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queenc's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.25
happyhaidi's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
pinakamataas's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a weird mix of Harry Potter-esque imagining of found family, adventure land in boarding school, (and in spite of knowing that Fourth Wing is newer, and I haven’t read it) Dragons and dragon riders doing weird shit together.
Elena being the new kid around the block (is she dragon, no she’s not, but she has a mysterious dad dun-dun-dun, a very particular chosen one style marking, and is hated or loved by all the popular kids, while being a complete loser when it comes to studies), and she’s kinda the new shiny toy, and I know I am probably biased against Lucian because I read the blurbs of the next books (but honestly, they’re so spoilery for the first one?), but it feels like it’s the kiddos first romance with a princeling that is just never going to work out, because they have nothing in common except attraction to one another (and it shows). Elena develops semi-healthy female relationships, and has really great side relationships with her tutors (looking at Cheng), and it feels like Blake gets her a lot more than Lucian ever could, and he’s prickly and actually really interesting.
But writing is iffy at times, but I’m still enjoying this? The plot is good (when it gets good, because beginning was rough), but it might be the YA shining through, might be that it’s just not that well written.
_alifeinpages's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This book was okay. I feel like the idea was good but the writing could have been improved. I wish there had been more build up to the end, as it felt like the story was kind of divided as it didn't really continue on.
wanderingju's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
rlstrayer1's review against another edition
2.0
1.5 stars
**I received a free eBook in exchange for an honest review**
I was very excited to read this book. Dragons? Yes please! School setting? Awesome! YA? I'm sold. Basically, I couldn't wait to get started. Unfortunately, this book suffered from the "great premise/bad execution" syndrome and greatly disappointed me.
The basic plot summary: Sixteen year old Elena finds out that her dad is not actually human...he is a dragon. Sadly, the same day she finds out this intriguing bit of information is the same day he is killed by a group of evil rogue dragons. Elena is taken to a medical ward of sorts, except this medical ward is not in the world you and I live in, but rather in the land of Paegia...the land of dragons and their riders, known as Dragonians. Elena is enrolled into Dragonia (basically Hogwarts for dragons and Dragonians). From here, she's thrust into a new world and a new social order in which she has to integrate and prove herself.
If this book had been marketed as a middle grade book, I believe it would have done much better than as YA. The dialogue was incredibly stilted and juvenile. The only time I knew that something was funny or humorous was because the characters laughed. There was a lot of random bits of imagery that made no sense to the story, and at times were just plain inappropriate.
For example, one of the characters gets roughed up by a dragon, and the author's description?
"It looked as if she had been beaten by a jealous boyfriend"
Um, what?? Why was this put in? What did it accomplish? It made me mad that the author thought this was appropriate, that's what it did.
Another scene described the characters going to the lake for a late night swim. The MC didn't have a swimsuit, so she borrowed her friend's bikini.
"I picked up a plain black one and tried it on. It fit perfectly. I just didn't like my flat ass. I wanted it to be plumper."
There were random phrases like those mentioned above sprinkled throughout the book. They didn't add anything to the book, and seemed to be put there just to fill space. They also made Elena out to be a whiny, childish character who had no sense of the greater world out there.
Speaking of which, I swear she was either yelling or crying on every single page. And for the first half of the book she was constantly in danger of losing her sanity because....reasons? The author never really went into that and I would have liked to know why. I assume it's because for a normal person, to find out that dragons actually existed would be a huge thing to mentally process...but I don't feel like it would cause insanity *shrugs*. I mean, if I found out that dragons actually existed my jaw would drop to the floor and then I would be jumping for joy because HELLO FREAKING DRAGONS EXISTED. But maybe that's just me.
There was barely any mention of her father dying either. You would think that would be incredibly traumatic and would be worth mentioning how it affected the MC, but it was hardly mentioned at all. Elena had moments of missing her dad, but overall it was almost like he never existed.
Another issue I had was the insta-love. I absolutely ABHOR insta-love. I ABHOR IT I TELL YOU. I love seeing a friendship blossom before anything else. It allows me to be more invested in the characters and their relationship and to cheer them on to a happy ending. Sadly, this was not the case. The only reason Elena and her Boyfriend ended up getting together was because he was hot. Seriously. She even has moments of self-doubt when she hears that he has no qualms about beating dragons to get them to submit, but then he gives her his million-watt smile and all is right with the world. I also see a love triangle looming on the horizon, which I also cannot stand. While being tutored by the other point of the predicted love triangle, Elena was "lost in his eyes" and "want[ed] to grab and kiss his mouth".
