Jade Fire Gold

if you're looking for an epic adventure with accessible writing and worldbuilding and a great ensemble cast, look no furtherr

40 pages in and I am hooked. I can already tell I am going to lose some sleep finishing this book.

A roller coaster of emotions throughout the story with altering points of view from the main characters make this easily one of the best books I've ever read!

A fun and interesting read with Chinese mythology and a twisty plot. It had me hooked from the first page and I finished it quickly! I really liked the world building and how the author made the characters feel real. Definitely keeping an eye out for more books from this author.

Jade Fire Gold, to put it lightly, is a force. You don't quite realize what you've gotten into until you're in it. The characters, the emotions, the settings, the writing all pull you in, slowly at first and then it's like a boulder that can't stop thundering down a steep mountain.First, the pacing of Jade Fire Gold. The majority of the story has a steadier pace, where we meet the characters separately and dive into their worlds/motivations. I can see why some may get a little stuck at the beginning because of the unexpected pacing. The last 10% is a whirlwind and everything collides (pretty much literally). The action just catapults you straight through.June’s writing can be described with one word: atmospheric. It’s gorgeous! The prologue had me stunned. The imagery, the emotion, the fact that we just met this character and we don't even know their name, yet how can we still feel so deeply for them? I think that's an incredible power to have.I greatly appreciated the dual-narrative because it allows us to follow Ahn and Altan without getting too bogged down in one side of the story. These two are like two sides of a coin (if the tagline of Jade Fire Gold was any indication: "Her destiny. His revenge."), and so each perspective matters. Especially towards the end.JFG also has a larger ensemble of characters, but each interaction was (lol) gold. I especially loved Ahn and Altan's banter (hehe). As for the rest: Leiye added mystery; Tai Shun added more nuance to pressures of "legacy" and also brought in another "softer" character; Tang Wei fired up a scene by just being mentioned; Linxi was a "softer" character too but don't let her quietness fool you. She's the sharpest of them all.June goes into more depth about world building and character design on Instagram. I found the latter particularly fascinating because it really shows how some of the tiniest details matter when creating a character and elaborating on who they are. June explains the importance of clothing, color choices for each character, weaponry and more in these posts!I also loved the balance of themes in JFG:- Consequences of Imperialism and empire- Burden and responsibility of legacy- Restriction of fate and how we put so much emphasis on that word sometimes- Choice or the lack of it- History that precedes us, whether it be of family or prior/current ruling powers- Power and responsibility

When was the last time you read a book, and kept flipping ahead to skim the pages to try to find out what happened (late into the night)?This book was AWESOME!! I love a good old, well-paced “action movie” type of read.Altan is the exiled crown prince, plotting to avenge the death of his family and to claim his rightful seat. He seeks the Life Stealer, a man (or a woman?) who will right the wrong of history. Altan makes a deal with the elusive Phoenix, not knowing that the price he pays could ever be more than the vengeance he desires.Ahn is a guileless peasant orphan girl just trying to make a living. As she comes of age, her past catches up with her and she discovers who she really is. It is hard to know who to trust, but she proves herself true.“You may not be able to change the past but in each action, you can change the future.”I love a good story of struggle, discovery, and intrigue. Add to that an amazing world of xianxia — in this case wuxia, with elemental magic. I feel like I’m back with my grandma, watching Chinese swordfighting TV shows again.Cut to the core - this book is about a boy who loves a girl, “two strangers thrown together by fate, each too scared to trust the other.”The slow burn is real.All I want to say is that the ending was extremely satisfying. I’m certain my teens will enjoy this very much too.

Initial ThoughtsI didn’t get an ARC of this book initially but then I was chosen for a tour and was thrilled to be able to read it early. This is one of my most anticipated reads of the fall!Some Things I LikedAlternating POVs. I loved Ahn and Altan. They were the perfect balance to each other and I loved the secrets between them and how those secrets impacted the story.The romance. The romance was lite in this story and it was more about the profound understanding the main characters found in each other. I also loved the other side romances and would LOVE some spin off stories about them.ATLA vibes. Altan was a fantasy version of Prince Zuko who was always my favorite character in that series. The parallels between this book and ATLA were phenomenal and nostalgic.Series ValuePlease, please, please let there be more books in this series. I need more. There’s so much more I want to know about this world!Also, I can’t wait to read more from this author. This debut had everything I wanted and more.Final ThoughtsI loved every page of this book.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion on this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.Of course is this only my personal opinion on the book and just because i give this rating to the book doesn't mean, that everyone will have that opinion.Jade Fire Gold was one of my most anticipated releases for this year and it did not disappoint. I loved the world-building and the mythical aspect of it. The relationships between the characters were amazing and I fell in love with a certain side character and everyone who has read the book will know who I mean.The plot is fast-paced and I loved every second of reading it. My critic points are really small. I did not completely vibe with a love relationship and I think the epilogue is a teaser for a second book even tho this was published as a standalone. I wouldn't mind a second volume of this universe. To be honest, I haven't seen Avatar: The Last Airbender so I can not tell you if it's really a Zuko and Katara thing but nevertheless I really enjoyed my reading time with this bookConclusionA really good fantasy debut novel.I give 4,5 from 5 Stars