the trilogy - Jade Legacy - has shot straight to the top of my anticipated reads, jostling for position alongside R. F. Kuang's The Burning God.

Jade War takes place just over a year after the ending of Jade City, and whereas City took a little while to get into the swing of things, laying out the setting and introducing the characters, Jade War gets right into the thick of it and never really lets up. More than the setting - the brewing war, the palpable tension that bleeds through the pages, the idea of jade giving powers, the clans - I love the characters. They aren't always good or just or even in the right, but I understand them. I can feel who they are, what they want, what they would died for.

I don't think I've ever really read anything quite like this series, and I'll be buying them again to experience the audiobooks.

This is probably one of my favourite series ever so I'm only full of praise for this book. As it's a sequel, it's also hard to talk about what I loved about it without spoilers. As with Jade City, the writing is brilliant, packed with characterisation and vivid world building that makes every part of this world and the character's lives come alive. This world feels so REAL. This second installment has a few time jumps and delves more into No Peak clan politics, as well as the experiences of Kekonese immigrants in a city in another country - I really loved this, and how their unique culture around Jade was explored outside of Kekon, The characters are as well written as ever - nobody is good or bad, everybody a shade of grey, and everybody's motivations understandable. Despite some of the awful things some characters do (*coughHILOcough*) you still love them and root for them, and that's some damn powerful writing in my opinion. The fight scenes, as to be expected, are absolutely insanely brilliant. I have never read another book with better fight scenes Omg they are sooo good. This book was more political than the first book but it was still awesome to read the fights. Overall there's not much more I can say without going into specifics of the narrative but I adored this book and boy am I looking forward to Jade Legacy.

It was with some trepidation that I started reading Jade War, after the absolutely meh experience I had with Shorefall and feeling that perhaps this wasn't the year of the sequel for me. However, I really needn't have worried because in Fonda Lee's more than capable hands, the continuation of the No Peak clan storyline is absolutely banging and an improvement on the first, award-winning book.

Sixteen months after the events of Jade City , we are immediately back in Janloon. There is a truce, of sorted, between the Mountain and No Peak clans, but the truth is that everyone is expecting war to break out on the streets of the city once more. However, when it does, it's not in Kekon at all, though unfortunately for the Green Bones, it does end up involving jade. Loyalties are tested, bonds are forged and there is a feeling that it won't be as easy as simply fighting your way out of something. When your enemies are in the streets and in the corridors of power, how far will the Kauls go to protect No Peak and perhaps Kekon itself?

I struggled with the beginning of Jade City, with the sort of placid worldbuilding. Now, don't get me wrong, all of that paid off and I was handsomely rewarded for my patience, because once things kicked off I genuinely struggled to put the book down. But Jade War starts off with grave-robbing scene and from there it's just a cascade of tension and nail-biting action, with characters having to make some truly horrible choices and somehow maintain their identity and sense of purpose. The world also starts expanding beyond Janloon, as we see a little bit more of Espenia and its inhabitants, including a Kekonese community living very differently from the Green Bones of the Kekon clans. There are moments of sheer brutality and fear, that made me gasp out loud and have to keep reading (I finished this in bed, maybe 10 minutes before midnight, because I couldn't bear the thought of not knowing what would happen next). The characters themselves are brilliantly written and expanded on: I loved seeing Shae in her role, seeing Hilo mature and become a Pillar in his own right, even Anden changes throughout the book from the naive student he was in the first novel to a young man with difficulties of his own.

There is still a lot of violence in this book. But it also remains a story of family and belonging, of culture clashes and a society opening up to the world. It is, in a lot of ways, a story of modernity: how does one change something that is fundamental to your culture (the traditions of jade and the practice of aisho) for the sake of remaining open to a world that is moving on without you? How do you integrate something that you believe should remain a staple of your people into a different society that see it as just another resource, with wood or coal, something to be exploited and used as they see fit? While the traditions of the clan might stipulate that gold and jade shouldn't mix, for the Kauls it is obvious that they cannot still adhere to the old ways if they want to destroy their rivals. Even if it means having to make some truly awful choices that they could come to regret.

