Jade City

I started this series off of the Goodreads average reviews for it alone. Didn't do much research into what it was about other than that it was fantasy and well loved. I should have. I am not a fan of gang politics and that's all this series is about. Pretty upset with myself for purchasing the whole series. That being said, there were aspects that I liked. The existential questioning that all the Kaul children went through and the growth, guilt, pressures and how they handled the pressures were great. I have a hard time with books that create a fictional world with a specific emphasis on prejudices based off of skin color and parentage and aren't trying to combat it. The way the Abukei are talked about and the Stone Eyes, it's just uncomfy. Like Wen got to smuggle shit...that's not really redemptive or honorable. This book read as if a man wrote it, and that's really not a compliment from me. The women were few and didn't have anywhere near the depth or respect as any of the male characters. I find it incredibly hard to believe that if Shae were an actual woman that had a close friend SA'd by Uncle Doru, would she have pardoned him at the end. Even if it was to keep grandpa company. I'm almost tempted to complete this series just to enjoy Doru's death, but I fear I would not enjoy anything else about it.