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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Now I'm usually not a fan of sport books, but the fantasy element and use of dragons in said sport was enough to pique my interest. The international competition aspect was interesting, especially as we see all these regional dragon variants and their special kinds of magic. The worldbuilding as a whole is very simple, it's your standard magical spin on our world with magic users and dragons, but non-magical people are in the know, which is a little bit of a refreshing switchup from the usual trope of magical secrecy. Other than that every other tidbit seems fairly standard, which sort of sums up my view on the book.
It's a book that feels like it's just okay. I enjoyed my time reading it, though it felt like it had a few dry spells when it came to keeping my attention. Lana's naivete in the first half was starting to get grating, though thankfully she gets more perspective on her situation as the story goes on and new information comes to light. The other characters, mostly her teammates, could have used more of a spotlight as they started to blend in with the background towards the end. There's this whole theme of Lana regarding them as a family and how they're stronger than ever together, but we got very few scenes of that dynamic and even them some characterizations felt a little hollow.
On that note, our baddy Sire seems a bit shallow as well. I'm all for villains just being straight up evil for the sake of it, but I felt like there was more potential for a nuanced take of a dragon cursed into human form trying to regain his power. He's certainly threatening, but there's not much to differentiate him from every other bad guy with a god complex.
I will say that the ending packs a pretty emotional punch and, without giving too much away, I hope that they sort of stick to that landing. Though it may sound morbid, I do actually like when books stick to "we're going to kill off this character and that's it." No happy feely resurrection, no magical do overs, this death is going to have a weight on our characters because yes there will be consequences. ESPECIALLY if that death is a potential love interest. I rarely see YA fiction go down this route and it just feels like a nice change of pace.
It does make me want to read the sequel just to see what kind of effect it will have and if any interesting development will come of it. Just gimme all the character building trauma.
It's a book that feels like it's just okay. I enjoyed my time reading it, though it felt like it had a few dry spells when it came to keeping my attention. Lana's naivete in the first half was starting to get grating, though thankfully she gets more perspective on her situation as the story goes on and new information comes to light. The other characters, mostly her teammates, could have used more of a spotlight as they started to blend in with the background towards the end. There's this whole theme of Lana regarding them as a family and how they're stronger than ever together, but we got very few scenes of that dynamic and even them some characterizations felt a little hollow.
On that note, our baddy Sire seems a bit shallow as well. I'm all for villains just being straight up evil for the sake of it, but I felt like there was more potential for a nuanced take of a dragon cursed into human form trying to regain his power. He's certainly threatening, but there's not much to differentiate him from every other bad guy with a god complex.
I will say that the ending packs a pretty emotional punch and, without giving too much away, I hope that they sort of stick to that landing.
It does make me want to read the sequel just to see what kind of effect it will have and if any interesting development will come of it. Just gimme all the character building trauma.
This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This book started off really strong. The beginning was fun, fast, unique, everything I look for in a book. The cast of characters is super diverse. I was just loving it right off the bat.
But then, about a third of the way through, my interest really started waning. The world building that had started off so great seemed to trickle off some. It was like a house being built, the frame was there, but the walls weren't up yet. I wanted more.
I also lost interest in the main character. I wanted to love her, and initially I did! But again, I got bored. I felt like her story was less interesting than the stories of some of those around her, and it seemed unfair. Her personality and motivations were there, but her story never quite reached the level I was hoping for.
The ending was good, and surprising in some ways, which is something I always appreciate. But the whole middle section just really didn't do it for me this time. I would definitely recommend this book for teens though, because it is a fun story overall, it's very diverse, and dragons are always a plus. It just wasn't for me.
This book started off really strong. The beginning was fun, fast, unique, everything I look for in a book. The cast of characters is super diverse. I was just loving it right off the bat.
But then, about a third of the way through, my interest really started waning. The world building that had started off so great seemed to trickle off some. It was like a house being built, the frame was there, but the walls weren't up yet. I wanted more.
I also lost interest in the main character. I wanted to love her, and initially I did! But again, I got bored. I felt like her story was less interesting than the stories of some of those around her, and it seemed unfair. Her personality and motivations were there, but her story never quite reached the level I was hoping for.
The ending was good, and surprising in some ways, which is something I always appreciate. But the whole middle section just really didn't do it for me this time. I would definitely recommend this book for teens though, because it is a fun story overall, it's very diverse, and dragons are always a plus. It just wasn't for me.
RTC closer to pub date. Thanks to Netgalley and Page Street Kids for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review.
