The Fallen Hero

Disclaimer: I received this arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own. Book: The Fallen Hero Author: Katie Zhao Book Series: The Dragon Warrior Book 2 Rating: 5/5 Diversity: Half Chinese main character, Half Chinese and Chinese side characters. Recommended For...: mg fantasy, Chinese mythology Publication Date: October 13, 2020 Genre: MG Fantasy Recommended Age: 10+ (violence, slight gore) Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Kids Pages: 336 Synopsis: Faryn Liu thought she was the Heaven Breaker, a warrior destined to wield the all-powerful spear Fenghuang, command dragons, and defeat demons. But a conniving goddess was manipulating her all along...and her beloved younger brother, Alex, has betrayed her and taken over as the Heaven Breaker instead. Alex never forgave the people who treated him and Faryn like outcasts, and now he wants to wipe out both the demons and most of humanity. Determined to prevent a war and bring Alex back to her side, Faryn and her half-dragon friend Ren join the New Order, a group of warriors based out of Manhattan's Chinatown. She learns that one weapon can stand against Fenghuang--the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Only problem? It belongs to an infamous trickster, the Monkey King. Faryn sets off on a daring quest to convince the Monkey King to join forces with her, one that will take her to new places--including Diyu, otherwise known as the Underworld--where she'll run into new dangers and more than one familiar face. Can she complete her mission and save the brother she loves, no matter the cost? Review: Overall, this was an awesome book. The book improved so much on the first one and gave us so much character development and world building. The book also attacks the old Chosen One trope. The book did well to keep me intrigued throughout it. The only issue I really had with this is that I thought the pacing was slower in this novel and a little bit too slow in some parts. Verdict: A great series!