JADE WAR - Review

My review of Jade War. The second book in the Green Bone Saga.

[pugshorty]

That moment when you let out a very real sigh of relief when a certain character survives a duel. Fonda Lee is a next level genius.

[chasebedwell]

Dainel: " My new favorite. "

Me: " MUST READ NOW! ... after Stormlight reread"

[hans]

The only thing that saddens me about being a fan of this series is that so few people have heard/read it relative to how popular this book series should actually be. Whenever I recommend it, people usually say they'll think about it or shrug it off (precisely I think because it's not as well known) and when people don't pick it up immediately or (most especially) don't at least give it serious consideration because they rather pick up a fantasy series that is more well known in my head I'm like "but u don't understand what you're missing!" while a single tear runs down my cheek lol

I really really hope Fonda Lee ends up continuing writing stories in this universe after publishing JL. I'll literally take anything she'll give us: short stories, prequels, sequels set years after the trilogy, a spin off series, whatever she wants to do as long as she doesn't stop writing in this universe. I'm excited to see what Fonda Lee writes next either way! 😀

[jackinthebox]

I'm currently listening to Jade City and I gotta say I agree with everything you're talking about man. Lee's worldbuilding, character work, and plot structure is pretty tight so far. I'm eager to see where it goes from here 📖

UPDATE: I FINALLY got around to reading Jade War and HOLY SHIT... Fonda, you are a freaking writing goddess 😵

[astraestus]

You've sold me on this series man. Can't wait to read it!

[bethanygreenwood]

Looks like I'll be adding this to my TBR for next year, was waiting for your book 2 review to be sure. 👍🏻

[OnixMint]

This book was amazing! My favorite character was Shae. She is so badass (spoiler alert) the part where shae and ayt madashi fight in a clean blade duel was so heart pounding cause I genuinely didn’t know if shae was going to survive at the time!

[BearlyReading]

This series is criminally good! I absolutely loved Jade City and then Jade War came along and blew it even further out of the water. Incredible world, characters, worldbuilding, and it's just such an original setting. I literally cannot wait until the third book comes out.

[aplatypusguy]

I love the way you rate books cause when I see you give a 10/10 for a book I think "Oh snap this must be REALLY REALLY good." Other people throw around 10/10's too much imo

[joshuakusuma]

Just finished this book last week and now that I had time to think on it, I realized that my favorite character isn't even any of the main characters. It's the main villain and she wasn't even in the book that much. She was written in such a way that you finally realize just how much of a difference the years of experience she had over the main characters make during that one scene near the end of the book.

[KaikiTsuki]

One of my favorite aspects of Lee’s writing is that her characters develop in the background with every sub plot, changing in response to events in the story even if she doesn’t directly tell us that they’re involved. As she jumps around from character to character, particularly some of the “minor” ones, these subtle changes make both the world and the characters more real. Each character has a life beyond what we read, they’re complex and constantly evolving, and we are privileged to jump into their experience for key points in the narrative. I think in Jade War, where she really expands the scope of the world, the intricacy of the plot, and the vulnerability of these characters as they interact with unknowns on a global scale, her mastery of character building is especially apparent. It’s been a while since I’ve read a story where I connected with the characters so much.

[wesleegreen]

I honestly really dig the smaller-scale settings. Yeah, the stakes aren't as high, but I find the plot is usually more coherent since there's fewer distracting world-building factors. Also, if an author is wanting to convey globally important ideas and themes, they don't need a global setting. A good author can use a small setting as a symbolic microcosm to communicate the same ideas, and often they are more articistically subtle and thought-provoking as a result.

[Nxrth]

I trust Danie's recs like anything, so this jumped to the top of my TBR

[bgirl]

This book had me crying way more than it should have.
Jade war was pretty decent. solid 7-8/10 for me. Characters felt a lot closer and events were much better organised and anticipated than the first book.

!!Spoilers ahead for both books!!
Below is a recount of my feelings in emotional scenes in the story. Join me/comment if you feel the same. Probably boring and the same as everyone else though.












-Andy is by far best character since book 1. I already liked him in that book and he just got better. I loved his relationship with Cory (chapter 22 is the best chapter in the book) and my heart broke every time he mentioned Cory drifting away from him. Their break up brought tears to my eyes.

