Back of Book: 

Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire? 

Book Number: One

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Steampunk | Historical | Romance

Review: 🌟🌟

A young woman disguises herself as her brother in the hopes of joining the illustrious guild of engineers that her father once occupied in this first installment of a steampunk fantasy duology. 

Aihui Ying has always admired her father and his knack for engineering. She's always wanted to follow in his footsteps, but the Engineers Guild doesn't accept women among its ranks. When Ying's father is killed by a mysterious assassin, Ying seeks vengeance. All clues point towards the Guild, so she disguises herself as her brother, Min, and sets off. As she travels towards the capital, she runs into Aogiya Ye-yang, the eighth prince of the High Command. He offers to take her to the Guild on his recommendation. Unsure of his motives, Ying is reluctant to accept, but she can't give up the only chance she has to discover the secrets of her father's past. Ying now faces the biggest challenges of her life. Not only does she have to study rigorously in order to pass the Guild's illustrious trials, but she also has to dodge assassins, conceal her true identity, and try her hardest not to fall for Ye-yang, who is way out of her league. 

I have such mixed feelings on this one. At a glance, it wasn't an awful book, but there also isn't a ton I liked about it either, which is saying a lot for a book that is nearly 500 pages long. I found myself bored throughout the majority of this book and felt that the worldbuilding was very disjointed and confusing. I also wasn't drawn to any of the characters, and the only one I actually like is Ye-kan. I am greatly disappointed to report this, because this was such a highly anticipated series for me, but it was not at all what I wanted it to be. 

One thing that I want to put out here early on, is that this book is a steampunk fantasy, meaning that there is no magic, just high technology in an ancient Chinese society. I was slightly disappointed by the delivery of this one, but honestly, I may just not be the biggest fan of steampunk. Yes, it's cool that all the characters are extreme tinkers and amazingly good at utilizing technology but engineering just isn't something that I find to be very interesting. 

I spent the entirety of this book being very confused about the world that this story took place in. I think it's an AU of ancient China, but it could honestly take place in a fantasy world; I'm really not sure. I was also heavily confused about the relation between the Empire and the Isles. I probably shouldn't be as lost as I was, but I just couldn't bring myself to care enough to try to actively piece the world together one clue at a time. 

This book drug on and on for me. Literally nothing happens for the first one hundred pages, and I was bored out of my mind until page 280ish. If I was someone who DNFed books, this one would have been abandoned early on. However, I like to stick out books to the end to see where they go. I am glad to report that it did pick up as the book progressed, but it still wasn't enough to redeem this book for me. 

Usually when I find a book boring, the characters and the romance usually keep me going regardless. That was not the case with this one. I didn't connect to anyone personally and Ye-kan is the only characters I found manageable, and he was whiny brat. But at least he was a slightly comical whiny brat. Ye-yang is actually such a creep, which had me totally turned off from the romance in this book. Ying also isn't all that likeable; she's immature, selfish, and rash. Not liking the main character or the romance really plummeted my feelings for this book from neutral to negative. 

Overall, "Of Jade and Dragons" was such a disappointment for me. I was really looking forward to reading this Asian Fantasy series, but I was just so bored the entire time and was severely underwhelmed by everything that occurred. It wasn't the worst read ever, but I didn't like the romance or the characters at all. I also found the world plain confusing, which wasn't helpful. I am going to read the second one because I was gifted a copy of the whole series from the publisher, but I have my doubts about whether it can redeem itself at this point. I am a little intrigued about where this series is going, but I'm definitely going to read a couple of other books before reading the series finale to give myself a break. 

Back of Book: 

The sequel to Of Jade and Dragons, a thrilling and epic silkpunk fantasy inspired by the legendary Qing dynasty. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Lim and Xiran Jay Zhao.

