Dragonfall

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!

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!

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!