Book Review | Jade War by Fonda Lee
Jade War, the sequel to Fonda Lee’s Jade City, is an improvement on the first book, but how much one? If you’ve seen my review for that book, you know I was a little eh on the book overall, giving it an average rating of three stars. Not because it was a bad book, just because it isn’t really up my alley. I also voiced some expectations that I had for Jade War, which I had hoped would be met. Some of them were, others weren’t, but overall this was definitely an improvement on the first book, in my opinion. I think that’s enough allusion to what this review will entail, so let’s just get into it. This is my spoiler-free review of Jade War.
The Green Bone Saga’s Audience
One thing that I want really emphasize here is that Green Bone Saga is a good book and it is well-written. I find myself agreeing with both five and one-star reviews for these books because the subjective opinions relayed by the reviewers just make sense within their own wants from stories. So while I didn’t really like Jade City all that much, it’s not because the book isn’t great—it is great—it just wasn’t really up my alley and didn’t have the things that I personally want from stories. I still respect it for what it is!
I’m telling you this so that when you are reading my review for Jade War, you can consider for yourself whether this sounds like a book you would enjoy or not based on what I did and didn’t like. Even if I give this book five stars, it could be a one-star book for you and vice versa! This is all entirely subjective. I am not convinced that I am entirely the audience for this series, and my thoughts on the books will reflect that. Personally, I believe that The Green Bone Saga appeals to a niche audience that is looking for something specific in their books.
Improvements from the First Book
The first book, much like this one, was really well written. Fonda Lee’s writing style is pretty solid, but I did have a complaint in the previous one that we were given a considerable amount of unnecessary information that often interrupted scenes and dialogue, which could be jarring. I personally didn’t like this, but I know some people don’t mind that so much. Well, Jade War doesn’t have that nearly as often. I felt that the delivery of information was handled with more grace than the first book, which was a benefit. I never felt like I was jarred from the story to receive information, particularly information that was ultimately going to be irrelevant. Overall, this marked a great improvement for the writing of the book over its predecessor.
Additionally, I found that we had a lot more time with some of the characters, which were Jade City’s strongest attributes. I really enjoyed their relationships, just as I did with the first book. They’re extremely well-written! Fonda Lee’s character work is just outstanding, and the complexity of their relationships is so well-thought-out. Honestly, I think that I would enjoy reading Fonda Lee’s notes about these characters more than I did the book itself, but that’s just me and the nerd that I am. She is definitely an incredibly skilled writer and characters are totally her strongest suit. As for favorites, Anden, hands-down, was my favorite character. But I think that’s to be expected—he’s the least corrupt of all our characters and ultimately just the most lovable in general.
And, finally, the last improvement I want to talk about is the world itself. Jade War expands on the world we learned about in Jade City considerably. We learn about entirely new lands, peoples, and cultures. All of it is so meticulously thought out and it builds up such a wonderful setting for this book. The world she has built and the many systems that are in place here are just excellent. Fonda Lee’s worldbuilding is second only to her character work, in my opinion.
Problematic Pacing
With my praise concluded, let’s get to the problems that I had with this book, and the most glaringly obvious one is the pacing, for me. I’ll reiterate, once again, that this is entirely subjective. This is my personal, subjective opinion and stems from my own tastes. A lot of people love this book, so if you like a slower book, then you might enjoy this one. For me, though… the pacing for Jade War was just not for me. It was so incredibly slow. Sometimes I would read for three hours or so and feel like the story had hardly progressed at all. Occasionally, there’d be an abrupt, gut-punching moment that would come out of nowhere and accelerate the story, but other times… my word, it was slow.
It almost felt like Jade War was a misnomer. I said in my Jade City review that I expected the pacing of Jade War to be aggressive, filled with violence and incredible moments of Jade usage (especially with the ending we got from Jade City, which seemed to imply an inevitable bloodbath). Instead, I got what felt less like Jade War and more like Jade Board Room Meeting Minutes. More on that in a moment.