This is about 50% of the book so far. All of the above happened before the halfway point.
There was a part where they talked about how their stone dragons would awaken when there was trouble....
The 0.5 stars this book is getting is due to the fact that there are dragons. Dragons are my kryptonite and I will read anything and everything about them.
I will not be continuing on in this series. I have read some reviews on the next several books, and it doesn't seem to get much better in terms of character development. I'm saddened, because the premise of this series is awesome. I wish the execution was just as great.
**I received a free eBook in exchange for an honest review**
I was very excited to read this book. Dragons? Yes please! School setting? Awesome! YA? I'm sold. Basically, I couldn't wait to get started. Unfortunately, this book suffered from the "great premise/bad execution" syndrome and greatly disappointed me.
The basic plot summary: Sixteen year old Elena finds out that her dad is not actually human...he is a dragon. Sadly, the same day she finds out this intriguing bit of information is the same day he is killed by a group of evil rogue dragons. Elena is taken to a medical ward of sorts, except this medical ward is not in the world you and I live in, but rather in the land of Paegia...the land of dragons and their riders, known as Dragonians. Elena is enrolled into Dragonia (basically Hogwarts for dragons and Dragonians). From here, she's thrust into a new world and a new social order in which she has to integrate and prove herself.
If this book had been marketed as a middle grade book, I believe it would have done much better than as YA. The dialogue was incredibly stilted and juvenile. The only time I knew that something was funny or humorous was because the characters laughed. There was a lot of random bits of imagery that made no sense to the story, and at times were just plain inappropriate.
For example, one of the characters gets roughed up by a dragon, and the author's description?
"It looked as if she had been beaten by a jealous boyfriend"
Um, what?? Why was this put in? What did it accomplish? It made me mad that the author thought this was appropriate, that's what it did.
Another scene described the characters going to the lake for a late night swim. The MC didn't have a swimsuit, so she borrowed her friend's bikini.
"I picked up a plain black one and tried it on. It fit perfectly. I just didn't like my flat ass. I wanted it to be plumper."
There were random phrases like those mentioned above sprinkled throughout the book. They didn't add anything to the book, and seemed to be put there just to fill space. They also made Elena out to be a whiny, childish character who had no sense of the greater world out there.
Speaking of which, I swear she was either yelling or crying on every single page. And for the first half of the book she was constantly in danger of losing her sanity because....reasons? The author never really went into that and I would have liked to know why. I assume it's because for a normal person, to find out that dragons actually existed would be a huge thing to mentally process...but I don't feel like it would cause insanity *shrugs*. I mean, if I found out that dragons actually existed my jaw would drop to the floor and then I would be jumping for joy because HELLO FREAKING DRAGONS EXISTED. But maybe that's just me.
There was barely any mention of her father dying either. You would think that would be incredibly traumatic and would be worth mentioning how it affected the MC, but it was hardly mentioned at all. Elena had moments of missing her dad, but overall it was almost like he never existed.
Another issue I had was the insta-love. I absolutely ABHOR insta-love. I ABHOR IT I TELL YOU. I love seeing a friendship blossom before anything else. It allows me to be more invested in the characters and their relationship and to cheer them on to a happy ending. Sadly, this was not the case. The only reason Elena and her Boyfriend ended up getting together was because he was hot. Seriously. She even has moments of self-doubt when she hears that he has no qualms about beating dragons to get them to submit, but then he gives her his million-watt smile and all is right with the world. I also see a love triangle looming on the horizon, which I also cannot stand. While being tutored by the other point of the predicted love triangle, Elena was "lost in his eyes" and "want[ed] to grab and kiss his mouth".
This is about 50% of the book so far. All of the above happened before the halfway point.
There was a part where they talked about how their stone dragons would awaken when there was trouble....
The 0.5 stars this book is getting is due to the fact that there are dragons. Dragons are my kryptonite and I will read anything and everything about them.
I will not be continuing on in this series. I have read some reviews on the next several books, and it doesn't seem to get much better in terms of character development. I'm saddened, because the premise of this series is awesome. I wish the execution was just as great.
elizard123's review against another edition
3.0
The equivalent of literary reality tv. I needed something trope heavy and easy to read after the emotional devastation of There, There.
elizalicart's review against another edition
4.0
I cringed... multiple times. For the love of blueberries, why has this book got me so conflicted?!
So I was so torn on whether to give this book three of four stars. When I first started reading, it reeked of an amateur / self-published writer, whether or not Adrienne is or not! A lot of the phrasing throughout the book was just so cringeworthy, stereotypical or out of place. Not to mention the amount of typos and mistakes sprinkled throughout.
