L.R. Lam

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC. Ohh how I loved this book. It was funny (don't make the same mistake as I did and read it at night. You won't stop laughing.) I really love the story and Vanric (Vanja & Emeric). They are soo cute together. But we don't talk about the cliffhanger here. Nope. All I can say is that I need the last book immediately. Like right now. Or somebody to tell me where I can find the Saint of Libraries so he can tell me how it ends....

Thank you to Netgalley and DAW for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

In Dragonfall, we meet the last male dragon, Everen. He is prophesied to save his kind after they were banished centuries ago. Meanwhile, humans have harnessed the magic they stole from dragons, have forgotten all about their betrayal and instead started worshipping them as gods. Enter genderfluid thief Arcady who hasn’t been dealt the kindest card in life and is hellbent on taking back what’s been stolen from them. When they accidentally magically bond and Everen is dragged into the human world, the path seems clear: find a way to break the bond, as far as Arcady knows. Get the human to trust him and then kill them, as far as Everen is concerned. Growing close is not a part of any those plans, but it sure complicates them.

It’s been a minute since I last read any High Fantasy, I hadn’t realised how much I missed it. What drew me in immediately with this one: it’s really, really funny.

Things properly hit off once Arcady and Everen meet - I’ve been saying this before but I genuinely don’t care about the plot as long as the characters work for me, and work they do. There’s a romance subplot and watching them get to know and trust each other while holding back their respective secrets (and knowing there’s tragedy ahead since Everen is supposed to kill Arcady!) has been such a delightful experience. Turns out I do enjoy romance after all.

Apart from that, the book‘s just exciting. Conflicted relationships (many of them), a heist, world-threatening events - it’s „Merry Crisis!“ in a literal sense. Dragonfall had me at the edge of my seat by the end of it, with a touch of heartbreak and exciting revelations along the way.

And I haven’t even started on the smaller details I loved! At least that part of Dragonfall‘s world is queernorm with gender being something you yourself figure out over time and no one else. A sign language has established itself as a sort of lingua franca and is frequently used in the book. A magic system with an interesting price to pay for humans. Commentary about rich people doing infuriating rich people things is just the icing on the cake.

So yeah. I loved this one and already can’t wait for book 2!

ARC provided by the publisher over NetGalley

3,5/5

This is one of those books where I can absolutely see why someone would love this but it just never managed to capture my attention completely.

While the characters were likable they also felt a little flat and I just didn't enjoy the world-building. The romance was ok but also both seemed to rushed and drawn out in a really weird way. 

What kind off threw me off was also that in the beginning it seems like we were heading towards a school/university story line and then we got something completely different. Of course that will come back in the sequels but it just felt like at the end of the book Arkady wasn't any closer to that goal than in the beginning. In fact it felt like everyone ended up in the same, or at least very similar, place as they were in the beginning. As if the plot of the entire book had very little impact.

As I said in the beginning, I can understand why someone would love this, I just didn't.