Booksblabbering || Cait❣️'s Reviews > Breath of the Dragon

Karate kid meets fantasy in one boy’s journey to define his destiny.

Jun is separated from his mother and twin after accidentally revealing his martial arts practice as a child. He and his father is exiled from the East to the West where martial arts is revered. Against his father’s wishes, Jun enters the famous tournament that will decide the new Guardian of the Earth Scroll, a sacred duty.

I thought this would focus on the element of the Breathmarked - people given gifts by the Dragon. However, Jun is the underdog. It his identical twin that is marked rather than Jun and in the West, the Breathmarked are despised.

Rather, this is a story about Jun realising it is how you work on your talents and achieve your goals.

“It took me years to realize this, and even longer to accept it: The abilities that matter the most don’t come from Dragon’s blood. They’re gained day by day, through sweat and tears. Marked or not, every one of us has Breath enough to will our own destiny into being.”

I usually find it difficult to visualise fight scenes, yet this was vivid and tense - perfect for young readers who want high stakes.

For me though, it felt too repetitive and too easy. This is as someone who typically finds fight scenes boring especially in a tournament setting.
I also was not expecting this to read as young as it did. Definitely on the younger range of YA with very on the nose morals and good v evil.

“That’s what we want to leave the audience with, at the end—the reminder that we’re all human, we all feel joy and pain the same way, in the end we all die and join our ancestors. If we can make people feel that way about a fictional soldier who lived in the East fifty years ago, then maybe we can all become more compassionate.”

I could definitely see Fonda Lee’s stylistic approach with inclusions and inspirations by Shannon Lee - daughter of Bruce Lee. This felt similar to the age range of Avatar: the Last Airbender or Percy Jackson.

If you enjoyed this and want an adult fantasy comparison, I would recommend The Art of Prophecy.

Physical arc gifted by Hodderscape.

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