Read 3: September 25th, 2022
Jade City continues to be a perfect novel. There's nothing more I can say about how much I love this book. Everything about it from characters to plot worldbuilding and pacing are an example of masterfully crafted fantasy.

Read #2: March 8th, 2020
Jade City was equally emotionally impactful upon reread. I didn’t expect this book to bring me to tears again but it goes to show how emotionally impactful Fonda Lee’s character writing is that she had me sobbing near the end of the book again. I love the Kauls just as much the second time around. I did find the book a lot less anxiety-inducing upon reread because I knew what would happen and when and I still had the same problems with Fonda Lee’s writing style (it’s a bit clunky), but overall it was a fun reading experience.

Read #1: July 18th, 2019
4.5 stars

Jade City was pretty fucking great. It was a high-octane fantasy with amazing characters, excellent fight scenes, and a great political conflict at the centre of it all. It was everything I wanted and more.

Jade City follows Janloon, a city on the brink of all-out war. The two major clans of Janloon, The Mountain Clan and the No Peak Clan, have had increasing territorial skirmishes for the past few years. In this world, Jade means everything, honour, power and status. The Mountain Clan is making a bid at complete control of the country's Jade supply and the Kaul family, the leaders of the No Peak Clan, are the only ones who can stop them.

I really liked this world. It was so richly described I felt part of it. I loved learning about Jade and the politics, history, and conflict surrounding it. The level of detail Lee was able to imbibe in the story made it all feel real from the very first page. My favourite thing about this world is the urban setting for Janloon. It had all of the atmospheric trappings of an urban fantasy while existing in a completely fictional world.

The fight scenes were a particular joy to read because of Lee's magic system. With rigorous training, Jade gives its wearer preternatural speed, strength, perception, deflection and agility.  Every single duel in the book was tense and exciting because Lee was able to creatively choreograph dynamic action according to each character's ability. Lee established the limits of this magic so there was a real fear for each character's life during a fight because we always knew exactly when a character reached their breaking point.

I love a good political novel; seeing characters move around chess pieces to get advantages within a narrative is always fun. Lee was particularly clever in setting up her game board. Her ability to establish conflicts and play through the consequences of each character's actions lead to a really engaging book. Plot threads I forgot about were brought back for interesting twists, and she left interesting threads hanging in the balance. I'm excited to see what she'll do with them in the next book.

I adored the characters in Jade City with all my heart. This book is about family and the complicated relationships siblings have with each other. All of the Kauls are so interesting and well-painted within the narrative. I got so invested with them as individuals and as a family unit. The interpersonal conflict within the family was engaging to read because I believed that the characters loved each other and the history and friction in their relationships made the emotional beats hit even harder.

I did find it a bit difficult to get into the book at first because the writing style wasn't my favourite.  I felt like Lee spoon-fed us a lot of information that could be inferred. In particular when it came to character motivation. What was framed as an inner monologue read more like Lee directly explaining to the reader why a character is about to do something.

I'll be reading Jade War as soon as my TBR allows it because I NEED to know what will happen next in this world.