I thought a lot about the characters in this novel, both the immediate members of the Kaul family and the wider group of secondary characters (the Espenians, the Kekonese immigrants, the foreigners who smuggle jade, even people like Bero, civilians hungry to get a taste of the power that jade can offer). They all felt so real and Lee has a great ability to make you care about a character with only a few strokes of her pen (or keyboard). I was invested in these peoples' lives, I wanted to see them succeed (or be punished where appropriate). I loved seeing their way of thinking and it made me feel that I was so much more a part of the story. Comparing it again to Shorefall, where everyone felt like a wooden chess piece being moved around the board by the author, in Jade War everyone felt like they had a choice. It felt real, believable, logical. These choices and decisions, they didn't just come out of thin air. Some of my favourite scenes were those of the No Peak clan sitting together and planning, because they felt like such organic scenes, they felt exactly the way any family dinner might feel, if your family also happened to be involved in organised crime.

Do I recommend Jade War? Wholeheartedly. It's a brilliantly put together novel, full of twists and turns, with some incredibly memorable characters and stand out moments. It's easily one of my favourite series right now and a great example of how urban fantasy can feel modern and gritty without relying on some familiar genre tropes. It stands fully on its own and it's a series I can see myself revisiting in future. I really can't wait for 2021 and the release of Jade Legacy!

A perfect sequel to a great first book in the series, Jade City. The characters become more complex, more secrets are revealed, more consequential action, and more political intrigue. A definitive recommendation!

I received a review copy of Jade War in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Fonda Lee and Orbit Books for the opportunity.

Jade War continues the brilliantly addictive and engaging oriental urban fantasy gangster narrative that started with Jade City. The novel is a mixture of the finest elements seen in crime cinema such as the family loyalty and honour from Copolla’s The Godfather and the political unrest and uncomfortable moments of To’s Election series. Intertwine that with some John Woo inspired bullet ballet and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-esque wire-fu and readers are in for an incredible experience.

“The men begged for their captors to kill them, but the Jo Sun clan handed the criminals over to No Peak as a sign of allegiance and good will to the Kaul family. They were not alone in their thinking; the other minor Green Bone Clans, the Janloon city police, and even the Mountain clan assisted or got out of the way – there was nothing to be gained from opposing Kaul Hilo’s rampage.”

In Jade War, we mostly follow the point of view perspectives of important members of the No Peak clan. The Pillar Hilo, his sister the Weather Man Shae, their cousin Anden who moves abroad to study, and Hilo’s wife the stone-eye Wen. Hilo is still my favourite character. The thirty-something leader of one of Janloon’s most powerful clans who is cunning, intelligent, sometimes intense, occasionally ruthless but completely family-focused. He’s changed from his days running the streets for the clan but he still shows elements of his merciless and stone-hearted former self when he has to. The other standout character here is Wen. It’s been a while since I completed Jade City but I can’t remember her being anywhere near as important and influential as she presents herself here. The characters are my favourite aspect of Jade War, especially when considering how some members of the ensemble have changed dramatically over the space of a couple of years.

Jade City was predominantly about the Clan War but this time there is also a war of nations, involving many countries such as Kekon, Espenia, Ygutan and Oortokon. With that going on in the background there is also the issue of all the nations wanting Jade – a powerful stone that gives the holder phenomenal powers – in some capacity which has led to a black market for the sought after gems. In addition, there is political turmoil, individuals that are only out for themselves and an uncertain and potentially insubstantial clan truce. There really is a lot going on here in Lee’s created world, It’s complex, impressive and engaging. It’s not all dark and drab action throughout. There are some lighter, lovely moments. These are mostly when dealing with scenes of family closeness and the romantic relationships that a couple of characters have. This entry also includes an LGBT storyline.

In similar fashion to Jade City before it, Jade War is strikingly original in its composition and presentation. It’s beautifully written with exceptional characters and a phenomenal storyline. There are intense set-pieces and action scenes such as shootouts and duels. There are some extremely emotional and tragic moments. Certain individuals may be hugging their children in one scene, then executing someone gangland-style in the next, and then crying about the death of a close friend a few scenes later. Jade War will take you through a complete plethora of emotions like only the best books do. The ending of this novel wraps all up nicely but leaves us with a few questions and doubts about the mental state of one of the main players.