But alas, I gave it 4 stars. Why? Because I enjoyed it. Gasp, shock, horror! The characters were relatable, and believable. It was funny at times. It was shocking at times (although it was never sad, so I guess that's one thing that Adrienne failed to convey). I liked the story, and all the different descriptions of the dragons. The whole history, world, science and logic were well thought out! World building is hard, I should know, but I feel like Adrienne pulled it off.
There was the issue around the first half of the book where info-dumping was rife. Literal pages and pages of the stuff (on my Kindle, anyway). I didn't mind so much, because I personally find info-dumping to be interesting when done in a certain way. The info-dumping in this book was used to explain the history, and the reader was learning at the same time as the character. It made sense in my mind, but I can see where others wouldn't like that.
Amateur writer, or not, I can still see myself reaching for the rest of this series. As we all should know, practice makes perfect, so I'm confident that the next books in the series will be much better than the first. Looking forward to it!
So I was so torn on whether to give this book three of four stars. When I first started reading, it reeked of an amateur / self-published writer, whether or not Adrienne is or not! A lot of the phrasing throughout the book was just so cringeworthy, stereotypical or out of place. Not to mention the amount of typos and mistakes sprinkled throughout.
But alas, I gave it 4 stars. Why? Because I enjoyed it. Gasp, shock, horror! The characters were relatable, and believable. It was funny at times. It was shocking at times (although it was never sad, so I guess that's one thing that Adrienne failed to convey). I liked the story, and all the different descriptions of the dragons. The whole history, world, science and logic were well thought out! World building is hard, I should know, but I feel like Adrienne pulled it off.
There was the issue around the first half of the book where info-dumping was rife. Literal pages and pages of the stuff (on my Kindle, anyway). I didn't mind so much, because I personally find info-dumping to be interesting when done in a certain way. The info-dumping in this book was used to explain the history, and the reader was learning at the same time as the character. It made sense in my mind, but I can see where others wouldn't like that.
Amateur writer, or not, I can still see myself reaching for the rest of this series. As we all should know, practice makes perfect, so I'm confident that the next books in the series will be much better than the first. Looking forward to it!
britneysreads00's review against another edition
4.0
Elena didn't know who she truly was when her father dies battling dragons one night. She finds out her father is a dragon. She was injured in the fight and wakes up to find herself on the other side of a magical wall. A one way trip for humans, she is now in a kingdom she only thought was real in stories. Throughout the book, she finds out more information about who she truly is, makes friends, finds some enemies, gets a foretelling she doesn't understand and goes on a quest that will stay with her forever.
This book is a slow-burn adventure with dragons, love, hate and friendship. It will make you laugh out loud but it will also make you cry.
I was really emersed in this book, it is a little bit slow to get into however if you are like me and love a good fantasy adventure book with romance, heartbreak and a book that is an entire emotional rollercoaster. Give it a go. I will say one thing, this series gets better the more books you read in the series.
This book is a slow-burn adventure with dragons, love, hate and friendship. It will make you laugh out loud but it will also make you cry.
I was really emersed in this book, it is a little bit slow to get into however if you are like me and love a good fantasy adventure book with romance, heartbreak and a book that is an entire emotional rollercoaster. Give it a go. I will say one thing, this series gets better the more books you read in the series.
littlebookishinkblot's review against another edition
3.0
Review posted on my blog: https://littlebookishinkblots.blogspot.com/2017/04/firebolt.html
We start this adventure with an intriguing premise -- a teenager discovers that dragons are real and is suddenly thrust into a world of magic and mystery.
Now, I haven’t read a lot of teen fantasy books centered on Dragons for a looong time. The last one was the Evangelina series by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi and that didn’t end well for me. In fact, I still have some seriously effed up leftover emotional baggage from those books. So as you can imagine, I was seriously excited to give this book a try.
What I liked about this book is that it wasted no time getting right into the story. Right away, it introduces us to our heroine, Elena, who happens to be an average, run of the mill, slightly whiny, clumsy teenager who excels at riddles… and constantly moving around with her dad. They were always running away from something and she was getting sick and tired of it. One night in particular, as they were --you guessed it-- running away, they are ferociously attacked by a dragon.
Suddenly Elena wakes up in another world only to find out that her father has perished and that there is something in her that people believe will make her capable of great things. To add to the confusion she is made to attend the Paegeia equivalent of Hogwarts School to learn about magic, dragons, and dragon riders like her called Dragonia. At the Academy, Elena meets a colorful bunch of characters ranging from humans like herself studying to be Dragonian riders and the other students who can actually shift into dragons depending on power and breeds.
