Douglas A. Jaffe

3.5/5
You might consider me biased because I love anything to do with Asia, but I really liked this book.

It's very unhurried, contemplative and full of wisdom. It's steeped in Chinese mythology and at the same time it observes present day life in Hong Kong.

There are two parallel plots.

1. Sebastian runs his coffee and book shop, acts as a psychologist or a willing ear for his wealthy clients talking about their life and problems, and falls in love with mysterious charismatic Chloe, while helping his friends to create a documentary about dragons.

2. A story of Chi Wen and Zhao Chen, a dragon couple in ancient China who love each other and battle for humanity in very different ways.

You get bits from the second plot, but the first plot dominates the book and becomes inexplicably interconnected with the story of two dragons.

I really loved Sebastian, his dorkiness and certain nerdy attitude to life, and I also adored his chemistry with Chloe. I enjoyed his conversations with people an insight he offered them. He was alive and imperfect.

I wasn't feeling much for the dragons and I also think that the author ended the book too soon, just when the tension started building. Although the conclusion is very logical and in character, it just felt like giving up. There were plenty of great characters and subplots which could have developed into something awesome, but it wasn't meant to be.

However, it was still a lovely story, and I would recommend it to any fan of Asian culture.… (meer)