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adelle_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
4,5*
Tak tohle bylo super! Ten konec s Dantem jsem teda čekala trochu lepší, ale což... líbilo se mi to. Fakt že hodně.
Tak tohle bylo super! Ten konec s Dantem jsem teda čekala trochu lepší, ale což... líbilo se mi to. Fakt že hodně.
amandalyn's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting enough that I'll read the sequel, but nothing really special about it. It's very repetitive at bits and the love triangle is annoying, but the world is cool and I wanna know what happens next, though I'm not chopping at the bit to get book two.
stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
Is it possible to enjoy a book even if it has completely blank characters; fussy world-building and slow pacing?
I guess so. Hell, I almost wanted to hate Talon because of how underwhelming it was, but there was nothing I loathed about it. It wasn’t good, but it was okay.
Here’s something I’ve learned in 2015: When reading and rating a book, my opinion is deeply affected by reality vs expectation.
If you go into Talon thinking it’ll be an awesome GoT-like fantasy book with fire-flaming dragons, you probably won’t enjoy it. The dragons are just… boring, dull and not very well described.
Kagawa’s newest novel is more like urban fantasy, since the dragons in this book are in a contemporary setting.
However, if you expect an average book at its best with some sketchy world-building, chances are you’ll find it sufferable.
The twins Ember and Dante Hill are dragons, and after years of training at an isolated school in the desert, they are sent off into the real world.
When one of their kind has turned 16, they go through the last session of their training and are placed in a human environment where they try to fit in. Our siblings spend the summer holiday in Crescent Beach, California.
We follow Ember, who grows more and more suspicious of Talon and realizes there’s a different side of the organization she’s always trusted.
The other POV follows Garret, who is a soldier working for Talon’s biggest enemy; St. George Academy. He’s on a mission to find a ’sleeper’ (dragons pretending to be human, like the Hill twins) and eliminate it. There’s a hook: he has to be completely sure this person is actually a dragon. He and Ember meet and immediately hit it off, and he has to decide whether to follow the rules or his heart and all that.
The characters are painfully dull and dumb. I really expected more from Kagawa, since Allison from [b:The Immortal Rules|10215349|The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)|Julie Kagawa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323357921s/10215349.jpg|15114912] is a spectacular character.
I couldn’t care less for Garret or Ember, or any of the side characters. I know nothing about them, except that they have zero personality.
Why, oh why is there a love triangle? Even a romance with one guy felt unnecessary, and this geometric shape added nothing but I already didn’t give a shit about the first guy, so why introduce another one equally as boring and lifeless?
The setting was okay, but some potential was wasted. There’s lots of surfing, because duh, it’s California! Everything about the setting is very vague, which is a shame, since California is one of my favorite places in the world.
Significantly shorter rundown of pros:
The writing is fluid and easy to read, as per usual with this author.
Maybe it’s because I read this during a tough week or because I hated my most recent Kagawa book ([b:The Iron King|6644117|The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)|Julie Kagawa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327877670s/6644117.jpg|6838626]) with a fiery passion, but I was surprised by my own curiosity and enjoyment. I wanted to know more about the two organizations and how the plot would unfold. I felt like I was there watching, right next to Ember.
This being my fifth book by her, there's no denying that Julie Kagawa is a great storyteller. She knows how to keep a reader interested.
For a moment Talon made me forget about everything else, and it was nice.
It also left off on a predictable yet interesting note, so I will probably read the sequel.
Final verdict:
Half bad, half good.
Overall, this reads like someones’ debut novel, where everything is underdeveloped: the characters, the plot and the setting. The book is overly long and doesn’t have a plot strong enough to cover 5 books. There is nothing special about Talon, nothing at all, besides how it screams, ’’Wasted potential!’'
There were plenty of things I would’ve normally hated, but this book took none of them overboard, and I feel completely indifferent toward it.
Is it possible to enjoy a book even if it has completely blank characters; fussy world-building and slow pacing?
I guess so. Hell, I almost wanted to hate Talon because of how underwhelming it was, but there was nothing I loathed about it. It wasn’t good, but it was okay.
Here’s something I’ve learned in 2015: When reading and rating a book, my opinion is deeply affected by reality vs expectation.
If you go into Talon thinking it’ll be an awesome GoT-like fantasy book with fire-flaming dragons, you probably won’t enjoy it. The dragons are just… boring, dull and not very well described.
