The Alchemists of Loom

Let's all rejoice over the fact that a whole lot of the characters here are pansexual, and celebrate about how i goddamn freak out over Cvareh being twice the age of Ari but then being told that Fenthri aged twice as fast as Dragons. But this steampunk world is so unique and enthralling, I was captured from the start. Can't wait to read the next one to see how it goes, just because I want to see 1. Florence finally kick ass like how she wanted to 2. Petra being THE bitch 3. The outcome of the enemies to grudging respect to friends (to potential love interest) between two characters

This is a hard book to review. I spent nearly a week reading it, which is a long time for me when this book isn't that long. That being said, I really did like it. I mean, all anyone should have said to me about this book was dragons and I would have wanted to read. I love when there are new and interesting ways of putting dragons into books. I will begin by saying I loved the characters. I loved how flawed Ariana was and how she wasn't a perfect character. She held a major grudge against all of dragon kind for reasons which aren;t fully elaborated upon. She also holds mega secrets inside and she is like a vault of secrets really. SHe knows all this stuff and she doesn't like to let folks in to find it all out. Then there is Florence, who is lovely and nice and always to give people the benefit of the doubt. She is sweet and pretty logical, but also very emotional. She isn't always brave and at the front of the action but she is all heart and has firm beliefs and even when she has to stand up against those she respects and cares for she will if it means she is standing up for what's right. She is almost like Ari's conscience at times. And then there's Cvareh (whose name I've probably butchered because I am like a sieve when it comes to remembering book names). I think I liked him best. I mean, Ari was great with her shades of grey and mega secrets but Cvareh with his mission and determination and his pride and his willingness to learn and admit his wrong is awesome. I loved how his views of Loom changed as he actually got to know the people who inhabited the land and the people who were there to help him. I just really enjoyed the book. The story was interesting and the pacing was ace and most importantly the world building was spot on. I mean, I kind of loved and hated being dropped into the action from the beginning with no introduction. It meant you had a steep learning curve right from the start but it also meant that you didn't have chance to get bored as you learnt about this new world. You didn't have time as the action had already begun.

Ever since the resistance fell, Ari has been making her money by selling her talents to those with the most money. She is brilliant, fearless, and as good a thief as an engineer. Until she comes across a dragon on her way home from a very risky job. Should she stop and take it's heart for more money, or be happy with the money from the job she just finished? This was the first book I've read by Elise Kova, and I have to say, I've been missing out. The book started a little slow, but picked up after the first few chapters. The characters are fantastic!! I love the cover too. I received a copy of this book from Net Galley.

2.5⭐ maybe, but I won't round this up. That was one abrupt ending. Or I might have missed something. Objectively, everything with the book is alright - interesting world, we get the right amount of information, the characters are intriguing... Subjectively, it just didn't hold my attention. I kept rereading pages, losing the thread, it was hard for me to feel the time passing in the book... left feeling meh about it.

This is such an interesting story!! I'm loving it so far. It falls very clearly in the YA genre :)

This was a surprisingly great book!!! I bought it on a whim at a local bookstore and they highly recommended the series. The world building was very good and there is a reference page in the back explaining the different guild marks, dragon society ranks etc. If you really like the aspect of high fantasy/world building then this book is up your alley. I highly enjoyed it along with the complexity of the main character Arianna. Arianna is really a mystery through the whole novel and the author does such a good job at building her character throughout the book. I love the snarky remarks from her and Cvareh...the relationship build between these two was very well done. The writing and plot was good as well. Overall such a good book and highly recommended.