And yet, then, when I felt like the story needed to be slow, it wasn’t. There’s one moment that just didn’t feel like it was handled all that well. I don’t do spoilers in my reviews, so I’ll try to tackle this without giving anything away. At a certain point in the book, Anden is given a choice. The decision he is going to ultimately make feels pretty obvious, but it seems like he takes no time at all to make it. We don’t get enough time to see him wrestle with this incredibly tough, emotional choice that he has to make. He just… does it? It made a moment that nearly had me in tears at first feel less impactful than it otherwise could have been.
Jade… Occasional Conflict
Once again, I am left wanting more of the usage of jade within this story. Jade is the absolute center point of this entire series. It’s what the clans rely on. It’s in the title of every book. Despite how incredibly important jade is, we really don’t see it used all that often. The moments when it is used are pretty satisfying, particularly in battles, but they’re so incredibly rare (and brief when they do appear) that I am always left feeling shortchanged. Once again, at the end of this book, I’m just sitting here hoping that book three suddenly breaks out the jade in a meaningful way. I want to see it used to its full potential, and frequently.
This really wasn’t a war story, or at least not in the sense that we tend to think of when it comes to war stories. There were occasional fights, but mostly this book was about political maneuverings. In fact, it was pretty much entirely about political maneuverings and not much else. I feel like Jade War was really a misnomer for this book… it just… wasn’t a war, in my opinion. At least, it didn’t feel or read like one.
Now, don’t get me wrong! The political maneuverings were really well done, and there were some unexpected twists and turns throughout the book. We got some incredible moments that were executed with the care and thoughtfulness of a writer who really knows what she’s doing. The problem is that this is all that it was in this book, other than one or two acts of violence or shock. If you love political maneuvering and such in your books, then you might consider this to be a positive rather than a negative.
Overall Rating
Well, here we are again… me rating a book that I kinda feel badly about assigning a rating to. I know that this series is much loved and I have a ton of respect for Fonda Lee. I am enjoying her writing style for the most part and her world is thought out so well. Moreover, her character work is some of the best that I’ve read in a while.
And, yet… when I consider my overall rating for this book and I look back on my experience with it, I am once again left wanting badly for more content to the story. I want better pacing and more uses of jade in the story. I truly believed we were going to get that in Jade War just based on the name, and was ultimately pretty let down. As was the case with Jade City, I’m sitting here hoping that the next book will have what I’m wanting. It’s the end of the series, so it’s kinda the last chance that the series has to redeem itself in this regard. I’m hopeful, and I’ll be starting it shortly after I’ve filmed my video for this post.
So, with all of that said, I’m giving this book the same rating that I gave to Jade City, which is three stars. If I did half stars, I’d give it three and a half stars, or a six out of ten, but I don’t, so… yeah, it’s just average for me. However, I can totally understand why some people really love this book and the story being told, and good on them! If this sounds like a book that would be up your alley, totally go and check it out! Support this author, she is remarkably skilled and I’m glad that I bought her books, even if they haven’t quite been my cup of tea, so far.
TV Series
It’s my understanding that the Green Bone Saga has been optioned for a television series, which I think is great. After having read the first two books, I feel like this is a story that would play out much better as a television show than a book, which is an unusual stance for me to take. I could totally see this being an amazing television series that I would give a considerably higher rating to than I am giving to the books. The story and the way it’s told just lends itself more to that medium than to books, in my opinion, so I will definitely be checking out the show when it’s released. I’m pretty excited about that, and congratulations to Fonda Lee for achieving that!
Conclusion
I know that it’s probably disappointing for readers of this series to hear that someone didn’t like it. I know that I sometimes get a little bummed when someone ends up not enjoying something that I loved. Just know that while Jade City and Jade War haven’t been for me, I can absolutely see why others would love these books. I also still have hope that the third and final book in this series can redeem the trilogy! My intent is to release my review for Jade Legacy next Wednesday, so keep an eye out for that. The easiest way to see my reviews when they appear is to check out my YouTube channel or to follow me on social media! I’m @TLBainter on most socials and I’ll have links for everything at the bottom of this post.
Thanks for taking the time to check out this review, I really appreciate it! Until next time, bye!