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Honestly, it’s a fairly good urban fantasy books. It’s like if muggles were in on the secret… and there’s lots of dragons.
I couldn’t call any of the true plot twists in this book, so that’s something great. And the characters are mostly lovable.
Lana seems to master martial arts in two days. Maybe two weeks. Whichever the case, unlikely.
Also… the games are for countries. Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom. And Puerto Rico is a US territory.
I couldn’t call any of the true plot twists in this book, so that’s something great. And the characters are mostly lovable.
Lana seems to master martial arts in two days. Maybe two weeks. Whichever the case, unlikely.
Also… the games are for countries. Scotland is a part of the United Kingdom. And Puerto Rico is a US territory.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
This book is amazing!! It gave me all the representation I wanted and more!! The writing is amazing and all the characters are so lovable and amazingly written. I highly recommend this book to anyone it has everything for everyone! Will definitely read the second book!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thoughts and Themes: The first thing that I thought when I saw this book and read the first few lines was this reminds me so much of How to Train Your Dragon which I love. Once I made that connection I was not able to put this book down even when I had to because sleep is something I need. This book also reminded me of the soccer world cup that comes every 4 years and while I don’t really watch it my family does so I have fond memories of the game.
I really enjoyed the world-building that is not just done through the story but also in the passages that are included in between chapters. I loved getting to see how so many different countries were involved throughout this book and how their dragons were all unique. I thought it was great to see all of their differences and how these dragons would only bond with those that were from that country. All of the dragons included were amazing and you never got the sense that one of these countries was greater than the other, just that they all had their advantages.
I was quite shocked by how quickly an important aspect of the story is revealed to us all and was a bit worried that this revelation would make the rest of the story fall flat but I am glad I was wrong. I think this revelation coming early on really sets the stage for the rest of the story and makes it so that everything else that happens is more interesting.
Characters: I loved getting to know all of the characters throughout this book even if they are all shown through Lana’s perspective. I thought it was great that we not only get to meet her teammates but other teammates, and people from her life prior to joining the team. I thought watching her be torn between those two worlds really adds to the story and her background as a character.
Some of the other characters I was glad that were included were all of the political people that we met throughout. I was worried that the political storyline would be too much but I actually really enjoyed that being tied up with everything. I think that it made good commentary about athletics and politics and how everything we do is inherently political.
I also loved that there were so many queer characters in this story and how they were all amazing characters. This really added to my love for this book because I love seeing queer characters just living their lives and in this case being athletes and riding dragons. Seeing queer characters in fantasy books is always a plus for me because then I can see a little bit of me in a different world, one in which I could be among dragons.
Writing Style: This story is told through Lana’s perspective and while I would have liked to see what the other's thoughts were throughout I liked that we didn’t. Us being given only her perspective added to the mystery of what was happening and made me feel worried for her at all times.
I really enjoyed the world-building that is not just done through the story but also in the passages that are included in between chapters. I loved getting to see how so many different countries were involved throughout this book and how their dragons were all unique. I thought it was great to see all of their differences and how these dragons would only bond with those that were from that country. All of the dragons included were amazing and you never got the sense that one of these countries was greater than the other, just that they all had their advantages.
I was quite shocked by how quickly an important aspect of the story is revealed to us all and was a bit worried that this revelation would make the rest of the story fall flat but I am glad I was wrong. I think this revelation coming early on really sets the stage for the rest of the story and makes it so that everything else that happens is more interesting.
Characters: I loved getting to know all of the characters throughout this book even if they are all shown through Lana’s perspective. I thought it was great that we not only get to meet her teammates but other teammates, and people from her life prior to joining the team. I thought watching her be torn between those two worlds really adds to the story and her background as a character.
Some of the other characters I was glad that were included were all of the political people that we met throughout. I was worried that the political storyline would be too much but I actually really enjoyed that being tied up with everything. I think that it made good commentary about athletics and politics and how everything we do is inherently political.
I also loved that there were so many queer characters in this story and how they were all amazing characters. This really added to my love for this book because I love seeing queer characters just living their lives and in this case being athletes and riding dragons. Seeing queer characters in fantasy books is always a plus for me because then I can see a little bit of me in a different world, one in which I could be among dragons.
Writing Style: This story is told through Lana’s perspective and while I would have liked to see what the other's thoughts were throughout I liked that we didn’t. Us being given only her perspective added to the mystery of what was happening and made me feel worried for her at all times.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No