Jade War

What impresses me most is no detail goes to waste. The characters are fully realized and the brokenness of their situations feels like a necessary result of their circumstances rather than contrived ruthlessness and violence.

With the climactic ending of Jade City, you would think that this book would be full of jade v jade fighting every chapter, but that is not the case. Jade War is more like a Cold War. Clans constantly one upping each other and dealing with the consequences of past mistakes finally coming full circle.

Oh man. I was not prepared for this perfection of a sequel at all. In any way whatsoever. Also, that ending makes me want to SCREAM (in the best way possible). I was trying to take my time with this and read it slowly, and I succeeded at that, but I still feel sad and as though I’m leaving these characters and world too soon. From the moment I read the first sentence, I knew I would love (and be hurt by) Jade War even more than its predecessor. Everything I love about Jade City is even more present in this sequel. The whole time I was reading Jade City, I was blown away by the author’s creation of such intricate, layered storytelling and complex, multifaceted characters. With Jade War, I can honestly say that this intricacy is on a whole new level and my amazement is beyond speech at this point. I genuinely can’t find words adequate enough to describe how in love with and invested in I am with these characters and their world. I’m left speechless at how flawlessly the author builds onto all that is shown in Jade City, and perfectly seams those aspects into the story of Jade War. There is no part to this continuation of the story that feels like it doesn’t belong. All of the beautiful and complex mythology, politics, character relationships, incredibly vivid fight scenes, settings, and characterizations from Jade City are given more space and explored even more thoroughly in Jade War. Also, I’ve yet to read another story where all of the characters (both central and side ones) feel as human as they do in these books. In fact, what I love so much about Jade War is how realistically these subtle, significant changes in the characters as a result of the events that occurred in Jade City are shown. There are huge consequences for those events, and for the actions these characters took as a reaction to those events. I love that these consequences and changes aren’t shied away from, and rather explored in-depth throughout Jade War. Another aspect I LOVE about this continuation is how much more of Shae and other women from Jade City we get to see of in here. The expansion of their stories, relationships, and interactions with one another is amazing! And not only do we get to see more of our old friends from Jade City again, there are also many new characters introduced here. I didn’t think I could get so attached to so many of them this quickly! But this is just more proof of the author’s immense talent as a writer and storyteller. I won’t spoil anything about these characters, but I’ll just say that this kind of in-depth characterization and character relationships (ranging from loving to more tense ones) is everything I could ever want from a story, and I received that plus so much more from Jade War. Also, the settings and background of these books are so rich in culture and personality. It feels like they are just as alive and present within the story as the characters themselves. Everything the author describes about the settings is done in such a way that I can feel as though I’m there with the characters in that particular scene. Especially with the incredible fight scenes! I can picture them clearly in my head as I read, and feel the tension and suspense of them as though I were present as a spectator. It’s such a breathtaking and beautiful feeling, and I don’t experience such an immersive feeling as this with stories as often as I’d like. In Jade War this feeling is even more pronounced! I’m deliberately being vague here and not mentioning the settings because I don’t want to give away any spoilers for those either. Honestly, I can keep repeating these same words over and over again, but Fonda Lee truly has an invaluable gift as a storyteller and Jade War is proof of this. If possible, please preorder Jade War or definitely request it at your libraries! This story, and the characters and world within it, deserve to be read and cherished. Note: I won this ARC in a giveaway, and I’m very thankful to the author for gifting me with an early copy of this incredible book. Jade War is set to release on July 23, 2019! Content warnings (based on content of ARC, which may be subject to change): Detailed scenes of violence (including torture scenes, violent death scenes), sexual and physical assault (mentioned without graphic details), a lot of swearing, suicide (described), suicidal thoughts, homophobic sentiments described (sort of challenged by some characters), ableist remarks by some character, sexual content, mentions of pedophilia and child sexual abuse, abortion (not graphically detailed but the circumstances surrounding it possibly could be somewhat triggering to those who’ve had similar experiences).