Jade War is just as good as the first entry in The Green Bone Saga but I have a feeling that Lee is saving the best for the finale and that she’s going to end this trilogy with an almighty bang. I can’t wait.

Highly recommend reading Jade City and Jade War back to back. The Kaul family remains at the forefront. There's a lot of war and the characters get greyer and (nicer to read?). Fonda Lee writes her novels like a movie and she is so good at what she does. There's underworld, jade smugglers, conflicts, women, and behind-the-scenes of war, bribes, and lots of manipulation. Read it!

Jade War is even deadlier and bloodier than Jade City.

Thre is a time period jump from Jade City to Jade War. Hilo and Shae have settled into their roles in the No Peek Clan, The change in both of them is more evident. Especially with Hilo, as he is having to be more political. I enjoyed seeing a softer side of Hilo when he is around children. 

Please can someone whisper Ayt Mada name, she is a great enemy, as Ayt is willing to do anything for her vision to come true. But as a No Peek loyalist I really want her dead. 

An element that I found interesting in Jade War is we get to see Espenia and how different it is to Kekon. Seeing the Kekonese in Espenia and the elements of Kenonese culture they have held on to, fascinated me. As it's not what we see from the Green Bones. Also what's intriguing is how crime is run in Espenia especially seeing the differences through Anden eyes. As the people have to pay the gangs but don't get the protection like the Lantern man. 

The plot of Jade War is compelling as the Kaul have to deal with the issues with the Mountain clan, and the war that impacted their shores. 

Jade War has elements that:

Surprised Me
Angered Me
Made me Sad
Made me Happy. 
I can't help but take these characters away with me. Like friends where I am questioning their choices, and trying to figure out what I can do to help. 

My Rating for Jade War is 4.8 out of 5.

Its been an outstanding year for genre novels: the inescapable and justified hype for Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir; the take-no-prisoners heartbreak of Emma Newman's Atlas Alone; Zen Cho's delightfully eviscerating The True Queen and awe-inspiring, exquisitely human space opera from Elizabeth Bear (Ancestral Night) and Arkady Martine (A Memory Called Empire). But for me, the book that delighted most was Fonda Lee's Jade War. This sequel to Jade City takes story of the Kauls, a politically connected crime family on the island of Kekon, and expands the stakes until we are watching the action on an international scale, complete with all the intricacies of global trade, migration and identity, and questions about when power is legitimate, and what can simply be achieved with brute force. The compelling characterisation of the Kaul family only adds to the excellence of an outstanding trilogy midpoint.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a review!

All I want to say about this book is that it is even better than the first book from The Green Bone Saga.
This book is best described as a shock. It is somehow paralysing your senses. Which is great.
This is a very good example of "character growth" and also the plot development method here should be used by many, many others who are struggling to come with a sequel better than the one already out.
Very good book!

Nothing, not even the stunning Jade City, will prepare you for the sheer awesomeness of this book. Following on sixteen months later from the events of book one, Jade War takes the characters you’ve come to know and love, and the carefully drawn political situations, and runs with them in a story of breath taking action and intrigue. The world building is superb. The fight scenes are on point. I don’t think my heart has slowed down yet. This was a fantasy tour de force.

Jade City fue un inicio interesante para una saga de fantasía que se inclinaba bastante por el thriller más que por el propio toque fantástico. Con Jade War Fonda Lee consigue evitar el temido síndrome del segundo libro expandiendo la historia con la inclusión de algunos personajes nuevos y sobre todo con una ampliación de escenario que podía ser arriesgada pero que funciona bien.

