A review by blainembentley
Scales of Ash & Smoke by Emily Schneider

4.5

I love dragons! You tell me your book has dragons and you are already halfway there. So when I saw this book was about dragons, and that there were people who could transform between dragons and humans, I had to read it. It did not disappoint. My favorite thing about this book was the world building. I really enjoyed being in this world and having so many dragons in this book. I also felt this was a very intriguing story.

I will be completely honest about something. Due to my kindle unlimited subscription being renewed soon, and for the time being canceling it, I was trying to find something that would be a quick read, to get in before the renewal came and it was too late to cancel for the next month. I saw that this was YA, which I was completely fine with. However, I missed that this was a romance novel. I don’t feel the romance was bad, it was just targeted for a much younger audience and was not for me. Because of that, there were times I was thinking of putting it down. However, I fell in love with the world and was intrigued by the plot. Because of that, I kept going and was not let down. So my rating does overlook my feelings about the romance (as if I did, I would have rated it a little lower) as I feel that the other elements in the book helped me to overlook the romance aspect and enjoy the rest of the story as is. 

My only point of criticism is that I didn’t feel there was too much of a difference between the humans, the dragons, and the human/dragon mix. Like as I read, it felt more like all the characters were humans and the dragons really felt human. The dragons were more feral, and I do think the dragon/human mix should feel more human. But those who were dragons, still felt very human.. I think I would have liked to see those characters feel a little more different than the human characters. This is the author’s first published book and I do think she has a lot of potential. I am excited to see how she grows and develops as she continues to write.