Title: Jade Fire Gold
Author: June CL Tan
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Page Count: 464
Published: 4th November 2021
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult
The ‘I didn’t pay for this’ warning
I got this as a preview copy from the nice people at Netgalley BUT I will always be honest about a book no matter if I paid for it or not. There are also affiliate links in here, too 💜
TL;DR:
A slow burn that was dead easy to read. Just didn’t fall in love with it.
I feel like a shitlord for saying this, but I’m struggling to remember what happened. I know I enjoyed this book in some way, shape or form (I rate things straight afterwards), but my poor brain has booked a one-way ticket to Forgotsville. After a bit of re-reading, this is what you’re in for:
✨ ~forbidden~ magic
✨ a wee throne reclaiming job
✨ rags to riches vibes
✨ motherfucking REVENGE
Our main gal is Ahn. Like most in the YA world, her life has been anything but rosy. Ditched as a child and adopted by a nice older lady, Ahn is on the bottom rung of the poverty ladder. Naturally (as most do when they’re desperate), she dabbled in a wee bit of thievery which landed her down shit alley. Trying to escape with the sword she’d yoinked, her ~forbidden~ magic wooshes out her fingies and causes a chunk of chaos.
Whilst Ahn is wreaking havoc in the background, Atlan is lording it up as a secret prince whilst mourning the loss of his mother and sister. I’m also pretty sure he loses an eye at some point (?!) – maybe…
Anyway, this lad is dead keen to get his stolen throne back from his uncle and has no qualm about using nice people to get what he wants.
Basically two separate stories on a collision path that will bounce from ‘I’m going to straight-up murder you’, to ‘we could maybe be pals’ right to ‘ohh we could do the no pants dance’.
I loved the premise of this book so hard that I slammed the request button on Netgalley but this is a very slow burn with characters I just didn’t fall in love with.
Would I yell about this book to everyone I meet in the street? Probably not.
Will I read more in this world/by this nice author? Yes.