Algo bastante notable a lo que no hice referencia en la reseña anterior es la descripción de las escenas de acción. Es cierto que con los poderes del jade la autora tiene una ventaja en la espectacularidad de los enfrentamientos, pero ellos no óbice para reconocer que la «coreografía» está muy conseguida. La autora practica artes marciales y es posible que esto influya en el realismo de las luchas.
La trama va creciendo, aunque la base sigue siendo el enfrentamiento entre los dos clanes más poderosos de la isla, las ramificaciones alcanzan escala internacional. Por más que los implicados crean que es una lucha por el honor y por mantener las tradiciones, no deja de ser una avariciosa pelea por el poder. En el desarrollo de este segundo libro, se pierde parte de la empatía que podríamos haber desarrollado en Jade City por ciertos personajes, ya que son capaces de sacrificarlo todo por su interpretación tergiversada de los ideales que siguen.
Se da mucha importancia a la parte empresarial de los clanes, como si el control de las calles se hubiera convertido en un objetivo secundario. Esto me hace pensar en la modernización de las mafias internacionales y creo que Lee establece un paralelismo bastante acertado entre el crimen organizado en el mundo real y su propia versión novelizada.
Me gusta bastante la evolución de los personajes, especialmente el conflicto interno de Shae a lo largo de toda la narración y cómo se va endureciendo para hacer lo que sea «necesario». Anden va ganando importancia en su camino hacia la madurez y los secundarios también están a la altura de lo esperado. Es cierto que algunas casualidades y encuentros inesperados permiten a Fonda que los personajes obtengan información a la que no podrían tener acceso de otra forma y que en ocasiones abusa del «y perdió el conocimiento» para que creamos que ha muerto algún personaje cuando no es así, pero en resumen se trata de un libro muy entretenido y estoy interesada en leer el desenlace de la historia.

Where do I begin? I went into this sequel with the full awareness that Fonda Lee was on a mission to break her readers’ hearts, and it did just that. In the most beautiful, most heart-wrenching way possible. Considering the extremely high bar Jade City had set, I was in complete awe at how Jade War managed to raise the stakes even higher, while simultaneously introducing new, albeit equally urgent, conflicts and smoothly inserting thought-provoking themes. Honestly? I am deeply afraid of what lies ahead in Jade Legacy. I will never be ready.

Full review to follow (and will be posted on my blog!).

First things first: Jade War is a great book. If you’re coming here after reading Jade City, and trying to decide if the next one is up to snuff, I say this to you: Yes. It is really very good. Please go now, to the nearest bookshop, buy a copy, and read it.


Alright, so you’re not immediately convinced? Fair enough. As a sequel, Jade War carries all the things that made its predecessor so great: the complex, driven, vividly characterised cast. The personal politics, between personalities so strong that they throw sparks being in the same room. The fast paced, brutal action, which manages to cut into the reader just as much as the participants. The broader questions about colonialism, nationalism, and the place of a country in a world which is rapidly getting a lot bigger. It’s all there. There’s some kick arse martial arts, and there’s quiet emotional moments which are just as gutting as the knife that just opened someone’s chest.

Everything I loved about Jade City is in here, and it’s been turned up to eleven.

I really love the way that the story interweaves the family dynamic of the No Peak clan, a family dynasty managing a less than entirely legitimate business empire, with the broader politics. A lot of the focus here is on No Peak’s actions, its rivalry with another clan who effectively run the other half of their nascent nation. So we see turf wars in action, and long-held grudges boiling over. But there are also pragmatic power sharing arrangements, as both clans have to deal with third parties trying to impinge on their business during conflict. And there are moments when edged words in a sharply cut suit can turn into a confrontation with a blade. The world of No Peak is a world always on the edge of violence. Stepping back from the brink, yes, absolutely. Prepared to accept partnership[p? Or defeat? Perhaps. But the virtues of a warrior code - of honour, of boundaries to the acceptable – are rubbing up against a modernity which has less use for a warrior aristocracy, and more use for those who can make enormous amounts of money. Kekon, the nation of the clans, is a small place with a crucial resource, sat between far larger powers, trying to avoid being sucked into their feuds. But as a relatively new nation, Kekon is still trying to decide what sort of place it will be. That struggle is played out in the high chambers of the law, and in bodies found floating by the docks at midnight, and in the hearts and minds of all the characters. This is a story of a country looking to become…well, a nation.

But if that’s one of the larger ideas, it floats at the back, in the liminal spaces, in the pauses while characters decide how to react. More directly, we see Anden, one of the central characters from the previous book, packed off to another country in an effort to both hide him away, and give him time to sort himself out. It’s a curiously touching, self-reflective journey that Anden is on, balanced by his slowly growing relationship with a group of Kekon refugees, second or third generation children of those who escaped before Kekon’s independence. There’s some wonderful culture clash here, and some wry commentary on how these expatriates feel like they need to be more Kekon than the Kekonese – and Anden can see the fierce joy they bring to their adopted home, and to their own half-remembered culture, even as he struggles to map their experience to his own.

