Reviews

Dragon Captives by Lisa McMann

_aoibheann_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

alexandergrantwriter's review against another edition

5.0

~ Great Start To The Sequel Series! ~

If you know me, you know that the first Unwanteds series was my absolute favorite series growing up!! I’m doing a reread of this series as I read them when they were coming out and never got to read the final three so I wanted a refresher before finishing them off!!
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This was a great start and a great reminder of just why I love these characters, this world, and this series so much!!
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First off, It did take me a minute to remember who one or two of the background characters were and some events that had happened in the previous series (would highly recommend reading those first as if not you will be somewhat confused) but Lisa did a great job with reminders so I was fine after 30 or 40 pages or so!!
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I love Thisbe, Fifer, and Seth and it’s great watching them grow into themselves!! Even though I love Artimé, it’s cool exploring a new world and meeting new characters and I love how it all ties in to the seven islands’ mythos!! I also love Alex’s arc even though some might disagree with me!! I think it gives him some depth and is very realistic considering what he went through!!
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The new characters are great and the new story is fun!! Love this series!!
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CWs - light fantasy violence
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misspippireads's review

4.0

Full review available on my blog Adolescent Audio Adventures:

https://adolescentaudioadventures.blogspot.com/2017/06/review-dragon-captives.html

lydiastorytime's review against another edition

3.0

Positives: beautiful magical world with unique magical creatures. Loving found family. Mischievous twin girls with strong unruly magical abilities.
Negatives: Alex seems to have a brand new personality and has even resorted to Quil like tactics of suppression. Lack of parental guidance or appropriate adult child relationships.

Triggers for sensitive minds
Physically violence:
magically made creature killed by accidental magic but brought back to life, Reptile killed in self defense, inhuman treatment of prisoners human and animal, cruel tyranny and king, slavery (work based), a form of human trafficking, slave auction, illness from hunger and dehydration, accidental near fatal cuts from large glass wall breaking, possible drowning.

Emotional pain:
grief of loved one and of disability, fear of death and imprisonment, abandonment.

amalies's review against another edition

4.0

I loved the entire Unwanteds series and decided to give this new break off the unwanteds quest a try. This book is about the generation that were infants and toddlers during the first series and their adventures. They adventure to the dragon's world to enlarge the wings of the dragons that alex originally created for Pan's children. It is an adventure that leads to captures, daring escapes, surprises from the previous series and near death experiences. It was not as much fun to me as the previous series and I probably won't check any more of these books out until they have this new series completely on audiobook because I wouldn't take the time to read a print book that didn't excite me. However, it was fun to return to this world and see the changes that have happened to the original characters over the past 11-13 years.

jade_lai5's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

anoif_erutan_this_is_jade's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

librarylisa614's review against another edition

2.0

I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read the Unwanteds series.

ccpprrjj's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So, this book definitely isn't as good as the original series, but it's still an enjoyable read.  There's something about returning to Artime that's so nostalgic and comforting for me.  There were parts of this book that I truly enjoyed, and parts that dragged. So here's a list.
Things I disliked

• Writing:  Parts of the book felt a little forced and heavy-handed.  More-so than in the original series, that's for sure.  There just wasn't as much subtext and some of the charm of the writing from the originals was missing.  That's not to say the writing style was bad overall, there were just some parts that made me cringe a little.
• Leaving the Seven Islands:  I just don't care about Grimere as much as I do about Artime and the other islands.  I understand why we had to leave them for the plot, but I wish there were more chapters later in the books about what's going on in Artime and how Alex was dealing with everything.  And I just miss spending time in Artime.
• Fifer:  I just don't find Fifer to be a very compelling character.  And (having read the series before) I know that she doesn't get much better.  In this book especially she just felt very flat and one-dimensional for a main character.  And she really didn't do much.

Things I liked

• Old Characters: It was so much fun to see characters from the original series as adults, even if it was mostly at the beginning.  It made me happy to see Aaron being so soft and happy.  It made me less happy to see how much Alex is hurting.  It makes sense with his character, though.  The way all the older characters aged really works.  They still feel like the same people, just ten years older.  And I loved it.
• Thisbe and Seth:  Compared to previous reads, I found myself enjoying Thisbe and Seth's characters more than I have in the past.  Seth is just such a sweetheart and so used to being in the twins shadow that seeing him get a chance to shine makes me happy.  And Thisbe is probably the most fleshed out of the younger/new characters (but still not as robust as the older characters).  She's an interesting mix of scared and bold, confident and unsure.  It makes her very enjoyable to read about.
• The ending:  Despite being a bit of a tragic ending, it was emotional and satisfying.  It does a good job of opening up the conflict and setting up the rest of the series.  And makes me want to come back to the next book.

And those are my thoughts.

ronniewest's review against another edition

4.0

Read a few years ago, listened to it this time. Hate the reader, love the story.