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A review by books_and_cocktails_afterhours
Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu
4.0
It is my honest opinion that you can never go wrong with dragons. Of course not all books with dragons are at the same level, but I’ve yet to find a book with dragons that I didn’t at least enjoy (always because of the dragon part). And dragons in epic fantasy? Sign me in. So of course I had to request this ARC as soon as I laid eyes on it.
I will, however, admit that when I reached the middle of the book, while I was enjoying the plot and the writing, that it added nothing new to the genre. Don’t get me wrong, I was really enjoying the book, but at the same time I felt like I had seen this plot before. The main character, a boy that is far from perfect or powerful but with a good head on his shoulders and knack for doing the right thing ends up (through events that are out of his control while he tries to do right thing) bonded to a dragon. This did not diminish my enjoyment while reading, specially because the politics and world building were done right. Also, I think this book was astonishingly great in terms of the writing quality and so, Dragon Rider was a much needed reminder for me of why I adore this genre.
But I was pleasantly surprised with the development of the plot during this book. I understand, of course, that this is the first book of a series and that there was a lot of information about the characters, politics and world to pass on to the reader. But as the plot thickened and developed, I found more and more elements that made this a different take on stories I have already read in the past. The politics, the war and greed are believable. This world has a beautifully complex history that we get to be privy to exactly at the right time.
Something worth mentioning is definitely how flawed, yet likable, the main characters are. And how much potential they show not only for this book, but for the continuation of this story. Jai’s relationship with Winter was adorable and inspiring from the beginning, adding so much love to this story in the middle of all of the intrigue.
I will definitely continue this series and I stand by my statement: You can never go wrong with dragons. Specially if they are loyal and adorable like Winter!
Thank you very much HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.
I will, however, admit that when I reached the middle of the book, while I was enjoying the plot and the writing, that it added nothing new to the genre. Don’t get me wrong, I was really enjoying the book, but at the same time I felt like I had seen this plot before. The main character, a boy that is far from perfect or powerful but with a good head on his shoulders and knack for doing the right thing ends up (through events that are out of his control while he tries to do right thing) bonded to a dragon. This did not diminish my enjoyment while reading, specially because the politics and world building were done right. Also, I think this book was astonishingly great in terms of the writing quality and so, Dragon Rider was a much needed reminder for me of why I adore this genre.
But I was pleasantly surprised with the development of the plot during this book. I understand, of course, that this is the first book of a series and that there was a lot of information about the characters, politics and world to pass on to the reader. But as the plot thickened and developed, I found more and more elements that made this a different take on stories I have already read in the past. The politics, the war and greed are believable. This world has a beautifully complex history that we get to be privy to exactly at the right time.
Something worth mentioning is definitely how flawed, yet likable, the main characters are. And how much potential they show not only for this book, but for the continuation of this story. Jai’s relationship with Winter was adorable and inspiring from the beginning, adding so much love to this story in the middle of all of the intrigue.
I will definitely continue this series and I stand by my statement: You can never go wrong with dragons. Specially if they are loyal and adorable like Winter!
Thank you very much HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.