Which all sounds very complicated and worthy – but it’s beautifully written, the larger issues living in harmony with Anden’s personal journey, and with his desire to help out his friends, and maybe prove that he can be a good person without having to match family expectations.

Which applies to Shae, too. Having been dragged back into family politics in the previous book, Shae is now a woman at the top of her game. She’s ruthless, sure, to her enemies. But also has great love for her family, perhaps matched only by her frustration with them. Shae is a woman filled with passionate intensity, but also with the sort of hard-edged calculation that the modern No Peak needs. Shae’s a leader, there’s no doubt of that. One who thinks fast, and backs up fine words with impressive strategy and sharp blades. Shae’s journey is perhaps one of re-integration, to match Anden’s transition. But Shae isn’t afraid to say what she things, and to back it up. She also has her own personal struggle, trying to find time and space for personal matters while running the core competencies of a corporation crossed with a crime syndicate. It’s not fragility, as much as a recognition that she’s human, and that family connection isn’t the only thing that people need to get through their day. That said, if Shae’s personal conflicts let her have some vulnerability, it only emphasises the face she puts on outside the walls of family, the face with the knife-edge smile.

Basically, she kicks arse. More please.

Of course there’s Hilo too, the man who now leads the clan. The man who never wanted to do so, the man who has found himself in a cold peace after a hot war. Hilo struggles with his own feelings of inadequacy, I think, and with grief. His is the most traditional role, and in fairness, it’s wonderful to see him in it – both on the streets, with blood on his hands, and in the boardroom, trying to fathom the intricacies of a deal. Hilo is out of his depth, a man taken from the role he was born to play into something else. His efforts to surface from the emotional and political waters slowly rising over his head are an art of joy and sorrow.

Anyway. They’re backed by an expansive and expanding cast; there are so many minor characters I wanted to see more of. A special shout out to the head of the rival clan, whose machinations are an utter delight to uncover. For the reader, that is, less so for our heroes. In a different series, this hard-edged woman might be the hero. As it is, she’s a razor cut in every page. But they’re all wonderful. Anden’s foster family is by turns welcoming and practical, and the efforts by other clan family members to get involved in affairs are a pure delight in precision plotting and top-notch characterisation.

I won’t give the game away on the plot. It’s too much fun for that, filled with victories, tragedies, and enough reversals that you’re never sure when one is going to turn into the other. There’s more than a little of the (literally) arse-kicking martial arts action you’ve been pining for, and it’s leavened with some richly-lived family drama, a soupcon of geo-politics, and a narrative with a nuanced, thoughtful approach to the larger themes of family, colonialism, nationalism, global integration, resource management and economic diversity, put through the lens of the personal stories of people we care about.

So, we’re back where we started. It’s a great book. I’ve definitely not done it justice here, so take that one away with you: it’s a great book. If you’ve read Jade City, you need to get on this to see what happens next. If you haven’t, do that first – and then go pick this one up.

Highly recommended.

This. THIS is how you write a sequel. The perfect amount of character building, relationships being tested and raising the stakes. Lee has upped the ante from Jade City to a whole new stratosphere. Despite this being a book heavily featuring adventure and action, at the heart of the novel is the characters and the relationships they have with each other. It is one of my favourite things about the series, and these characters are definitely some of my all time favourites.
(What to do now? Other than wait impatiently for the next book, cry thinking about Jade War.)

[this review will be up on my blog on August 24, 2019]

For something that took me more than a month to complete, this was surprisingly fun. It’s just that the writing leaned into the aspect I didn’t like in Jade City even more than in the first book – giving you far more details than you actually need to understand the story – and that’s how we got a 600-page sequel that was at the same time far too long and far too short for what it was trying to do.

