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A review by user613
The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
5.0
I’m not sure how to summarize this novel and why I enjoyed it so much.
Piper is a great character. She’s a strong female character who goes through a slow and sweet transformation where she makes friends, starts to care for them, and learns to look outside herself. And, it all happens so slowly that I get to watch it happen, and it feels real.
The world that surrounds Piper is great, too. Full of depth, details and personality, and perfectly supporting her development as a character. The secrets and suspense build slowly, with careful foreshadowing that makes these secrets feel natural.
The pacing has just enough action to keep me interested, and just enough time for the characters to recover and emotionally relate to the events as they happen.
Also,
Most of all, I love how everything connects. All the depth and details and personality work together to create an intriguing world and an exciting story that swept me in.
This book is aimed at teens and middle graders, though older readers will also find what to love about it.
I ended this novel wanting to learn more about the world and the characters and hoping the magic of this story would continue in [b:The Secrets of Solace|25738896|The Secrets of Solace (World of Solace, #2)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434843264l/25738896._SX50_.jpg|45578242] but it was just an okay read. [b:The Quest to the Uncharted Lands|25081301|The Quest to the Uncharted Lands (World of Solace, #3)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495919270l/25081301._SX50_.jpg|44767870] was better but didn’t quite live up to this first book, either.
What to read next:
[bc:The Door to the Lost|36899920|The Door to the Lost|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513115102l/36899920._SY75_.jpg|58660707][bc:The Girl Who Could Fly|23310823|The Girl Who Could Fly (Piper McCloud, 1)|Victoria Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428638808l/23310823._SX50_.jpg|2095997][bc:Princess Academy|85990|Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)|Shannon Hale|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349410861l/85990._SY75_.jpg|3299770][bc:The Girl Who Drank the Moon|28110852|The Girl Who Drank the Moon|Kelly Barnhill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485376116l/28110852._SY75_.jpg|48118988][bc:Story Thieves|22546584|Story Thieves (Story Thieves, #1)|James Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421828545l/22546584._SY75_.jpg|42003341]
Content:
Violence: some scary, near death scenes, including slavers, a scary man chasing Anna and Piper who is referred to as “the wolf”.
Romance: a sweet relationship
Religion: they mention the goddess in their conversations as figures of speech such as “thank the goddess”. There also are one or two stories about how the goddess created Solace and left the world, and now she causes the meteor storms. It was pretty subtle, but definitely present.
Other: magical animals and abilities. There is also a tattoo of a dragonfly which a few people have on their arm, and which has significance to the story.
Piper is a great character. She’s a strong female character who goes through a slow and sweet transformation where she makes friends, starts to care for them, and learns to look outside herself. And, it all happens so slowly that I get to watch it happen, and it feels real.
The world that surrounds Piper is great, too. Full of depth, details and personality, and perfectly supporting her development as a character. The secrets and suspense build slowly, with careful foreshadowing that makes these secrets feel natural.
The pacing has just enough action to keep me interested, and just enough time for the characters to recover and emotionally relate to the events as they happen.
Also,
Spoiler
the romance. It’s sweet and innocent and subtle, and I love how Gee and Piper’s feelings are real and developed, and expressed as caring for one another and feeling safe around each other, as opposed to attraction.Most of all, I love how everything connects. All the depth and details and personality work together to create an intriguing world and an exciting story that swept me in.
This book is aimed at teens and middle graders, though older readers will also find what to love about it.
I ended this novel wanting to learn more about the world and the characters and hoping the magic of this story would continue in [b:The Secrets of Solace|25738896|The Secrets of Solace (World of Solace, #2)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434843264l/25738896._SX50_.jpg|45578242] but it was just an okay read. [b:The Quest to the Uncharted Lands|25081301|The Quest to the Uncharted Lands (World of Solace, #3)|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1495919270l/25081301._SX50_.jpg|44767870] was better but didn’t quite live up to this first book, either.
What to read next:
[bc:The Door to the Lost|36899920|The Door to the Lost|Jaleigh Johnson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513115102l/36899920._SY75_.jpg|58660707][bc:The Girl Who Could Fly|23310823|The Girl Who Could Fly (Piper McCloud, 1)|Victoria Forester|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428638808l/23310823._SX50_.jpg|2095997][bc:Princess Academy|85990|Princess Academy (Princess Academy, #1)|Shannon Hale|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1349410861l/85990._SY75_.jpg|3299770][bc:The Girl Who Drank the Moon|28110852|The Girl Who Drank the Moon|Kelly Barnhill|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1485376116l/28110852._SY75_.jpg|48118988][bc:Story Thieves|22546584|Story Thieves (Story Thieves, #1)|James Riley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1421828545l/22546584._SY75_.jpg|42003341]
Content:
Violence: some scary, near death scenes, including slavers
Spoiler
who nearly capture Piper, Piper nearly being choked to death, dust that immobilizes people which is used a few times, and DolomanRomance: a sweet relationship
Spoiler
between Piper and Gee, where they mention they like each other and blush once or twice and hug and hold hands once or twice in a friendly way. Mostly they speak about feeling safe together and caring for each other. In once scene Gee changes into his human form not wearing anything, and Piper covers him. Nothing more is said.Religion: they mention the goddess in their conversations as figures of speech such as “thank the goddess”. There also are one or two stories about how the goddess created Solace and left the world, and now she causes the meteor storms. It was pretty subtle, but definitely present.
Other: magical animals and abilities.