Tag Archives: Hong Kong

Review: The Awakening Storm by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong

The Awakening Storm (City of Dragons #1) by Jaimal Yogis and Vivian Truong cover shows a girl with dark hair and a backpack. She stands in an alleyway between two tall buildings. A blue water dragon is looped around her body. Other dragon tales extend from a few of the windows of the buildings around her.

The Awakening Storm (City of Dragons #1)
Jaimal Yogis
Illustrated by Vivian Truong
Graphix
Published September 21, 2021

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About The Awakening Storm

Grace and her friends must protect a newly hatched dragon from mysterious evildoers.

When Grace moves to Hong Kong with her mom and new stepdad, her biggest concern is making friends at her fancy new boarding school. But when a mysterious old woman gifts her a dragon egg during a field trip, Grace discovers that the wonderful stories of dragons she heard when she was a young girl might actually be real–especially when the egg hatches overnight.

The dragon has immense powers that Grace has yet to understand. And that puts them both in danger from mysterious forces intent on abusing the dragon’s power. And now it’s up to Grace and her school friends to uncover the sinister plot threatening the entire city!

My Review

I think I expected something a little different based on the cover art of this book, so as I started reading, it took me a while to catch up to what the story was actually about. Based on the cover art, I expected there to be more dragons in the story. Some are mentioned, but only one is a main character.

I really liked Grace’s friend group. They’re an inclusive bunch, and they have well-defined personalities. I liked how their input shaped Grace’s quest, and the banter and jokes kept the tone light.

Though the story started off slow, once Grace and her family moved to Hong Kong, I felt like things picked up. She finds the dragon, and bad guys start chasing her. The tension just kept going up from there.

I got this book because I know my nephew loves stories about dragons. I liked the book well enough to consider buying the rest of the series, too. It was really fun to read once I got past those opening scenes.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Grace is Chinese American and biracial. Her mom is white, and her dad is Chinese American. Her friend Ramesh is Indian, and her friend James is Black and Australian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Grace’s dad tells her tales about the Yellow Emperor and the warriors who served him. Grace cares for a young dragon and searches for others. A goddess speaks to a fisherman.

Violent Content
Racist comments and bullying. Death of a parent.

Drug Content
Grace learns about medical experimentation that took place years before.

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Review: The Walled City by Ryan Graudin

The Walled City
Ryan Graudin
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published on September 8, 2015

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About The Walled City
DAI, trying to escape a haunting past, traffics drugs for the most ruthless kingpin in the Walled City. But in order to find the key to his freedom, he needs help from someone with the power to be invisible….

JIN hides under the radar, afraid the wild street gangs will discover her biggest secret: Jin passes as a boy to stay safe. Still, every chance she gets, she searches for her lost sister….

MEI YEE has been trapped in a brothel for the past two years, dreaming of getting out while watching the girls who try fail one by one. She’s about to give up, when one day she sees an unexpected face at her window…..

My Review
You know how once in a while a book blows you away? This is one of those books for me. It wasn’t even one specific moment, it was like, the way all the pieces merged together as a story. I immediately connected with the characters. The setting intrigued me from even before I picked up the book. I’d heard Ryan Graudin speak at Read Up Greenville in 2016 and her description of the real place that inspired this story had me hooked. The real place, a stacked slum of a city, an area just over 6.5 acres, housed 33,000 people. Like… I can’t even get my head around that, really.

I think I read The Walled City in just over 24 hours, which is pretty unusual for me these days! It kept me on the edge of my seat. It made me hope harder than any book I’ve read this year. I loved it, and I would read it again, recommend it to others, shout it from the rooftops.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction, I think the fact that the setting is based on a real place will make this an interesting read. Fans of fast-paced contemporary stories will enjoy the quick-moving plot and high stakes. Softies like me will love the characters, especially as their relationships with each other develop and change them. Also, it has a great cat!

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Cultural Elements
The story occurs in an area modeled after Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. Characters are Asian—some Cantonese and some Japanese names.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently. I think Dai might be the only one who swears, and it’s not very often. More in the beginning and then a few times toward the end.

Romance/Sexual Content
Mei Yee has been sold into prostitution. A client visits her, but the details are vague and focus more on her emotional state and how she survives rather than description of the events between her and the man in her room. Those few scenes still feel pretty intense, though.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Men beat a prostitute who has tried to escape her traffickers. Boys gang up on another youth, intending to beat or stab her. At one point, a boy cuts a cat with his knife. A young man uses a gun to shoot at enemies. Again, it’s the intensity of the emotion associated with these scenes which makes them so intense, not so much any graphic descriptions of violence.

Drug Content
Traffickers use heroin to subdue a young woman and prey on her addiction to keep her helpless. They use the threat of injecting heroin to control other girls who fear being drugged and becoming addicted.

 

Review: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Seeker
Arwen Elys Dayton
Random House Children’s, Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Published February 10, 2015

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Quin is proud of her family’s legacy. She comes from a line of Seekers, warriors who protect the weak and bring justice to the world. Along with two other initiates – her best friend and the boy she loves – she prepares to take an Oath that will brand her a Seeker forever.

Upon her initiation, she discovers that nothing is what she thought. Now it’s too late to escape the fate she’s chosen.

The balance between the three central characters – Quin, Shinobu and John – worked well. All three characters share in the telling of the story. Each viewpoint adds something the others lack. Quin bears the greatest guilt and emotional turmoil. John’s perspective shows the dichotomy between his intentions and his actions and what that means to the others. Shinobu’s point-of-view adds a lighter element (with one exception) and even splashes of humor.

The story was a bit darker than I expected. Even apart from the drug use and the corruption of the Seekers, there were a lot of dark elements: John’s grandfather’s condition, the Young Dread’s treatment by her mentor, the relationship between Quin’s parents.

Despite its heaviness, the story has a great message. At one point, the Old Dread, the wisest of the three tells his young protégé, “Great minds are not what’s wanted. Only good hearts. Good hearts choose wisely.” This theme presents itself among the Seekers as well as the Dreads. When what was once a good, pure venture has been deeply corrupted, it’s difficult to see the way back to that purity. Only good hearts will be able to accomplish such a task.

Language Content
Very mild language used infrequently.

Sexual Content
Brief, sometimes intense kissing.

A woman works as an escort, and while all that entails isn’t specified, it’s definitely implied.

Spiritual Content
Quin, Shinobu and John aspire to become Seekers, warriors who use powerful artifacts to transport to other places where they are tasked with bringing justice and protecting the innocent.

Quin’s mother can hear the thoughts of others.

Three people called Dreads stand apart from the Seekers acting as judges. They can step out of time and stretch themselves, meaning they live for hundreds of years without aging.

A girl uses her Seeker abilities as a healer, focusing in on the body’s energy and coaxing bad energy patterns back into good ones.

Violence
Several battle sequences in which characters use swords, knives and a vicious weapon called a disruptor. (The disruptor essentially causes fatal madness.) In one scene, new Seeker initiates receive a brand on their arms.

Assassins kill John’s mother and other members of his ancestors. He views photographs taken of their murdered bodies.

A young man tries but fails to commit suicide. The attempt serves as a wake-up call, leaving him energized and determined to help his friends.

There are hints and brief descriptions of abuse by the Middle Dread on the Young Dread. In the worst instance, he tears her garment, exposing her body and cruelly pinches one of her breasts.

Drug Content
Quin’s mother is an alcoholic. She’s clearly using alcohol to numb out, it’s unclear at first what she’s trying to escape. A boy falls victim to several different forms of drug abuse. Some scenes depict his drug use or the effects of it. It’s never portrayed in a positive light, and consequences to his actions are pretty serious. He nearly causes a loved one to overdose.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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