Name: Katie Allard's review of Dragonfall by Laura Lam
Item: Dragonfall
Rating: 4.5
Author: Katie Allard

Laura Lam

The first in an epic fantasy trilogy from Sunday Times bestselling author Laura Lam. Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive. Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge. The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completel - -body, mind, and soul - and then kill them. Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

Dragonfall

Sophia 

 Knowledge was escape. Books were thresholds, and you could cross them and leave yourself behind, or use what you found inside to transform into someone else. 

I will share how I fell. But first, I must tell you what it is like to fly. 

Becky A

When I originally heard the premise, I thought it was odd and didn’t think it could in my head but I was so wrong. I loved this - thieves, heists, dragons, forbidden love, a magic bond, fate, mystical prophecies, and more. I know that sounds like a lot but it’s done so well! I was hooked after the first few chapters. The only thing I think could be better is the magic system and some of the history surrounding the magic system and how it affects its people. I can’t wait to finish this duology next year!

Katie Allard

Ellie M.

Thank you to L.R. Lam and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. I read this after the book was published but this doesn’t affect my review in any way. 

This high-fantasy novel was the first book that I read that focused solely on the lore of dragons, which were creatures out of my field of interest under the genre. Overall, I certainly had regrets about this book because it was incredibly tiring to read. I did not hate it, yet I also don’t consider it memorable. The premise of this book was very appealing since it had multiple POVs which helped me know different perspectives throughout the book. I loved the non-binary representation, the little bit of romance on the side, together with the existence of sign language in a fictional world; these were elements that I considered enjoyable and very intuitive. However, the extensive details in the world-building and heavy info-dumping on the magic system throughout this book made it exhausting to read. It was the reason I really hated my reading experience with Dragonfall. I think if the narration was toned down, the book would’ve been shorter, and I would’ve enjoyed it more. Nevertheless, I think Arcady and Everen’s story have wonderful potential. Happy Pride Month to them!

Danny Werhane

3.75/5 thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. 

There were many things I loved about this book- the main one being the queer normative world. Lots and lots of casual queer rep here! The main character Arcady uses all pronouns and is genderfluid. Every character is referred to with they/them pronouns at first. There is also a type of sign language that the characters use to give their pronouns! I also loved that there was a deaf character who used sign language to communicate. I also enjoyed the romance. It was really well paced and had lots of tension and banter. It utilized one of my favorite niche tropes ‘I have to kill you but I’m falling in love with you’. There is also a heist plot line part way through! 
Now onto the less positive things. The one things that held me back from giving this the whole four stars was the Magic system and world building. It was very confusing, and often info dumpy, especially at the beginning. The humans stole the dragons magic? How? It seemed like the characters just used magic and there wasn’t any explanations. Outside of that magic use causes hunger and will make you eat people if you use to much, which really wasn’t explained either. 
The writing was also a bit weird, Everen’s pov is told in a mix of first and second person. It’s explained why at the end of the book, but it didn’t really feel necessary to me and just disrupted the flow. Certain characters were referred to in pronouns that were capitalized to show their status in society, and that bothered me as well. Also there was a third POV that was added in like every five chapters and I didn’t care about it, and it wasn’t super relevant until the end of the book. 
Overall though this was a highly enjoyable book, and I’m definitely will be picking up the rest of the series!

Becky A &
Dragonfall by Laura Lam

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Becky A &
Dragonfall by Laura Lam