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julia_stark 's review for:
Dragonborn
by Struan Murray
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dragons! Need I say more? Well I'm going to anyway.
Alex's life is carved into an iron-clad regime by her overbearing mother: if she's not at school, she's kept busy with activities, told not to speak to anyone else, and to never return to the woods she and her dad used to adventure in. Alex is desperate to escape the grip of her mother and structure, to go back to the wildness and magical stories her dad taught her. It's not long before she's breaking the rules and screaming for freedom in the woods.
Screaming tends to wake things up. Alex hasn't just stirred the magic of the forest, she's awoken something within herself, something with claws and teeth, flame and shadow. She's faced with the unbelievable truth - Alex is a dragon. It's not long before the mighty Oliphos is guiding her to her true self on the hidden island of Skralla, where she meets other wild dragon children in training, learns about the elite team of dragon warriors - the Skarren-Har - and discovers the power she wields from the dragon she's reluctant to release.
But Alex must learn to free her dragon; the deadly Drak Midna has hidden in the shadows for 3,000 years old, but the dragons sense he's on the move. He'll stop at nothing to have control of all slumbering dragonborns, and only Alex has the power to stop him. Can she face her fears and let go of everything, or will the world burn around her?
Entertaining from the outset, Dragonborn is an electrifying story for young readers. Struan Murray delves into the world of Skralla and its lore without it getting complicated or drawing from the main plot, and brings a variety of characters and real-world thinking to it. Murray writes in a way that doesn't over-simplify the themes and respects young readers to handle the topics of grief, self-discovery, and resilience, with comedic and fantasy elements keeping the story from becoming too serious.
Dragonborn follows the archetypical plot of a young fantasy story, and yet I didn't see the plot twists coming at the end (there's a real red herring!). An exciting and refreshing take on dragons and their place in the modern world, Dragonborn is a fiery new series for young fiction and Struan Murray is just warming up...
Alex's life is carved into an iron-clad regime by her overbearing mother: if she's not at school, she's kept busy with activities, told not to speak to anyone else, and to never return to the woods she and her dad used to adventure in. Alex is desperate to escape the grip of her mother and structure, to go back to the wildness and magical stories her dad taught her. It's not long before she's breaking the rules and screaming for freedom in the woods.
Screaming tends to wake things up. Alex hasn't just stirred the magic of the forest, she's awoken something within herself, something with claws and teeth, flame and shadow. She's faced with the unbelievable truth - Alex is a dragon. It's not long before the mighty Oliphos is guiding her to her true self on the hidden island of Skralla, where she meets other wild dragon children in training, learns about the elite team of dragon warriors - the Skarren-Har - and discovers the power she wields from the dragon she's reluctant to release.
But Alex must learn to free her dragon; the deadly Drak Midna has hidden in the shadows for 3,000 years old, but the dragons sense he's on the move. He'll stop at nothing to have control of all slumbering dragonborns, and only Alex has the power to stop him. Can she face her fears and let go of everything, or will the world burn around her?
Entertaining from the outset, Dragonborn is an electrifying story for young readers. Struan Murray delves into the world of Skralla and its lore without it getting complicated or drawing from the main plot, and brings a variety of characters and real-world thinking to it. Murray writes in a way that doesn't over-simplify the themes and respects young readers to handle the topics of grief, self-discovery, and resilience, with comedic and fantasy elements keeping the story from becoming too serious.
Dragonborn follows the archetypical plot of a young fantasy story, and yet I didn't see the plot twists coming at the end (there's a real red herring!). An exciting and refreshing take on dragons and their place in the modern world, Dragonborn is a fiery new series for young fiction and Struan Murray is just warming up...