Release Date: November 20, 2013
Pages: 288, paperback
Goodreads Rating: 4.71 stars
My Rating: 3/5 stars
My Content Rating: PG (Nothing more than kissing)
Summary from Goodreads: Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year old Elena Watkins was no different.
Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.
Now Elena’s in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a Prince wants Elena’s heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh. And the only way Elena’s going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own.
Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales. Now it’s time for Elena to believe – in herself.
The story centers around Elena, whose world is shattered when her father is killed by a dragon - and when she discovers that her father actually is a dragon. Elena is swept off into another world and sent to a new school where not all of her classmates are human. While there, she falls for a prince and learns of a prophecy that only she can fulfill - if she can only survive long enough.
The negatives:
- In need of editing. Please note that I read an ARC of this book - It is entirely possible that the book has been edited since I received my copy. But the version that I received definitely could have used a bit of editing, both for grammar and for content. I thought that this book was really interesting and enjoyable, but there were some parts that needed to be developed more and where the author could have done a little more showing rather than telling. There were also some consistency issues. For instance, at one point in the story it's stated that prophecies are very personal and that people don't share them, yet everyone knows about Blake's prophecy and the important prophecies are all recorded in a public book for everyone to see (albeit without names attached to them). It seemed that prophecies were personal when that was convenient for the story and public when that was convenient. This were other little issues like this as well that made me scratch my head and wonder what the author was trying to say. I don't want to give too many specific examples because I'm afraid I might end up spoiling the plot, but there were times where I wasn't exactly following Woods' logic, which took me out of the story somewhat. Still, I was really enjoying the book overall and I was intrigued by the story.
What I enjoyed:
- The unique take on dragons. The best part about this book was the novel world that Woods created. In this world, dragons have a human form and live, work and go to school right alongside their human counterparts. Woods created a rich history where dragons were originally hunted and are now citizens along with humans. Some humans eventually manifest a power and become bonded with a dragon, essentially becoming that dragon's handler. Woods created several different types of dragons, each with different powers and personality types. There is lots of interesting history and the Dragonian society is well thought-out and unique. I was definitely invested in their world!
- Realistic teens. I thought that the teenage characters in this book were relatively realistic. Elena and her two best friends worried about things like clothes and boys and getting good grades. Elena's relationship with her prince is a fairy tale love story in some ways and a typical teen romance in others (complete with occasional bickering). There is a hint of a love triangle, but it really isn't fully explored in this book (I have a feeling it might be in future books). The characters feel like typical kids who are probably pretty relatable to a YA crowd.
Overall, I really enjoyed Firebolt and I felt like Woods created an intriguing fantasy world. I'm eager to see what will happen in the next book in the series! 3/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own***
About Adrienne Woods
I was born and raised in South Africa, where I still live with my husband, and two beautiful little girls. I always knew that I was going to be a writer but it only started to happen about four years ago, now I can’t stop writing.In my free time, If I get any because Moms don’t really have free time, I love to spend time with friends, if it’s a girls night out, or just a movie, I’m a very chilled person.
My writing career is starting with Firebolt, book one with the Dragonian Series, there will be four books in total and two to three books that is about the stories taking place inside The Dragonian Series.
I do write in different Genres, I have a woman’s fiction called the Pregnancy Diaries, but it would be published under another name. And then I have a paranormal series, called the Watercress series. There are about ten novels in that one.
So, plenty of novels to come out, so little time.
I hope you are going to embrace the Dragonian Series as much as I loved writing them.
I was born and raised in South Africa, where I still live with my husband, and two beautiful little girls. I always knew that I was going to be a writer but it only started to happen about four years ago, now I can’t stop writing.
In my free time, If I get any because Moms don’t really have free time, I love to spend time with friends, if it’s a girls night out, or just a movie, I’m a very chilled person.
My writing career is starting with Firebolt, book one with the Dragonian Series, there will be four books in total and two to three books that is about the stories taking place inside The Dragonian Series.
I do write in different Genres, I have a woman’s fiction called the Pregnancy Diaries, but it would be published under another name. And then I have a paranormal series, called the Watercress series. There are about ten novels in that one.
So, plenty of novels to come out, so little time.
I hope you are going to embrace the Dragonian Series as much as I loved writing them.
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