Kagawa’s newest novel is more like urban fantasy, since the dragons in this book are in a contemporary setting.
However, if you expect an average book at its best with some sketchy world-building, chances are you’ll find it sufferable.
The twins Ember and Dante Hill are dragons, and after years of training at an isolated school in the desert, they are sent off into the real world.
When one of their kind has turned 16, they go through the last session of their training and are placed in a human environment where they try to fit in. Our siblings spend the summer holiday in Crescent Beach, California.
We follow Ember, who grows more and more suspicious of Talon and realizes there’s a different side of the organization she’s always trusted.
The other POV follows Garret, who is a soldier working for Talon’s biggest enemy; St. George Academy. He’s on a mission to find a ’sleeper’ (dragons pretending to be human, like the Hill twins) and eliminate it. There’s a hook: he has to be completely sure this person is actually a dragon. He and Ember meet and immediately hit it off, and he has to decide whether to follow the rules or his heart and all that.
The characters are painfully dull and dumb. I really expected more from Kagawa, since Allison from [b:The Immortal Rules|10215349|The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)|Julie Kagawa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1323357921s/10215349.jpg|15114912] is a spectacular character.
I couldn’t care less for Garret or Ember, or any of the side characters. I know nothing about them, except that they have zero personality.
Why, oh why is there a love triangle? Even a romance with one guy felt unnecessary, and this geometric shape added nothing but I already didn’t give a shit about the first guy, so why introduce another one equally as boring and lifeless?
The setting was okay, but some potential was wasted. There’s lots of surfing, because duh, it’s California! Everything about the setting is very vague, which is a shame, since California is one of my favorite places in the world.
Significantly shorter rundown of pros:
The writing is fluid and easy to read, as per usual with this author.
Maybe it’s because I read this during a tough week or because I hated my most recent Kagawa book ([b:The Iron King|6644117|The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)|Julie Kagawa|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327877670s/6644117.jpg|6838626]) with a fiery passion, but I was surprised by my own curiosity and enjoyment. I wanted to know more about the two organizations and how the plot would unfold. I felt like I was there watching, right next to Ember.
This being my fifth book by her, there's no denying that Julie Kagawa is a great storyteller. She knows how to keep a reader interested.
For a moment Talon made me forget about everything else, and it was nice.
It also left off on a predictable yet interesting note, so I will probably read the sequel.
Final verdict:
Half bad, half good.
Overall, this reads like someones’ debut novel, where everything is underdeveloped: the characters, the plot and the setting. The book is overly long and doesn’t have a plot strong enough to cover 5 books. There is nothing special about Talon, nothing at all, besides how it screams, ’’Wasted potential!’'
There were plenty of things I would’ve normally hated, but this book took none of them overboard, and I feel completely indifferent toward it.
sailormegan's review against another edition
Will go back to it one day. Just not the type of book I’m wanting to read at the moment.
smbrisco337's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
magikspells's review
5.0
Well, another Julie Kagawa book is going to be the death of me. More on this later.
misslover's review against another edition
5.0
I am actually very surprised at how many people did not enjoy Kagawa's start to her new series. Honestly? I feel to many people are so used to her writing about vampires etc that they couldn't get into her take on dragons. Me personally? I thought it was fantastic. It was kind of a fresh of breath air. Julie's writing was still amazing like always and the story from the beginning had me very interested. I will admit I'm still trying to feel for Ember. I'm not sure I like her as much as I should yet. I think I'm slowly getting there. At least, unlike some main characters, she did have a brain and used it when she needed to. I also loved being able to look at several different point of views in the story. Getting inside 3 different characters heads was amazing. Being able to look at all different angles and feeling all the emotions each of them felt. I don't think I've read a story like that in awhile.
I really think this is a love it or hate it type of book. If you love Kagawa as much as I do then I think you should at least give it a shot. You may be surprised! I thoroughly enjoyed it though and I will for sure continue this series :)
I really think this is a love it or hate it type of book. If you love Kagawa as much as I do then I think you should at least give it a shot. You may be surprised! I thoroughly enjoyed it though and I will for sure continue this series :)
southernmomma98's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
halynah's review against another edition
1.0
Well, I didn't like the Iron Fey books, but I thought, that other books of this author may be better. No such luck. Dumb, self-centred heroine made me dislike the book from the first pages, and I tried to suffer till the end - I am not in the habit of quitting books, but decided - why should I suffer so much?