Reviews

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

hannahsantoyo's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

gillygild2342's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-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? No

3.25

I liked this but it was slow at times. I feel like this might be one of the rare occurrences where a tv adaptation would be better than the book. The bare plot line for this book is very good but it feels like the author drew this out to make enough meat for a trilogy when I think this would have been better structured as a duology. The other downside was this book ends with all of the characters basically being back where they started which irks me. However the world building in this was really immaculate, the Loc society is built off of an acceptance that gender and gender identify are fluid.

arcady and everen were an interesting team and the journey of everen being pulled into the human world was an interesting twist of Arcady accidentally stealing everen’s ability to see the future. The priest being the former sole male dragon was a good twist as well

I might continue on with this series with the hope that the plot becomes more concise.

cupiscent's review against another edition

There's a lot I like about the setting and the framing, but the style is the sort of short-and-simple-and-telling of a lot of YA fantasy that is just not for me. Onwards!

frankenstein_darling's review

4.0

HOLY HECK ~ so close to being THE perfect contemporary dragon story.

burtini's review against another edition

2.0

If you picked up Dragonfall to read about dragons (with them literally being the cover and in the title), beware, there isn’t actually a lot of dragon content. Everen is the last male dragon, pulled through the veil from his home when Arcady performs a spell using a powerful artefact, the spell linking the 2. The problem is that for the majority of the book Everen is in human form to not be detected. While this could change as the books go on, as this is only book 1 in a trilogy and yes the ending does finally get quite busy and promising, this book focuses more on performing a heist using their combined skills than anything you expect it to be about.

Lam is very focused on gender issues which of course is absolutely fine although has been addressed more subtly elsewhere, however the vagueness in the writing when describing particularly Arcady makes it quite difficult to picture them in your mind. Throughout the book I don’t even know if I liked Arcady, I just couldn’t get a grasp of them as a rounded, vulnerable character. Everen at least reads like a dragon, he’s predatory in the sense that he wants something from Arcady and sets out to manipulatively get it, he’s cunning and arrogant at times. But he does also feel the more rounded of the characters, including Sorin the dragon hunter with a vow of silence who, sadly, doesn’t really contribute anything.

The writing style is also a little off putting, jumping from 1st, 2nd or 3rd person, which gets a little messy and confusing as the book goes on.
Of course as I’ve already said, plenty of grumbles or criticisms could easily be addressed as the series continues, including character depth and development as well as greater focus on the dragons and magic system.
Unfortunately I don’t think I will be continuing the weird to find out though. Thank you NetGalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

rovco's review

1.0

I hope They didn't think They were writing witty allegory. Like people reading this already understand gender theory, why are you so on the nose, condescendingly explaining it. The idea of it being a utopia where everyone is fluid and mixed is admirable but really awkward in this book.

You can tell They were going for an enemies to lover thing but it is so poorly done. They use constant exposition trying to force you to believe the MCs hated each other but then quickly are like, "nvm, I love you".

I wanted to like this book so bad but it was so cringe. YA doesn't mean dumbed down, say exactly what you want the reader to think, and use TikTok rhetoric to explain gender like you are an inspiring authority for doing it.

lnlux's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

bookhoardernic's review

3.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 An entertaining fantasy with potential for the larger series. It felt both old and new in its storytelling. It took me a bit to get into the writing style and cadence of the story, but once I did, I enjoyed the ride.

alisafong's review

2.75

2.7 - spent too much time world building and the book seemed really short, lots of characters to get to know in a short time and I didn’t think the relationships between characters were explored enough

akbriggs7's review

5.0

It was slow getting into it. But I am in love with Arcady & Everan. I love dragons and I loved the spin on this.