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A review by the_cover_contessa
Talon by Julie Kagawa
emotional
funny
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
I want to thank Harlequin Teen for providing me with an early copy of this book for an honest review. Receiving this book for free has in no way altered my opinion or review.
I have to say that when I read the blurb for this book I got all kinds of excited. I enjoyed Kagawa's Iron Fey series, but I loved her Blood of Eden series more. And now she was writing a series about dragons? How could it go wrong. And after having read the first chapter that she posted online, I knew for sure I had to have this book to read. So I jumped in with both feet and held on tight for the ride.
The book opens and we are introduced to Ember. She's a young dragon who has been training all her life to be assimilated into the human world. At 16 she is finally getting the chance as she and her twin brother, Dante, are placed in a house on the shore of California. Ember is excited to have the summer to live as a "normal" girl: no training, no school, no commitments. Ember truly comes across as a normal teenage girl. I don't get the gist that she's a dragon unless she's telling us about it. I wish I could have seen more conflict with this. She's trained that humans are the enemy but she easily assimilates and takes on human characteristics.
And a YA book wouldn't be complete if there wasn't some romance and conflict. This comes in the form of Garrett, a soldier for the order of St. George (Ember's enemy) and Riley, a rogue dragon determined to show Ember her true potential. Garrett comes across as this sweet, inexperienced guy (at least when it comes to females) who is determined to keep his secrets.Riley, on the other hand,is a gruff, sexy guy who doesn't hold back. The two guys are in direct conflict with Ember's training: dragons don't show or have emotions. But there's more to life than what Ember has been taught and both these guys show her that.
I love the idea of this book. I love the idea of dragons hiding within our society. But what I was missing in this book is the why. Talon is said to exist to help protect dragons. That they were hunted to near extinction by the order of St. George. But we never get what the actual conflict was between the human's and the dragons. What exactly happened in history to make the dragons and humans hate each other so? I needed this back story and it just did not exist. I'm surprised because in previous books I've read from this author, there is always a ton of world building. What is the history of Talon? The order of St. George? Give me something!I didn't get that so much in this book.
I do love Julie's writing. It's easy to read and flows well. I will say her voice sounded completely different to me in this book. But I think that's a good thing considering it's a new series. She mixes romance and action well, although I felt the story was slow in a few places and I thought maybe there could have been more conflict scenes to really show us the relationships between humans and dragons. Instead we get mostly Ember's conflict with her emotions and how she wants to be just a "normal" girl.
Overall the book was a good enough read, but I didn't find it to be on par with Kagawa's other writing. I will most likely pick up the next book so I can see what happens as this one does end on a cliffhanger.
I have to say that when I read the blurb for this book I got all kinds of excited. I enjoyed Kagawa's Iron Fey series, but I loved her Blood of Eden series more. And now she was writing a series about dragons? How could it go wrong. And after having read the first chapter that she posted online, I knew for sure I had to have this book to read. So I jumped in with both feet and held on tight for the ride.
The book opens and we are introduced to Ember. She's a young dragon who has been training all her life to be assimilated into the human world. At 16 she is finally getting the chance as she and her twin brother, Dante, are placed in a house on the shore of California. Ember is excited to have the summer to live as a "normal" girl: no training, no school, no commitments. Ember truly comes across as a normal teenage girl. I don't get the gist that she's a dragon unless she's telling us about it. I wish I could have seen more conflict with this. She's trained that humans are the enemy but she easily assimilates and takes on human characteristics.
And a YA book wouldn't be complete if there wasn't some romance and conflict. This comes in the form of Garrett, a soldier for the order of St. George (Ember's enemy) and Riley, a rogue dragon determined to show Ember her true potential. Garrett comes across as this sweet, inexperienced guy (at least when it comes to females) who is determined to keep his secrets.Riley, on the other hand,is a gruff, sexy guy who doesn't hold back. The two guys are in direct conflict with Ember's training: dragons don't show or have emotions. But there's more to life than what Ember has been taught and both these guys show her that.
I love the idea of this book. I love the idea of dragons hiding within our society. But what I was missing in this book is the why. Talon is said to exist to help protect dragons. That they were hunted to near extinction by the order of St. George. But we never get what the actual conflict was between the human's and the dragons. What exactly happened in history to make the dragons and humans hate each other so? I needed this back story and it just did not exist. I'm surprised because in previous books I've read from this author, there is always a ton of world building. What is the history of Talon? The order of St. George? Give me something!I didn't get that so much in this book.
I do love Julie's writing. It's easy to read and flows well. I will say her voice sounded completely different to me in this book. But I think that's a good thing considering it's a new series. She mixes romance and action well, although I felt the story was slow in a few places and I thought maybe there could have been more conflict scenes to really show us the relationships between humans and dragons. Instead we get mostly Ember's conflict with her emotions and how she wants to be just a "normal" girl.
Overall the book was a good enough read, but I didn't find it to be on par with Kagawa's other writing. I will most likely pick up the next book so I can see what happens as this one does end on a cliffhanger.