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A review by morrigan_gaines_writes
Dragonborn by Jamie Dalton
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
4.0
**I received an ARC copy of this book and this is my honest review**
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it can easily be a favorite book for some people, but others aren't going to connect as well with it.
In short:
- Must read and remember book 1 to know what's going on in this one
- excellent worldbuilding and magic system
- Cast of characters all have strong voices
- Very fast-paced
- Very action focused
- I have a hard time connecting to the MC as she doesn't let us into her emotions often
- Love interest subplot is falling flat for me
- Adalyn uncovers new skills with her ability that are pretty awesome
First off, you cannot just jump into this book. You need to read the first one or you will be very, very lost if you pick this one up. It is a series that relies extremely heavily on the reader remembering what happened in the previous book. It's also fast paced. If you like to binge read your series then this would be the one to pick up.
On one hand we have a very vibrant world that has recently rediscovered magic and elements of space/time travel between two countries which used to be on the same plane of time. We have a young woman who is unwillingly thrown into leadership and its clear she's not convinced that she's cut out for that position or will continue leading if she's given another option. Each character has their own clear voice and personality.
On the other hand, I still can't seem to connect with Adalyn. I want to so badly though. This book has a lot of the elements that teen me and adult me enjoy. But I feel like I'm dragged along on Adalyn's journey and only catch brief superficial glimpses of who she is. I don't get a good understanding of her motives, her feelings, her weaknesses. All I get to see is a reluctant young woman who is doing what has to be done and not reacting much to the fact she's uncovered knowledge time and time again that will completely change everything in the world. She (view spoiler) Once in a while we see her internally struggle with "I have never been a leader and now lead this whole group" but we never see her really mad, or sad, or broken, or even happy. I think the last couple chapters, particularly the cliffhanger is where I really felt her emotion.
This is a YA book so I'm not expecting a ton of focus on the love interest. BUT its very clear that is a subplot point. The resolution we got with the love interest in this book fell flat for me. I think this was because I just can't seem to connect with Adalyn. At times she's just pushing through and then she suddenly opens up randomly to another character but it still doesn't help me connect the way I need to. The paragraph or so resolution we got felt odd considering her age and the situation of it being her first love.
I did like the epilogue. I felt like it added a alternative side to the story that we needed to round out what we had just uncovered at the end.
The author has improved since her first book, which already had strong prose. The writing flowed more smoothly and was cohesive. The jumps in time and space made sense. I didn't have any points where I didn't understand how we got there. It's a fantastic concept and if you enjoy fast paced YA fantasy this would be a great book to try.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it can easily be a favorite book for some people, but others aren't going to connect as well with it.
In short:
- Must read and remember book 1 to know what's going on in this one
- excellent worldbuilding and magic system
- Cast of characters all have strong voices
- Very fast-paced
- Very action focused
- I have a hard time connecting to the MC as she doesn't let us into her emotions often
- Love interest subplot is falling flat for me
- Adalyn uncovers new skills with her ability that are pretty awesome
First off, you cannot just jump into this book. You need to read the first one or you will be very, very lost if you pick this one up. It is a series that relies extremely heavily on the reader remembering what happened in the previous book. It's also fast paced. If you like to binge read your series then this would be the one to pick up.
On one hand we have a very vibrant world that has recently rediscovered magic and elements of space/time travel between two countries which used to be on the same plane of time. We have a young woman who is unwillingly thrown into leadership and its clear she's not convinced that she's cut out for that position or will continue leading if she's given another option. Each character has their own clear voice and personality.
On the other hand, I still can't seem to connect with Adalyn. I want to so badly though. This book has a lot of the elements that teen me and adult me enjoy. But I feel like I'm dragged along on Adalyn's journey and only catch brief superficial glimpses of who she is. I don't get a good understanding of her motives, her feelings, her weaknesses. All I get to see is a reluctant young woman who is doing what has to be done and not reacting much to the fact she's uncovered knowledge time and time again that will completely change everything in the world. She (view spoiler) Once in a while we see her internally struggle with "I have never been a leader and now lead this whole group" but we never see her really mad, or sad, or broken, or even happy. I think the last couple chapters, particularly the cliffhanger is where I really felt her emotion.
This is a YA book so I'm not expecting a ton of focus on the love interest. BUT its very clear that is a subplot point. The resolution we got with the love interest in this book fell flat for me. I think this was because I just can't seem to connect with Adalyn. At times she's just pushing through and then she suddenly opens up randomly to another character but it still doesn't help me connect the way I need to. The paragraph or so resolution we got felt odd considering her age and the situation of it being her first love.
I did like the epilogue. I felt like it added a alternative side to the story that we needed to round out what we had just uncovered at the end.
The author has improved since her first book, which already had strong prose. The writing flowed more smoothly and was cohesive. The jumps in time and space made sense. I didn't have any points where I didn't understand how we got there. It's a fantastic concept and if you enjoy fast paced YA fantasy this would be a great book to try.