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sarrie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
TL;DR: An absolutely banger - I was so surprised by this but delighted.
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher!
Plot: This hops between three narratives. One is excerpts from a book about dragons and their slayers, and two following Maddileh in the past and present as she pursues the Fireborne Blade. They feed together fantastically.
Characters: We mainly focus on Maddileh, but I enjoyed all our secondary characters. Having seen the next book will feature Saralene as our primary, I’m SO excited.
Setting: The most interesting of settings were the insides of Dragon lairs, various ones described. That was unique and something I did not expect!
Magic: Some hints and drops at magic, specifically draconic magic. I am very interested to see where the next story goes.
Characters: We mainly focus on Maddileh, but I enjoyed all our secondary characters. Having seen the next book will feature Saralene as our primary, I’m SO excited.
Setting: The most interesting of settings were the insides of Dragon lairs, various ones described. That was unique and something I did not expect!
Magic: Some hints and drops at magic, specifically draconic magic. I am very interested to see where the next story goes.
Thoughts:
I had hopes that this would be at least fun, based on how gorgeous the cover was. It was legitimately a cover read. I can’t deny my thought process went ‘Badass lady warrior and a dragon? Yeah I’ll read that’. And read it I did and delighted I was. This one follows Maddileh who is seeking the Fireborne Blade, a historical and coveted sword kept by one of the oldest and strongest of Dragons within her lair. We follow her into that lair and also in the past as she seeks the pieces that will help her quest. We also see excerpts from a tome of historical attacks on Dragons and their lairs and what all that entails, and the history of the beasts. What a fantastically woven story.
The thing that impresses me the most here was how well I felt the world was built for being such a short book. The history is teased just enough to get me excited, the Dragons and mankind's interactions and how those affect the world were all so clear in my mind. I’ll be thinking about this for days to come. The characters themselves weren’t the strongest, but I enjoyed the journey we went on with them. I want to know more about what Saralene and Maddileh end up doing, the ending was a twist I never would have seen coming, and it has setup a series nicely.
If you want a story of women trumping the system to come out on top, especially in the face of betrayal and sexism. This is a great story. It’s not over the top and in your face, and it’s well drawn as a fantasy that doesn’t depend on just the conflict. I pre-ordered this after reading it and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.
4.5 out of 5 truly terrifying Dragon Dead
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Sexual assault
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