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hulahoopes's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome!!! A thrilling fantasy with a modern message. Loved it!
sigfig's review against another edition
a very canadian book, many unexplained canadian references that i enjoyed.
bookgirl4ever's review against another edition
3.0
In an alternate reality, the world is beset by ferocious dragons who thrive on carbon output. At the time, dragon slaying a family affair and Owen comes from a line of rock star dragon slayers. He tries to balance his dragon slaying training with high school. On his first day he meets Siobhan, the narrator of this story. Siobhan has an unusual gift with music. She is very matter-of-fact and doesn't show much passion, except for music. Owen's family learns of Siobhan's talents and enlist her to become his bard-a tradition that has ended for the dragon slayer community. The politics of dragon slaying and commentary on big corporations' interest in the bottom line rather than the environment make this a dragon book for the avid fantasy reader.
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aylea's review against another edition
4.0
This review was published by The Children's Book and Media Review run by Brigham Young University.
There aren’t a lot of dragon slayers in their tiny Canadian town, but when Owen and his family shows up, Siobhan’s life changes as she becomes his bard to chronicle his adventures. She helps him with his algebra while she’s working on her music skills. Before she expects it, however, she’s on a quest with him to discover why there are so many dragons in the area and what they can do to stop it. She discovers her own role in Owen’s story, and that even a bard can have a huge impact on how the Story of Owen will end.
The relationship between Siobhan and Owen grows into a functioning team, and perhaps one of the best aspects of it is that it turns into a strong friendship instead of into a romance like what might be expected. The world-building is fascinating, taking our world but adding in dragons that are attracted to carbon fuels. The invented history to make it parallel to our world with the addition of dragons is fascinating and thorough. The dry humor, excellent world building, and fantastic characters will make this book a favorite for fantasy lovers.
There aren’t a lot of dragon slayers in their tiny Canadian town, but when Owen and his family shows up, Siobhan’s life changes as she becomes his bard to chronicle his adventures. She helps him with his algebra while she’s working on her music skills. Before she expects it, however, she’s on a quest with him to discover why there are so many dragons in the area and what they can do to stop it. She discovers her own role in Owen’s story, and that even a bard can have a huge impact on how the Story of Owen will end.
The relationship between Siobhan and Owen grows into a functioning team, and perhaps one of the best aspects of it is that it turns into a strong friendship instead of into a romance like what might be expected. The world-building is fascinating, taking our world but adding in dragons that are attracted to carbon fuels. The invented history to make it parallel to our world with the addition of dragons is fascinating and thorough. The dry humor, excellent world building, and fantastic characters will make this book a favorite for fantasy lovers.
fleurdujour's review against another edition
3.0
Probably my favorite thing about this book was the dragons. I loved this carbon eating twist E.K. Johnston used, and the vast amounts of different dragons that existed and that you could actually recognize because she made so many distinct varieties. I probably could have read a book that was nothing but dragon attack after dragon attack, but unfortunately we also had the high school side of the story to deal with.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. But I just found that the story was bogged down at times by the high school minutia that didn't really drive the story forward at all. Also I thought it was super odd that there was such a large revelation but then nothing came of it. At. All. And it really annoyed me.
I also found that most of the time I really didn't care for Owen or Siobhan because there really wasn't all that much about them to care about. Owen hardly had any character development the entire book. He remained the golden child dragon-slayer-in-training which was rather bland because he never seriously messed up at anything. And I just didn't get why Siobhan would be a good bard. Yes, she is musically gifted, but she only uses that skill once throughout the book and the rest of her interactions in her "job" is all through telling reporters stories.
I did find it refreshing that we didn't have an Owen and Siobhan romance because it would have come off as completely forced. That being said, I don't see why there needed to be that story line with Owen and Emily because we only see them interact for .2 pages maybe.
If you like unique takes on dragons and alternate universes with cleverly altered history, then you should give this book a try!
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book. But I just found that the story was bogged down at times by the high school minutia that didn't really drive the story forward at all. Also I thought it was super odd that there was such a large revelation
Spoiler
that Emily wanted to become an actual dragon slayerSpoiler
Because how hard would it have been to add her into the hatching ground battle?I also found that most of the time I really didn't care for Owen or Siobhan because there really wasn't all that much about them to care about. Owen hardly had any character development the entire book. He remained the golden child dragon-slayer-in-training which was rather bland because he never seriously messed up at anything. And I just didn't get why Siobhan would be a good bard. Yes, she is musically gifted, but she only uses that skill once throughout the book and the rest of her interactions in her "job" is all through telling reporters stories.
I did find it refreshing that we didn't have an Owen and Siobhan romance because it would have come off as completely forced. That being said, I don't see why there needed to be that story line with Owen and Emily because we only see them interact for .2 pages maybe.
If you like unique takes on dragons and alternate universes with cleverly altered history, then you should give this book a try!
teganbeesebooks's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. I LOVED Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston & was super excited about this. I loved her writing in this as well. I did feel that some things in here could have been left out *cough* Sadie *cough* or done a little differently. But still good! Full review to come.
cas_sand's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
asimilarkite's review against another edition
5.0
Since I read this more than month ago, I think I've recommended it approximately a billion times. To people of all ages. Constantly. Which means I think I should probably upgrade it from my original 4-star review to 5. Yep. Changing it to 5. There we go :)
The Story of Owen is just SO FANTASTICALLY UNIQUE. I love finding books that I literally can't compare to any other book. It's set in contemporary Canada....except there's dragons. And there always have been dragons. And dragon-slayers, of course. And bards, naturally, because dragon-slayers need bards to tell their stories of course.
I love everything about it. I love that the main character is a girl, and she's a girl with interests (music), and a personality that doesn't completely revolve around loving a guy. I love the LGBT themes that are interwoven into the story and normalized and not drawn attention to. I love that it's a male/female friendship story. I love the action mixed with normal every day teenage life. I LOVE the alternate history chapters (this world is so well, and so intelligently built, it's amazing), and I love the subtle wry humor.
I want to find out what happens to these characters, and I will definitely be following this story into the future.
The Story of Owen is just SO FANTASTICALLY UNIQUE. I love finding books that I literally can't compare to any other book. It's set in contemporary Canada....except there's dragons. And there always have been dragons. And dragon-slayers, of course. And bards, naturally, because dragon-slayers need bards to tell their stories of course.
I love everything about it. I love that the main character is a girl, and she's a girl with interests (music), and a personality that doesn't completely revolve around loving a guy. I love the LGBT themes that are interwoven into the story and normalized and not drawn attention to. I love that it's a male/female friendship story. I love the action mixed with normal every day teenage life. I LOVE the alternate history chapters (this world is so well, and so intelligently built, it's amazing), and I love the subtle wry humor.
I want to find out what happens to these characters, and I will definitely be following this story into the future.
jesscinco's review against another edition
4.0
This is a kind of unique book. It imagines a world where everything is the same, except dragons exist. The narrative mostly follows the titular dragon slayer-in-training Owen from the perspective of his friend Siobhan. The tone of the book is uniquely subdued. There is also much less romance than most other YA fantasy books, but I actually felt like that was a nice change of pace. Ultimately Johnston creates a really interesting alternate history/world that feels reasonable and fascinating. This is great for teens who like fantasy stories that have more action than romance.