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4.62 AVERAGE
4.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Alex Evans lives with her SUPER overprotective mother who smothers her, controls every moment of her time, and never wants to talk about her dad. But Alex wants to talk about her dad, how much she misses him, what really happened to him; she wants to talk about the time they spent together in the woods... which is the one place she is ABSOLUTELY forbidden to go to.
One day, everything just becomes too much, and it spills out of Alex: she wants to scream and... out comes fire.
Because it turns out Alex is a dragon.
Events happen fast and furiously from here; she is taken to an island called Skralla, hidden in the in-between parts of the world, where she finds there are lots of others like her, both human and dragon. It's... weird and the other children are fierce and frightening, and they all know so much more about this world than Alex. To become part of this awe-inspiring (though pretty terrifying, honestly!) world, Alex needs to overcome her fears and fully transform... which turns out to be harder than she thought. Even with Oliphos, an amazing mentor, and some pretty cool friends, Alex can't do what's "she's supposed to do" - and when she finds out about the evil Drak Midna, a legendary dragon rising to fight a war, her specific gifts are needed. Will she always feel like an outsider?
Struan Murray has created a fantastic world here, with lots of fun and fabulous details, including other mythical creatures, and it was such a lot of fun to read! Alex is an interesting and nuanced character, who you can't help but root for as she grows apart from her mother, as she deals with the grief of her father's death, and the overwhelming world that she's propelled into. There are some other great side characters who are emotionally interesting too (often a problem with secondary characters), like Erik, Dr Archibald Puppinsworth and the other young dragons - Murray has written a story with a lot of heart.
This fun and fast middle grade will definitely appeal to young readers; the dragons are quite 'traditional' in terms of dragonlore, but sometimes the old ways are the best! We don't need the wheel reinvented with every new fantasy book, as Murray has proved; dragons are amazing, right?!
I look forward to the next instalment...
Thanks to NetGalley and Puffin for the copy to review!
One day, everything just becomes too much, and it spills out of Alex: she wants to scream and... out comes fire.
Because it turns out Alex is a dragon.
Events happen fast and furiously from here; she is taken to an island called Skralla, hidden in the in-between parts of the world, where she finds there are lots of others like her, both human and dragon. It's... weird and the other children are fierce and frightening, and they all know so much more about this world than Alex. To become part of this awe-inspiring (though pretty terrifying, honestly!) world, Alex needs to overcome her fears and fully transform... which turns out to be harder than she thought. Even with Oliphos, an amazing mentor, and some pretty cool friends, Alex can't do what's "she's supposed to do" - and when she finds out about the evil Drak Midna, a legendary dragon rising to fight a war, her specific gifts are needed. Will she always feel like an outsider?
Struan Murray has created a fantastic world here, with lots of fun and fabulous details, including other mythical creatures, and it was such a lot of fun to read! Alex is an interesting and nuanced character, who you can't help but root for as she grows apart from her mother, as she deals with the grief of her father's death, and the overwhelming world that she's propelled into. There are some other great side characters who are emotionally interesting too (often a problem with secondary characters), like Erik, Dr Archibald Puppinsworth and the other young dragons - Murray has written a story with a lot of heart.
This fun and fast middle grade will definitely appeal to young readers; the dragons are quite 'traditional' in terms of dragonlore, but sometimes the old ways are the best! We don't need the wheel reinvented with every new fantasy book, as Murray has proved; dragons are amazing, right?!
I look forward to the next instalment...
Thanks to NetGalley and Puffin for the copy to review!
Brilliant! It's been a while since a children's book captured my imagination like this. It blew all my expectations out the water.
I hope Struan Murray is working on the sequel because I'm going to need loads more of this!
I hope Struan Murray is working on the sequel because I'm going to need loads more of this!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a great read - I devoured it in two days! This felt like classic fantasy storytelling at its finest. A Gandalf/dumbledore-esque mentor, a grumpy teacher, a world within our world that the main character discovers. And the main character was great, had a wonderful believable character arc. And I loved the unique taken on dragon story. Just great!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Struan Murray is one of my favourite children’s writers and I was so excited to get this proof copy and dive into a world of a dragons. Our main protagonist, Alex, has a real journey throughout this novel and I’m hopeful there will be a sequel so we can return to her development. The imagery in Struan’s books is perfection - he is an expert at world building and some of the fast paced scenes are written with such great imagery. The concept of the book itself is really clever but I’m keeping my lips sealed as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. I know that the children in my class will love it.