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A review by woahshereads
Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I actually enjoyed this book and thought it had a really intriguing premise. The seadragon and magical fruit was very interesting and I loved the idea of bringing in "markings" as an ode to cultural tattoos in the pacific. However, I thought the execution was just a little "mid" (as the kids say these days).
There wasn't a ton of character development. You got to know and understand who they were through the small interactions they carried with one another but there wasn't much depth to really drive the reader to be invested in their stories. Furthermore, the plot often felt like it was just hovering in the background with little detail again aiding to its purpose. We know the queen is in some sort of ageless coma and without a dragonfruit there is no hope to bring her back. But I often felt like Hanalei's drive to learn more about seadragons was far more interesting and intriguing (again probably because we have no background or history to tie us emotionally to the queen).
As far as YA fantasy goes, this did have the world building limits I would have expected and I honestly felt like I could imagine this world fairly vividly. Could it have also had way more contributing to the world building? Absolutely. But it did tick my boxes so I am happy with that.
I also really loved Fetu & the other markings on the characters. That was a really unique element to include and I felt it elevated the story as far as interests go.
I would definitely recommend this one, just know it is probably as YA as you can get. Absolutely no spice, barely and romance or relationship building at all so somewhat stale in that regard but interesting premise nonetheless!
There wasn't a ton of character development. You got to know and understand who they were through the small interactions they carried with one another but there wasn't much depth to really drive the reader to be invested in their stories. Furthermore, the plot often felt like it was just hovering in the background with little detail again aiding to its purpose. We know the queen is in some sort of ageless coma and without a dragonfruit there is no hope to bring her back. But I often felt like Hanalei's drive to learn more about seadragons was far more interesting and intriguing (again probably because we have no background or history to tie us emotionally to the queen).
As far as YA fantasy goes, this did have the world building limits I would have expected and I honestly felt like I could imagine this world fairly vividly. Could it have also had way more contributing to the world building? Absolutely. But it did tick my boxes so I am happy with that.
I also really loved Fetu & the other markings on the characters. That was a really unique element to include and I felt it elevated the story as far as interests go.
I would definitely recommend this one, just know it is probably as YA as you can get. Absolutely no spice, barely and romance or relationship building at all so somewhat stale in that regard but interesting premise nonetheless!