Jade Fire Gold: ARC Review

by June C.L. Tan

Rating: 4/5 ☀️

From the moment I heard about it, Jade Fire Gold has been one of my most anticipated reads for this year. I mean – the Avatar and Zutara influence with a basis in Chinese mythology? That’s just perfectly on brand. And for me, it absolutely lived up to the hype. This was an amazing debut with a captivating story full of adventure and romance in a way that is entirely heartfelt and everything I wanted.

Jade Fire Gold follows Ahn, a peasant girl in a kingdom on the brink of war who wants to avoid her destiny, and Altan, a lost prince who wants to reclaim his throne. Their destinies intertwine when Ahn is revealed to be the Life Stealer, and Altan plans to use her and her abilities to take back his kingdom.

From the beginning, the characters had my attention. Ahn and Altan were so interesting on their own from the moment we’re introduced to them. I already love the exiled prince trope, and I was not sure about Ahn’s parentage reveal since I usually don’t enjoy that type of storyline, but it admittedly worked. And when they met, I absolutely loved their chemistry. The romance was a slow-burn despite the attraction, and they had me at the edge of my seat all the way through the end. However, a lot of the time they spent together was summarized and much of it happened off the page, and I honestly wish we had gotten to see a bit more of the romantic development.

Other than that, though, the biggest issue was that the writing was admittedly clunky and awkward a bit too often. It felt like an editor should have gone over it a bit more. However, I found this to be a relatively minor annoyance for me, considering how strong the story was. It was brilliantly done with an amazing journey and it tied together in the end in ways I really did not expect but was still so, so satisfying. It was beautiful and poetic and immersive. 

Additionally, all the characters and their dynamics were so well-developed. Tang Wei, Linxi, Leiye, and Tai Shun were such an amazing cast of supporting characters and I was delighted with every little interaction. I really wanted so much more of them, too, and I have my fingers crossed for an eventual sequel or spin-off novella to see where they go (especially with that epilogue which – I totally saw coming, but I still screamed).

Overall, Jade Fire Gold was just an amazing experience. I fell in love over and over again with various writing choices, ranging from big plot structure moves to small lines of dialogue. I really hope this one makes it big in the YA market because it definitely deserves it.