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A review by gerd_d
The 19 Dragons by S.M. Reine
2.0
What struck me while reading the story was how similar it felt to Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus" in its use of present tense and switching back and forth between past and present events.
But unlike Erin's story "The 19 Dragons" becomes awfully hard to follow, and frankly, by the end I wasn't able to tell what it was all about.
There are three storylines that unfold and sort of meet by the end:
The earliest of which explains why the dragons chose to turn human,
the middle part that details how the war escalated into a devastating world war, and the main storyline playing out in the now, the chase after the person responsible for the deaths of the dragons.
Feeling highly convoluted in its storytelling, it would have helped if the author had dated the single chapters, each of which is focused on another dragon, to give the reader a better sense of time. As it stands we often find out only towards the end of a chapter if it was meant to play in the now or then.
Still, it has some great reading moments; it manages to be lyrical, funny and features a sigh worthy romantic scene.
But unlike Erin's story "The 19 Dragons" becomes awfully hard to follow, and frankly, by the end I wasn't able to tell what it was all about.
There are three storylines that unfold and sort of meet by the end:
The earliest of which explains why the dragons chose to turn human,
the middle part that details how the war escalated into a devastating world war, and the main storyline playing out in the now, the chase after the person responsible for the deaths of the dragons.
Feeling highly convoluted in its storytelling, it would have helped if the author had dated the single chapters, each of which is focused on another dragon, to give the reader a better sense of time. As it stands we often find out only towards the end of a chapter if it was meant to play in the now or then.
Still, it has some great reading moments; it manages to be lyrical, funny and features a sigh worthy romantic scene.