Stars: 4
My Thoughts:
I see this Mulan style novel very similar to Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim. Even if Spin is about going to the capitol to be the head tailor and this book is about getting into the Engineers Guild, what makes Of Jade and Dragons so powerful is that it combines the competition aspect with a murder mystery and a political ethics dilemma. Yes, there is a romance. Yes, there is betrayal and intrigue. But the mystery and lies right around the corner are so unexpected. The secret gender may be a secret, but not to the main male character, so that is not a mystery. However, the lies, oh my goodness! The best part is when Aihui realizes that she should have listened to her deceased father and it is too late. She had to see it through, but in the moment, at least she has come to some kind of "aha."
Other books to try before or after this one:
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
From the Publisher:
Mulan meets Iron Widow in this thrilling silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.
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?
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?
Publication Information:
Author: Amber Chen
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers (June 18, 2024)
Print length: 477 pages
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