-I agree Hilo is a fucked up character especially after he killed Eynishun. Even in the first book he was so annoyingly controlling of everyone around him and even though he has extreme awareness about how to lead and make others feel comfortable he also somehow is so blind and stubborn when it comes to other issues. Him getting angry at Anden or Shae for not putting on Jade pissed me off. He didn't even try hearing them out like for fucks sake. But I still can't bring myself to hate him like Daniel says he does. The way Hilo loves Niko and Ru I can't hate him.

-I thought Lan suddenly dying in the first book would be the end of abrupt deaths. As soon as Wen mentioned that Kehn was still in the car after it exploded my heart sank. And I think I felt more panicked and distraught for Kehn's death and Wen and her childrens' safety than Wen did in that moment. all I could think about was how Kehn's child would be fatherless and how Wen had just lost a brother T.T Fonda Lee is evil.I couldn't seem to get the tears to stop from that point.

-The incident with Ru was just as bad. I had tears in my eyes horrified thinking about what had happened to Mudt and Anden's mother and oh my god am I glad he's a stone eye

-Shae's role in Kehn's death had me crying. You can feel the dilemma she faced when going to have the abortion. I agreed with her in that with that problem. Only when she didn't tell Maro that's when it started getting iffy. The fact that their relationship grew apart felt almost right in some regards. If they don't communicate they shouldn't be together (I was almost feeling the same way about Cory and Anden's relationship as well). The stuff that ensued, Shae and Maro did not deserve that. All I could think about after Maros death was if Shae had kept the baby, she'd at least have a piece of Maro left (but then they wouldn't have gone down that rabbit hole in the first place). T_T

-Even though I wanted to Bero to fall and die off so badly I felt the betrayal towards Bero (from mudt) was almost undeserved/unfitting. I really wanted Hilo to find Bero and get rid of him. So that was disappointing.

-Then when Mudt was caught all I could think was 'I wish he was Bero right now' (I feel evil thinking it). By the way Mudt's punishment was brutal damn.

-When it turned out Bero was still alive I had mixed feelings. God damn when will this fucking cockroach die. He should be buried in the ground in place of Mudt. Then Hilo finds Bero, I was so excited to see the punishments begin...and then it didn't happen. I am very annoyed. But I definitely appreciate Bero's character more now. He was so annoying throughout the first book and the start of the second feeling entitled to everything. I think one of the reasons he wasn't punished really by Hilo is because he'd come to lose that ignorant entitlement (that's not to say he wasn't punished at all. He has been through a ton of loss).

-As soon as a saw Bero mentioned in the epilogue Im just like 'he's here to stay isn't he?'. I don't think we can keep his presence from the first chapter and epilogue of any of the Green Bone Saga books. I'm hoping he plays a bigger role in the third book though (which it seems like he might based on the ending of Jade War). I'm still waiting for Hilo to find out his role in Lan's Death and absolutely slaughter bero in an even more brutal fashion than Mudt. Although the way Mudt died would have been a perfect death for Bero earlier in the book due to his obsession with jade.


Thanks for reading :D

[Nasser]

0:00 Damn Daniel. Back at it again with the t shirt changes XD

[jacobsmith]

The shirt confirms Daniel’s got great taste in music and books 👌🏻 We love to see it

[maximiliangerboc]

I just finished Jade City based on your review and I cannot WAIT to start Jade War. I got both out at once from the library because even though I’m a slow reader, I figured I’d fly through these.

[xaviercopeland]

Jade City and Jade War have the same vibes as something like Lazarus (graphic novel) and Fate/Zero, and I’m all here for it. Clan/ family conflict has always made me invested since the Hatfields and McCoys introduces me to the concept when I was a little boy, and loved them ever since.

[MarcAmAlb]

I agree. Both books are fantastic. The characters are amazing, flawed, endearing, complex. World building is great, combat, action and relationships are well written. Can’t wait till the end of next month for the third book.

[grnberet]

Jade City is currently (24 Aug 2020) on Audible's 2-for-1 sale. Just picked it up and wanted to pass this sale along.