【 JADE CITY 】

book #1 in the Green Bone saga

DNF at 33%

Genre: Fantasy (urban)
Audience: Adult
Author: Fonda Lee
Published: November 2017
Publisher: Orbit
Pages: 540 (paperback)

I gave this one a real hot go, but I just couldn’t click with it. I’m sad that I couldn’t get into it, though, because it seems like almost every review is a very enthusiastic 5 stars. But for me, this was dense, hard-going and lacked a plot that truly sucked me in.

While I doff my hat at Lee for the spectacularly rich world-building that went on, I think ultimately I find it hard to get into urban fantasy. The grunge feel and bloody violence going on just didn’t do it for me. The relationship between the siblings was great, though I didn’t connect with any of them, so more on that soon.

What fell down plot-wise for me was how weirdly superficial it felt (just the plot, not the world-building, obvs). This is essentially a gang rivalry going on, and at the point at which I DNF’d (33% or apprx 200 pages out of 500+), things had barely begun. It’s a territory-war scenario, and I just didn’t buy it. I felt super ‘meh’ the whole time about the conflict going on.

And ‘meh’ is a good word for how I felt about the characters. Despite loving the friction between them (seriously, there are not enough can’t-get-along sibling tropes out there), I felt unmotivated and unconvinced by each of them. Hilo felt strangely distant, even though he surely should have been the most exciting to follow. Lan was so indifferent and self-deprecating that I found him like a limp noodle to try and cheer on. And Shae was a slippery one – she had the most interesting story but just blobbed around like an estranged jellyfish.

It was all this meh-ness that led me to DNFing. I wanted to like this so badly, but I don’t believe I would have enjoyed it anymore by perservering. And dang, please give me more action by the 200-page mark, ain’t nobody go the time for a plot that slow.

Title: Jade City
Series: The Green Bone Saga
Author: Fonda Lee
Add it on Goodreads

JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It’s the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion–but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself.