#The Last Dragon of the East

[luminouslumity]

[godzilla-reads]

Not a Romantasy person, but this looks promising.

🩵 The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan

[jessread-s]

Thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free copy for review

✩🐉🫖Review:

An enthralling adventure with a love that lasts lifetimes!

“The Last Dragon of the East” follows Sai, a matchmaker born with the ability to see the red threads of fate between soulmates, after he is thrust into the search for a dragon long thought extinct. As his own thread of fate, one that is gray and fraying, begins to move, he may be able to solve the mystery of his Fated One at the other end of the line. 

Kwan’s romantasy debut is captivating, weaving together her atmospheric writing and elements of Chinese mythology. I love how she incorporates the red threads of fate into her storyline to enhance the romance between San and Jyn. Their dynamic is such a breath of fresh air! Sai isn’t your typical MC, giving new meaning to the phrase “I’m a lover not a fighter.” His big heart perfectly balances Jyn’s more guarded personality. She initially tries to push him away when fate crosses their paths, but she soon comes to realize what I already knew from the start: their connection is undeniable. It manifests itself in their playful banter, their yearning glances, and the sacrifices they make for each other as the novel progresses.

Kwan is intentional about choosing to tell this story from Sai’s point-of-view and I could not get enough of his voice! She skillfully alternates between multiple different timelines to both build suspense and shed light on the mystery surrounding Sai’s unusual thread. The twists propelled me forward until I ran out of pages to read. While the end wrapped up a bit too quickly, I still found it satisfying. I hope there will be more to come from Kwan in this genre!

Cross-posted to: Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads | StoryGraph

[piojooojo]

Dust jacket illustration made for the book "The Last Dragon of the East" by Katrina Kwan!

Please check here to see the post,

And here to order it!

You won't regret it, thank you!!

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 5/5

Book Blurb:

Inspired by Chinese myths of ancient dragon gods and threads of fate, Katrina Kwan’s dazzling fantasy debut is a propulsive adventure perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Hannah Whitten.

At the spry young age of twenty-five, Sai has led a quiet life, keeping the family teahouse up and running—even if that means ignoring the past-due notices—and taking care of his ailing mother. But he has a not-so-secret gift that he’s parlayed into a side career: he was born with the ability to see the red threads of fate between soulmates, which lends itself nicely to matchmaking. Sai has thus far been content not to follow his own thread, the only one he’s ever seen that’s gray and fraying.

But Sai’s ordinary existence is about to be turned upside-down by a pair of shining dragon scales. When his mother’s doctor sells them to him, claiming them as a miracle cure, Sai is pretty sure he’s being scammed. When the medicine actually works—and the terrifying, ruthless emperor catches wind—Sai is thrust into the search for a dragon long thought extinct that will lead him into the throes of a brewing war and deep into foreign lands, facing down challenges both magical and mortal on an unexpected adventure. And for the very first time, as his own thread of fate begins to move, he may be able to solve the mystery of his Fated One at the other end of the line.

Review:

Dragons, fate, and a love that transcends lifetimes.... this book has it all. Sai is a thread reader, able to see people's red threads and find them their fated person... yet he has not been able to find his own soulmate since his own thread is oddly turned grey. Yet while buying illegal dragon scales to use as medication for his sick mother he catches the eye of evil emperor who blackmails him into hunting down this dragon as it is the last one in existence. Sai has no choice but to comply otherwise he'd be killed.... yet when he does meet said dragon its none other than a beautiful woman who seems oddly familiar.... whose own string of fate is connected to him. Sai's world is turned upside down as he begins to get strange memories of a past life with her... but she refuses to tell him how they are connected... but with the emperor hunting them both down can Sai find out the truth or will they both die before he can be with his soulmate? This was a stunningly romantic story filled with magic and love, I absolutely adored the romance in this. The relationship between Sai and his fated one was absolutely so well done and I loved every second of it. The slow buildup and reveal was fantastic and honestly I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys mythological romances!!!

Release Date: October 8,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Saga Press | S&S/Saga Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[kestrellady]

January and February 2025 Reading Wrap Up

It's been a whole mess so far this year and I didn't manage to do the January wrap up, so combining these two. Lots of rereading comfort books these last two months.

Stand Out Books from January and February Himawari House by Harmony Becker This is a very quiet, slice of life graphic novel about the residents of a boarding house in Japan. The two boys are from Japan, but the three girls are from Singapore, South Korea, and the U.S. I absolutely loved the way different languages were handled in this book. They're printed in the original language with the English translation underneath dependent on how much the character understands. It's really fascinating to watch the main character, who was born in Japan and raised in the U.S., start off only catching a few words of Japanese and then being relatively fluent by the end.

Full Speed to a Crash Landing and How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis These were so much fun! They're relatively short (first two books of a trilogy of novellas) but the tone is amazing. The narrator is very flippant, but also slightly unreliable in that there are a lot things she just doesn't mention because she doesn't want to think about them or is lying to herself about. Super looking forward to the third book which comes out next month.

Love in Focus by Yoko Nogiri This was such a cute, fun, short manga series. Just a sweet and very self-aware romance. I love love triangles that aren't really love triangles and this had a really nice resolution.

The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan I struggled to get into this one, but I was glad I stuck with it. The first two thirds are a little all over the place, with the main character getting kind of dragged through the plot, but the last third really brings it all together and I loved the resolution.

What I'm Reading Now I wanted something familiar, so I'm rereading Anne Bishop's The Others series. I'm on the second book of the expanded world, Wild Country (which honestly should probably be the first book chronologically). I've just picked up Rachel Carson's The Edge of the Sea. She's a lot more famous for Silent Spring, but she was first and foremost a marine biologist, so I'm looking forward to reading her in her home subject.

What I'm Looking Forward to in March Wooing the Witch Queen, the first book in Stephanie Burgis's new trilogy just came out and I should get that from the library any day now! I have loved her shorter works and I'm excited for this one. I should also hopefully get the last of the Emily Wilde books, which I have also been looking forward to. Other than that, I've started my reread of Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson world in chronological order (mostly just slotting the short stories and the Alpha and Omega books around the main series), but the library only has the ONE ebook per book, so it's been slow going. And I finally finished Norgami after almost a year (so, so good. I wish they'd come back and redo the anime now that the manga is done) so I have to pick out a new manga series!

Follow me on The StoryGraph!

[allbookedupblogstuff]

The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan

TL;DR: This one was a surprise in many ways, all lovely. Source: NetGalley and a physical copy via the publisher Plot: Sai ends up forced on a journey by the Emperor to find the last dragon and along the way he finds a lot more. Characters: I enjoyed all these characters and could see them vividly. I genuinely felt for them as well. Setting: A beautiful Asian inspired world, I will keep a lot of…

[myhikari21things]

Read of The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan (309pgs) (2024)

[deadshadowcreature]

Predicting what will happen in the special

[gordopickett]

Music Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @benwvatt !!! ♥♥♥

The aim is to put your music on shuffle and list the first 10 songs + tag 10 people. Gonna hop on Spotify & shuffle my 2023 vacation playlist.

1) "Benediction" ~ Luke Sital-Singh

2) "Half Alive (acoustic)" ~ Amber Run

3) "Tougher Than The Rest" ~ Bootstraps

4) "Losing My Religion" ~ R.E.M.

5) "Wrecked" ~ Imagine Dragons

6) "Man Inside" ~ Shirock

7) "North" ~ Sleeping At Last

8) "Dreams You Don't Forget" ~ Night Traveler

9) "Meghan's Song" ~ Matthew Perryman Jones

10) "Hood Of My Car" ~ Anderson East

Tagging @allatariel @tavners @onekisstotakewithme @lacontroller1991 @bi-and-bottom

@castalyne @ddagent @flamingo24 @h4t08 @katesofheaven

@lawsonblakestan @moocowmoocow @margospiano @nadia-el-mansours @pyramdhead47

@rachg82 @redblinkinglights @sparkleplatypuswriter @tiltedsyllogism @thefrakkintrinity15 & anyone else who wants to play! ♥♥♥

[ejaysstuff]

Halfway done with fsyy,,,, god it is such a nice novel

[bastardofharrenhal]

im a hater BC THE WORLD TOOK MY LOVE (meleys and rhaenys)

[junofangz]

Pengu datu ! My favourite dragon + favourite character in the whole world 🥹💕

[eastsidemags]

East Side Mages - The Last Straw

East Side Mags and Dungeons on the Go are bringing another awesome homebrew Dungeons & Dragons campaign, written by NEW Dungeon Master Jack Neugebauer!

This is THE LAST STRAW (ALL AGES, INTRO) and consists of FOUR TOTAL EPISODES. 

About THE LAST STRAW: A farmer needs help, since his animals keep going missing! Is it monsters? Rival farmers? An evil chicken scheming to one day rule the world? Draw your swords and put on your detective glasses for a third-level Dungeons and Dragons mystery adventure!

The dates are:

10/6 - 3pm-5pm

10/13 - 3pm-5pm

10/20 - 3pm-5pm

10/27 - 3pm-5pm

Entry to ALL dates is $100. 

***WE ONLY HAVE 8 SPOTS AVAILABLE*** so sign up below. Spots are given out on a first come, first served basis and we will CLOSE registration once all 8 spots are filled. Once payment is received, your spot will be locked in.

THIS IS AN ALL AGES, INTRO GAME!!!

Questions can go to jeff@eastsidemags.com.

GAME ON!!!

[notsolittlemerman]

couldn’t have said it better myself

but seriously I'm not even surprised, this is the same Disney that loves to meticulously hide black leads on their posters for Chinese releases (from Star Wars to Black Panther to The Little Mermaid remake) to not risk hurting their Chinese box office numbers (bc they'd rather be complicit with anti-Black racism in China) and that's not even the worst Disney has done so far (*cough*IsNotReal*cough*)

Imagine setting your fantasy kingdom in a real area where you can use all this as inspiration for your characters...

... but you go and create something as plain, generic, and soulless as this:

Well done, Disney!