I’ll try to explain what went wrong, which I can sum up as “I’ve never read a book in which the pacing was so bad“. The scenes themselves are slow, often full of paragraphs and paragraphs of useless infodumps; I skimmed most of the non-dialogue parts in the second half and still didn’t struggle at all with understanding the story. (It was more fun that way, actually.)
Why far too short, then? Because in this book, the sense of passage of time goes completely out of the window after 30%. There are enormous time jumps between chapters, and you’re not told that so much time has passed until, for example, the book tells you that the character who was pregnant a few chapters ago is also pregnant now… with another child. Where did that year go?

Which is how I started focusing on odd details, one of them being the unusual amount of pregnancies in this book. I joked that this book, sequel to Jade City, should really have been called Pregnancity: every single relevant female character but the villain (and even a few of the not relevant ones) gets pregnant in this book, some of them multiple times, for a total of six pregnancies. I guess that’s what happens when you put too many straight people on an island.

The only major gay character, the self-loathing gay cousin, is away in another country, and queer women don’t seem to exist. I won’t say that this book is bad because it has none, but I do wish there had been less overwhelming heterosexuality and more female characters in general (…all of them can get pregnant because there are only a few relevant ones to begin with).
Now that I got my complaints out of the way, let’s talk about what I liked.

Jade War is an ambitious sequel. A lot of things about it didn’t work for me, but something I never lost was my interest in it, or my attachment to the characters. I loved reading about these complicated family dynamics, seeing how far the character would go for each other and for what they believe in – sometimes, maybe too far; there were a few scenes that surprised me that way, and yet they made so much sense. I’ve always been interested in stories about families and stories about loyalty and its limits, and this is both, so it’s perfect.
Also, can we talk about how refreshing it is to read an adult book in which sibling relationships are the backbone of the story? We’re lucky if even YA novels remember that siblings are a thing.
I might not have been there for the politics and the overly-detailed worldbuilding, but I was always there for the quieter scenes, the ones in which I saw the characters interact. There was always tension, and it always felt personal and real. I loved all of them.

(Also, not to be predictable, but I’m really fascinated by Ayt Mada and would love to have her PoV.)

Once I stopped forcing myself to wade through the text walls, the plot also turned out to be really engaging, complex and surprising, and this time I also loved the ending.
So, will I continue the series? It depends on how long the third book will be and how willing I’ll be to get into something just to skim it, but I really do want to know what happens.

I read Jade City in July and fell in love with the characters. I don’t think I could have fallen in love with them more but then along came Jade War, and here I am, having even more feelings about these characters.

Jade War starts around 18 months after the events of Jade City, still with an ongoing war between No Peak and the Mountain. A peace is brokered but a cold war continues between the two by manipulation. They both know the other is doing it but keep the peace going nonetheless. It was interesting to see how focused both Hilo and Ayt have been on the destruction of each other. How many pieces had to be moved and sold before an actual move could be made. It was chess with violence.

The world gets bigger and the stakes get higher. We follow characters to a new country and see the backlash of a war between two other countries on Kekon. It continues to build and I am curious to see how the world will continue to build in the third book. There is still a lot left to discover.

Fonda Lee has a talent with making you care about characters. She has been building up my love for Anden since the first time he appeared and there is no way that is every going away. His characterization and his road to trying to discover what he wants, stuck between his desire to be with his family but not be a green bone that he needs to return, was an interesting road to watch. I fully support the change he made right there at the end. AND I have had an inkling who is going to be his love interest from book 1 and if I am right, man that is a true slow build right there.

Despite building up all that care and love she knows how to tear everything apart as well. My feelings could not deal multiple times throughout the second half of this book. Even with newer characters, she managed to hit me in the feels. Ones that weren’t even that present, that I hadn’t realized I cared about until THAT happened.

While the war and running No Peak are at the front and center it seems, there are a lot of character relationships and interactions here that create such a feeling book. Hilo and Anden, who need to figure out how to deal with the sudden void between them. Hilo and Wen, where Wen has been trying to make herself important to the clan in secret while her husband has been keeping her away. Shae and Hilo, who have always had a sibling rivalty and need to trust each other despite coming from completely different ideals in life. And so on.

And I mean I am only sharing the tip of the iceberg here. There is so much put into this book. Into this series. To discover. To love. To Feel.

The only thing and person I hated is Bero and I just want to kick him down the mountain.

Lastly, I want to say: Fonda Lee, stop breaking my heart!