Two years after Ying leaves the Engineer’s Guild and the ghost of her father’s unjust death behind, life seems to regain a semblance of normalcy. But the winds of unrest continue to stir within the Nine Isles, and the aftermath of a horrific pirate attack by the mysterious Blood Phoenix fleet forces Ying back into the tense political world of the new High Commander, Ye-yang. And soon, Ying, Ye-yang and her former friends from the guild must work together to find a way to outsmart the cunning pirates who terrorise the straits—and the elusive mastermind who’s controlling them.  

Meanwhile, Ying’s sister, Nian, now lives in the capital, awaiting the day she will finally marry the High Commander. While her relationship with Ye-yang remains distant, she finds company in her friendship with the fourteenth prince, Ye-kan, and discovers her unexpected affinity for governance and strategy. But the capital is more dangerous than she expects, and when a dark conspiracy arises, Nian and Ye-kan must unravel the mystery in time to prevent the High Command from collapsing from within. 

New dangers arise at every moment, threatening to tear the Nine Isles apart. In order to sail through this storm, Ying and her loved ones must make difficult choices amidst terrible betrayals. With the world on the brink of destruction, will they find a way to defeat their enemies and survive? And will it be worth the cost? 

Book Number: Two (Last Book) 

Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy | Steampunk | Historical | Romance

Review: 🌟🌟

Ying takes to the high seas in the conclusion of the "Fall of the Dragon" duology.

It's been two years since Ying said goodbye to Ye-yang and left the Engineer's Guild in Fei. Trying to put all her past mistakes behind her, Ying is attempting to move on. When her fiancée is murdered in a brutal pirate attack, Ying has no choice but to return to the capital and meet her destiny. Her little sister, Nian is betrothed to marry Ye-yang, the High Commander of the Nine Isles. Unfortunately, he's distracted and has little time for her with all the war preparations. At least Nian is kept company by his younger brother, Ye-kan. As tensions rise, Ying, Ye-Yang, Nian, and Ye-kan must band together to save their people from utter destruction.

I must say, I definitely enjoyed reading this second installment more than the first book. If it wouldn't have been so long, I may have even liked this one. However, I found myself growing bored at the repetitive nature of this book and all the political turmoil that literally advanced the story nowhere.

It takes quite a while for the action in this one to even begin to pick up. Reuniting the main cast of characters took way too many pages, which definitely added to the length of this one. There is also a long section in the middle in which Ying's gang gets kidnapped by pirates (which was honestly one of the more interesting portions of the book), that caused the plot to get elongated immensely. Nian and Ye-kan meanwhile are stuck ruling the kingdom and trying to uncover the traitors in their midst (which was a super boring part of this story). The plot in this one had a bit of a hard time plotting, in my opinion.

This book didn't make me like Ying or Ye-yang any more than I already did, which was unfortunate. Going into a book that is over 400 pages long and not liking the main characters is a major oof. I still find their romance to be creepy, and I cannot get behind how controlling this man is. Luckily, Ye-yang has some growth before the end of this series, but still, yeesh.

My favorite part of this book was definitely getting to know Nian and Ye-kan more. Ye-kan was my favorite character in the first book and seeing him evolve from this nerdy dweeb into the temporary leader of a kingdom is pretty neat. The little romantic snippets between these two was honestly the only thing that kept me going at times, and it's still pretty mid for a romance all things considered.

I do like the messages about family, letting go of the past, and such that this book leaves the reader with. Unfortunately, these themes are nowhere near strong enough to make reading almost a thousand pages worth it.

The ending was also one of the most underwhelming things I have ever read. The way that half of the characters either end up betraying each other or dead just felt rather weak in my opinion. The lack of any actual conclusion was super annoying to me. I've spent so much time with these characters, and I feel that the author gave us literally nothing worthwhile in the end.

Overall, "The Blood Phoenix" was a disappointing conclusion to a disappointing series. I was so excited to dive into the "Fall of the Dragon" series, but this was actually one of the most underwhelming duologies I have ever read. I am definitely not a fan of this one, so I will not be reading any spin-off series set in this same world, that's for sure. It makes me so sad to rip into this one so extremely negatively, but I just couldn't bring myself to feel as though these books are worth the time commitment.