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A review by priyagill
House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
5 compete in a trial to become the new emperor, one who vowed never to pick up a sword again, one hiding chaotic magic, one a servant, one a bastard, and one who killed her sister to ensure her place.
I feel like this book had a lot of potential, but right from the start we get the perspective of all 5 characters and there’s a lot of information about each character in their initial chapters. It’s a bit too jumpy, and too much of an info dump. We’re told a lot of the plot instead of seeing it in action, and because of the constant shift in perspective it’s really hard to root for one of the characters, or feel their struggle.
The trials themselves were okay, but felt like a lot of the action or piecing together the information happened very quickly. At the top of a page we’re reading what a character thinks and by the end we have all the details.
The Game was the most interesting because we saw the ways the others were able to get political advantage. The Race was for nothing, as well as the Truth. Having the Priests be evil was a twist, but one that felt not very surprising. They didn’t seem like good people to begin with, which took away from the shock.
Hyperia’s decent into the mad queen archetype was great to see, it really did remind me a lot of Game of Thrones and the burning of Kings landing … but at the same time felt too similar. Vespir forgiving Antonia at the end seemed unjust, she should have believed in the person she loves. I wish Ajax had more importance or brought more value to the throne other than just being crafty. Lucian and Emilia’s romance budding towards the end was nice, but they both doubt each other to an extent.
Hyperia somehow getting to the chaotic island without a dragon, without anything, and being able to raise them just for her to want destruction was a nice touch at the end.
Overall, it was a good book, interesting characters but not something I would continue.
I feel like this book had a lot of potential, but right from the start we get the perspective of all 5 characters and there’s a lot of information about each character in their initial chapters. It’s a bit too jumpy, and too much of an info dump. We’re told a lot of the plot instead of seeing it in action, and because of the constant shift in perspective it’s really hard to root for one of the characters, or feel their struggle.
The trials themselves were okay, but felt like a lot of the action or piecing together the information happened very quickly. At the top of a page we’re reading what a character thinks and by the end we have all the details.
The Game was the most interesting because we saw the ways the others were able to get political advantage. The Race was for nothing, as well as the Truth. Having the Priests be evil was a twist, but one that felt not very surprising. They didn’t seem like good people to begin with, which took away from the shock.
Hyperia’s decent into the mad queen archetype was great to see, it really did remind me a lot of Game of Thrones and the burning of Kings landing … but at the same time felt too similar. Vespir forgiving Antonia at the end seemed unjust, she should have believed in the person she loves. I wish Ajax had more importance or brought more value to the throne other than just being crafty. Lucian and Emilia’s romance budding towards the end was nice, but they both doubt each other to an extent.
Hyperia somehow getting to the chaotic island without a dragon, without anything, and being able to raise them just for her to want destruction was a nice touch at the end.
Overall, it was a good book, interesting characters but not something I would continue.