Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Dragons. Art. Revolution.

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

MY REVIEW: 3 Stars ⭐️ 

I wanted to read this book because of the mechanical dragon (Arazi). Unfortunately, we didn’t get to the dragon parts until almost 40%. But after that, it was pretty much ongoing. I loved Arazi so much!



I enjoyed some of the characters but wasn’t pulled in by anyone really. I did love Jebi and some others but I still wasn’t totally pulled into the story. I also got confused a lot as Jebi was either, Jebi or they. I have read a few books like that and it was fine but this one was a bit more confusing as it was used a lot around other people and I thought a small group was always going to do something when it was just Jebi.

Either way, I loved Arazi and Jebi the most and I did feel sad when some people died. I do recommend you read this yourself and make up your own damn mind 😉

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

*Thank you to Netgalley and Solaris for providing me with a digital copy for review.