Though the world Elena enters is very similar to our own, the author was able to create an interesting blend of medieval fantasy intermixed with modern urban fantasy. I sensed hints of similarities to Harry Potter, Eragon, Dragonheart, and Lord of the Rings to name a few but it did not detract from the story telling. The world of Paegeia is slowly built up and while admittedly confusing for the reader at first, the development of the history and people unfold in a detailed manner as the story progresses.
At certain points in the story I find myself struggling to get into the groove of the book. Aside from the grammatical errors in the copy provided me and overall predictability of the plot, there was just something that was not making me connect to the story at all. Nevertheless, and for the love of blueberries, I persisted. The characters in the book were relatively realistic and likeable enough, worrying over teenager things like boys, outfits, and excelling at their classes.
The one thing I hope not to see in future stories is Elena’s favorite phrase, “for the love of blueberries…” as frequent repetitions got on my nerves, really fast. In fact, towards the end, it just left me with a healthy dislike for the tiny blue fruit.
All in all, I enjoyed the read despite the errors and the blueberries. It was an intriguing world and the Dragonian society was well thought-out and unique. I enjoyed reading about the several types of dragons, their personality types, powers and capabilities. I would have wanted Elena to be a bit more mature in her decisions and reactions but perhaps it was done on purpose to show her maturity and growth throughout the series. There was a hint of a love triangle blooming which I hope gets fully explored in the succeeding books.
I give this book 3/5 SQUEEEES, which would mean that while I liked it, I would not shell out the money to actually buy a physical copy for my library. But I would recommend it to friends who were looking for a light, fluffy read.
*** I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion ***
We start this adventure with an intriguing premise -- a teenager discovers that dragons are real and is suddenly thrust into a world of magic and mystery.
Now, I haven’t read a lot of teen fantasy books centered on Dragons for a looong time. The last one was the Evangelina series by MaryJanice Davidson and Anthony Alongi and that didn’t end well for me. In fact, I still have some seriously effed up leftover emotional baggage from those books. So as you can imagine, I was seriously excited to give this book a try.
What I liked about this book is that it wasted no time getting right into the story. Right away, it introduces us to our heroine, Elena, who happens to be an average, run of the mill, slightly whiny, clumsy teenager who excels at riddles… and constantly moving around with her dad. They were always running away from something and she was getting sick and tired of it. One night in particular, as they were --you guessed it-- running away, they are ferociously attacked by a dragon.
Suddenly Elena wakes up in another world only to find out that her father has perished and that there is something in her that people believe will make her capable of great things. To add to the confusion she is made to attend the Paegeia equivalent of Hogwarts School to learn about magic, dragons, and dragon riders like her called Dragonia. At the Academy, Elena meets a colorful bunch of characters ranging from humans like herself studying to be Dragonian riders and the other students who can actually shift into dragons depending on power and breeds.
Though the world Elena enters is very similar to our own, the author was able to create an interesting blend of medieval fantasy intermixed with modern urban fantasy. I sensed hints of similarities to Harry Potter, Eragon, Dragonheart, and Lord of the Rings to name a few but it did not detract from the story telling. The world of Paegeia is slowly built up and while admittedly confusing for the reader at first, the development of the history and people unfold in a detailed manner as the story progresses.
At certain points in the story I find myself struggling to get into the groove of the book. Aside from the grammatical errors in the copy provided me and overall predictability of the plot, there was just something that was not making me connect to the story at all. Nevertheless, and for the love of blueberries, I persisted. The characters in the book were relatively realistic and likeable enough, worrying over teenager things like boys, outfits, and excelling at their classes.
The one thing I hope not to see in future stories is Elena’s favorite phrase, “for the love of blueberries…” as frequent repetitions got on my nerves, really fast. In fact, towards the end, it just left me with a healthy dislike for the tiny blue fruit.
All in all, I enjoyed the read despite the errors and the blueberries. It was an intriguing world and the Dragonian society was well thought-out and unique. I enjoyed reading about the several types of dragons, their personality types, powers and capabilities. I would have wanted Elena to be a bit more mature in her decisions and reactions but perhaps it was done on purpose to show her maturity and growth throughout the series. There was a hint of a love triangle blooming which I hope gets fully explored in the succeeding books.
I give this book 3/5 SQUEEEES, which would mean that while I liked it, I would not shell out the money to actually buy a physical copy for my library. But I would recommend it to friends who were looking for a light, fluffy read.
*** I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion ***