Reviews

I was half-asleep not even out of bed yet, checking my email when I see news from Amazon that this book is available. Dudes, I didn't even know this book was in the works! I switched over and clicked download so quick I think my iPad almost crashed haha.

Look, this series? A new favorite of mine. I love the slow burn romance , the banter, and all the characters. Val is amazing refreshing! Did I mention yet that I ended up laughing myself into tears a few times??

This book also took us off-world 0.0!! I was not expecting it and now I'm so excited to see where the author will take us next. End game?? I have no idea where this series is taking us, but I'm loving the ride.

writings_of_a_reader's review

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4.0

I've been really enjoying Lindsay Buroker's series. This is the third one I've read now and I like that they are quick easy reads. I had already read a space opera and a more traditional high fantasy by her, so I wanted to try her urban fantasy. I ended up liking the first book in the series quite a lot, but not loving it as much as I had hoped. That being said, I've read the whole series, or at least what's been published now, and I think the following books were better than that one.

The trademark Lindsay Buroker humor is present, which is one reason I like her books. They make me laugh quite a bit, and who doesn't like a little bit of laughter in their life? On the downside, I do feel like I've, for the most part, read the same main character in all three series. There are some slight differences, but they could be more distinct. Also every once in a while I find myself rolling my eyes at the attempts at humor, but still the stories are mostly good fun, and I don't think we are meant to take them too seriously.

I think my biggest issue with the main character is that she walked out on her daughter years ago to protect her from the different individuals/creatures who come after her because of her job, and I can't help but think that she could have simply left the job and chosen her daughter instead. This is definitely a flaw in the main character that I don't like, but this improves as the series progresses.

I thought this series had an interesting mix of fantasy creatures. There was pretty much everything but the kitchen sink thrown in, from dragons to vampires to orcs, and somehow it worked. I read these books back to back and I really can't remember now where one ended and the next started, so this will be my review for the whole series.

Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons, #1): 3 stars
Battle Bond (Death Before Dragons, #2): 3.5 stars
Tangled Truths (Death Before Dragons, #3): 3.5 stars
Elven Doom (Death Before Dragons, #4): 3.5 stars
The Forbidden Ground (Death Before Dragons 4.5): 3 stars
False Security (Death Before Dragons #5): 3.5 stars
Storm Forged (Death Before Dragons #6): 3.5 stars

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.

colorcrystals's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

princessrobotiv's review

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4.0

Quite good, but slightly rushed through the ending action. It could have used at least another full chapter of wrap-up prior to the epilogue.

Otherwise, though, this was an interesting volume that helped push the plot forward in several key areas. I'm stoked for Val's new living situation and intrigued by the promise of more direct dragon interference on Earth.

I do very much ship Dimitri and Zoltan, so I'm interested to see if something happens there in the coming volumes

batc's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

3.25

edensgrief's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

eve_ward's review

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3.0

Um...I liked it ig. Definitely a shambles though. With every book, Val goes down in my estimations a tiny bit which is upsetting. She has magnificent potential but she's really not helping herself. If I'm being absolutely candid, I sometimes have a hard time believing she's the "good guy". Like, she's not evil, but I think her priorities and views about magical beings need to be sorted out. There's more I could complain about but I don't want people to take that and therefore think this is a bad book. It's still fun, it's still enjoyable, just a bit of a mess - that I can deal with.

On a separate note, I wanna be buddies with Zoltan and Xilneth.

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