A review by hello_ned
Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A very fast-paced, but wonderful ending to the series. Quick read that also feels satisfying. A mix of juvenile fun and a bit of an "older" underlying tone/ending.

The dislikes
  • Very fighting-based. Pretty much all of what this book is. Not necessarily a bad thing, and I did enjoy it, but there are no breathers. It is just constant action until the end, some of which I had trouble imagining. It is a massive difference to the middle book which was very slow paced.
  • There was a little bit of "coincidence" that pushed this book quicker to the conflict.
    I kind of didn't understand why Suki was sent down to make sure Yumeko, Tatsumi and Okame, Daisuke and Reika meet again after the ship wreck... but when she appeared at the Kingdom, both groups at the same time met up.
    maybe I missed something? 
  • At one part the phrase "held me by my waist" way too many times. This is silly nitpicking. 
The loves
  • Well thought out ending with a lot of shocks/revelafions. You can really tell that this was the plotted ending from the very beginning. Often, writers have difficulty writing revelations as they can be unbelievable and too unpredictable. I wouldn't say I had many significant "oh my god!" moments, but that can be a good thing. When something was revealed, I was shocked, but... it also was very easy to accept. You can tell it has been leading up to it.
  • I like that it's not a ""happy"" ending. There's a lot of wounds and deaths, like a real war. I wasn’t overwhelmingly sad, I didn't cry, but I am upset. 
  • Yumeko has so very gradually grown in character, it's almost hard to see. But comparing the first book to the last, it is stark, well-written, and expected.
  • I loved the epilogue. Wonderful closure, with a little left unsaid. 
  • I'm so glad the leaf was finally used. I was waiting for it since book one lmao
  • I liked the relationships and friendships. I think Daisuke's and Okame's relationship was so well done, it was romantic, and despite
    their deaths (with one reviewer mentioning homophobia??)
      it made sense and was actually a happy ending.  There was some light suggestive content, which was cute. I give my LGBT stamp of approval.

Overall, a really great and fun work. I save 5 stars for books that are significantly impactful or important, and it didn’t really reach that level for me. But I still had fun and enjoyed it. 
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