In Dutch we have a saying which basically means that you need three chances before succeeding. Well, that’s exactly what happened to me with Jade City by Fonda Lee. After finishing R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy War finally, I saw this particularly book was recommended to fans of that trilogy. However, I didn’t manage to get through it at all. So, I DNF’d it and retried it after a year or so. I didn’t make it into the story much further before deciding to put it aside for good. That was until I saw a post on Instagram where someone just hauled it. We decided to buddyread, so I couldn’t chicken out. I think this was the accountability I needed.

About the book

Jade City by Fonda Lee
Series: The Green Bone Saga #1
Published by Orbit on June 26, 2018
Pages: 560
ISBN: 9780316440882
Genres: Adult, Fantasy

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.

My thoughts

Since I DNF’d this book twice, I was quite nervous to give it a third try. I was on holiday and I was not sure whether this would be the right time and place to read a book about clans and clan wars. It felt like a heist was the main focus and I’m not a fan of this type of storyline. They are just not for me. Since there are a lot of characters, I was wondering whether I would be able to tell everyone apart. As you can see in my rating, this book exceeded my expectations.

One of the best elements of this book is the world. Lee takes the time to introduce us readers to Kekon and mainly to its capital where most of the story takes place. I listened to the audiobook, so I have no idea how to write the name of the capital. Therefore I won’t bother because I most likely get it wrong. Later on, several characters will do a bit of travelling, but the basic setting is crafted so well. Also, the idea of jade having powers is something I’ve never seen before. I felt like i finally had the time to really discover this world, whereas I was kind of rushed when reading this book before. Probably because I wanted to read as much as I could to surpass my reading challenge even further than I already did.

Previously, I was very confused with all the characters and that was one of the main reasons why I gave up. Now, once I got the hang of everything, it was easier for me to understand the structure of the clans and their organization. You have the leader, the so-called Pillar. Then there’s the Horn, who gives orders for fights and also fights themselves. The Fists and Fingers are close confedants to the Horn and report directly to them. I didn’t understand it at first but now I figured it all out, I found this an interesting part of the world. As for the characters in this novel, all are written well. Lan is the Pillar and he makes a good one since he’s very reasonable and thinks things through before acting. His brother Hilo is the opposite, which makes him a good Horn, but less of a likeable character. This book focuses more on the younger generations of both the No Peak and the Mountain clan. They want to do things differently and break with old traditions. We mainly follow the Kaul family, who are part of the No Peak clan. However, we get glimpses of the Mountain clan too. I also liked how Shae and Anden were more different from the other family members and are doubting about a lot of things that are obvious to the other family members.

I was quite confused with the writing style still. I had trouble connecting the dots because the family name is used before the first name of each character. This is very common in Asia, but a little confusing for me as many names sound so similar. Since this is an adult fantasy, I also expected a more adult writing style. Maybe much more dificult than it actually is. To me, the writing feels quite suitable for a young adult novel. You won’t hear me complain, because otherwise I would have given up again I guess.

The story is quite slow-paced, especially at the start. As stated before, Lee takes a lot of time to introduce us to the world and the clans. We already get some hints here and there, but it takes up until the halfway mark before this book actually picks up speed. This is what added to me giving up the previous times though, but now I finally was intrigued. I won’t deny that I still struggled a lot, fell asleep numerous times and lost focus a lot. This definitely was a pacing issue, combined with my reading environment. However, I ended up being invested enough to actually enjoy the book.

Jade City by Fonda Lee is a book that I have given many chances. I finally made it to the end by the third time and now I was invested enough to really enjoy it despite it’s off-pacing. It has a really slow start, but picks up speed after the halfway mark. This Provides the author space and time to really craft and introduce us to the world of the clans and the clan wars. I’m actually curious for Jade War now!