Breath of the Dragon follows the story of 16-year-old Jun, who is an aspiring martial artist. He wants to enter the top-tier Guardian’s Tournament, both for personal glory, and to restore his family’s honor. But when his father forbids him from the tournament, Jun has to find another way to enter.
This was just a fun book to read! It had that classic YA/martial arts story feel to it- and it had nice writing to boot! What I enjoyed most was our main character and his relationships. He felt around his age and had a relatable and flawed character who you could also root for. The relationships were flushed out and I also very much enjoyed them. All the nostalgic vibes were there, and it felt like a callback to a childhood YA book and that is always a nice thing. Did it make the book a little cliché and predictable? Yes, a little bit, but a lot of this was still interesting and intriguing. The fight scenes were well written and interesting, no complaints there! My biggest complaint was the pacing at the beginning- after 40%-mark things pick up a lot, but before that the pacing is a little stilted and the book is hard to get into. Other than that, it was a very enjoyable read! I can't wait for the sequel, this book set it up well!