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A review by iam
Tale of a Dragon Princess by Lizzie Colt
3.0
2.5 stars
Tale of a Dragon Princess is a rather short fantasy novella about Mellie, a princess cursed to turn into an ice dragon every night, her loving parents and Adie, a young warrior, who together find out why Mellie was cursed and how to reverse it.
The story felt rather fairy tale like in it's shortness and how some of it was told.
Overall, the writing was really awkward. It didn't flow well, didn't build up emotion or excitement, and the dialogue felt stilted and unatural.
The first two chapters are told from Queen Jasmine's PoV, who is Mellie's mother. For the prologue that details how Mellie was cursed as a baby that made sense, but beyond that it felt a bit weird. The rest of the book's POV switch between Mellie and Adie.
What was nice was the tids and bits of worldbuilding, that also reminded me a bit of fairy tales, and the representation. Mellie is lesbian and afraid of how people will react if she tells them and what it means for her as future queen in a heteronormative society where she is expected to marry well, while Adie is bisexual and from a community that welcomes all sexualities. Mellie is white and Adie is black, and Adie is disabled, she has a prothesis, PTSD and what is probably dyslexia.
The romance between them was sweet and straightforward, though I was a bit bewildered by how fixated Adie was on Mellie's perceived innocence.
I also liked how despite the shortness of the book and how linear and predictable the plot was there were still lots of conversations about (self-)acceptance, coming out, disability, and PTSD and how to deal with traumatic events.
Tale of a Dragon Princess is a rather short fantasy novella about Mellie, a princess cursed to turn into an ice dragon every night, her loving parents and Adie, a young warrior, who together find out why Mellie was cursed and how to reverse it.
The story felt rather fairy tale like in it's shortness and how some of it was told.
Overall, the writing was really awkward. It didn't flow well, didn't build up emotion or excitement, and the dialogue felt stilted and unatural.
The first two chapters are told from Queen Jasmine's PoV, who is Mellie's mother. For the prologue that details how Mellie was cursed as a baby that made sense, but beyond that it felt a bit weird. The rest of the book's POV switch between Mellie and Adie.
What was nice was the tids and bits of worldbuilding, that also reminded me a bit of fairy tales, and the representation. Mellie is lesbian and afraid of how people will react if she tells them and what it means for her as future queen in a heteronormative society where she is expected to marry well, while Adie is bisexual and from a community that welcomes all sexualities. Mellie is white and Adie is black, and Adie is disabled, she has a prothesis, PTSD and what is probably dyslexia.
The romance between them was sweet and straightforward, though I was a bit bewildered by how fixated Adie was on Mellie's perceived innocence.
I also liked how despite the shortness of the book and how linear and predictable the plot was there were still lots of conversations about (self-)acceptance, coming out, disability, and PTSD and how to deal with traumatic events.