A review by seabright22
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Really enjoyed this up to the last section. Written with a lovely sense of wonder, you get a really good idea of who Isabella is as a person and how the world around her shaped both her young self and the older self writing the book, and the romance within the book was really lovely and tenderly written.

Dragons are always cool as well, it’s nice to see someone delve into a natural history side of the creature rather than making them godlike and mythical.

However the last section of the book felt rushed and unearned, and the

death of Jacob

especially felt like it was added to add stakes to a conspiracy too fast in the making. It really feels like another section once they

suspect the boyar and the chemist

would’ve added room to breathe and allowed the stakes to come naturally. Having your character point out a deus ex machina two or three times doesn’t make it not one.

Overall I did really like the book though, I will be reading the second one.