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A review by linhsreadinghour
Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Firstly, thank you Harper Voyager for sending me the ARC, I appreciate it a lot exchange for an honest review!
Dragon Rider overall is a good first book, which sets the foundation of what’s to come in the series. The beginning 25% of the book had me hooked, but then the middle fell a bit flat for me, felt like a chore to get through because it was the same again and again. It picked up again at the end. The book could have been shorter I think. Side note, there are a lot of chapters but they are so short! I thought I was flying through the book!
Two things mainly bothered me with the book (most likely personal preference though, it’s probably not an issue for others) and it was 1) the many references to penises and balls; 2) the word soulbreathing and mana was constant.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading Jai’s character development - I was rooting for him.
Parts of the book were predictable. I also think the relationships could have been developed further, it was quite surface level but judging from the ending of the book, I think this will be developed in future books.
I love the dragon so much and it’s different to other dragon books who are oh so strong and powerful already. I also liked the other new animals in this book too, did take a few chapters to get my head around though, I had to google them and I think they take inspiration from Persian mythology.
There were some gruesome and graphic description in the book so beware if you’re squeamish.
I would continue the series to see how the author continues the story.
Dragon Rider overall is a good first book, which sets the foundation of what’s to come in the series. The beginning 25% of the book had me hooked, but then the middle fell a bit flat for me, felt like a chore to get through because it was the same again and again. It picked up again at the end. The book could have been shorter I think. Side note, there are a lot of chapters but they are so short! I thought I was flying through the book!
Two things mainly bothered me with the book (most likely personal preference though, it’s probably not an issue for others) and it was 1) the many references to penises and balls; 2) the word soulbreathing and mana was constant.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy reading Jai’s character development - I was rooting for him.
Parts of the book were predictable. I also think the relationships could have been developed further, it was quite surface level but judging from the ending of the book, I think this will be developed in future books.
I love the dragon so much and it’s different to other dragon books who are oh so strong and powerful already. I also liked the other new animals in this book too, did take a few chapters to get my head around though, I had to google them and I think they take inspiration from Persian mythology.
There were some gruesome and graphic description in the book so beware if you’re squeamish.
I would continue the series to see how the author continues the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail