Published by: Mira Ink, January 15th 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mythology
Pages: 461
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
‘There are a dozen soldiers hiding in that maze All hunting you. All looking to kill you.’
To the outside world Ember Hill is an ordinary girl, but Ember has a deadly secret. A dragon hiding in human form, she is destined to fight the shadowy Order of St.George, a powerful society of dragonslayers. St. George soldier Garret is determined to kill Ember and her kind. Until her bravery makes him question all he’s been taught about dragons.
Now a war is coming and Garret and Ember must choose their sides – fight to save their bond or fulfil their fate and destroy one another.
Once again Julie Kagawa proves herself to be a master at writing YA heroines.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this story of teenage dragons. I'd heard good and bad things, and my personal experience with the Iron Fey made me a little unsure, but I loved Blood of Eden so much I had to read this. And boy am I happy I did - Talon is a crazy, surreal rollercoaster of emotions, action, intrigue, and danger. The secrets these characters keep from each other will kill you, and the emotions Kagawa throws into every chapter will take you to breaking point. There's never a dull moment for Ember, the main character, and even if there are dull moments for the reader it all changes in the next chapter, where the stakes are ramped even higher than before.
But now the characters - Ember I actually liked. I thought I'd hate her at first but I actually didn't. So that was good. But in the beginning Kagawa makes a point of taking three major jerks who are clearly about to sexually assault these girls and saying this is fucking bad, don't do this - but then she gives us a completely unhealthy relationship with a love interest. Riley is dark and mysterious and a total creep. He thinks he owns Ember after meeting her in dragon form one time and he obsesses about her constantly. Borderline stalker that uses 'dragon instinct' as an excuse for his shitty behaviour. Please get rid of this guy.
On the flipside, you have Garret, who is spending time with Ember because she's a possible target and it's his job to watch her (to see if she's a dragon, which, oops, she is), and accidentally falls in love with her. At no point does Garret claim ownership of Ember, nor express any feelings of entitlement. He likes her, plain and simple, and much more he respects Ember and regards her as a person, not as a possession. I rather like Garret.
The only thing I was missing from this book was a bit of diversity among the main characters, like in Blood of Eden. Ember is red haired, thus white, Garret is fair haired, thus most likely white, and while Riley could quite possibly be a POC with his dark hair, I'm sure it would have been mentioned and I wouldn't have missed it. Still, an exceptional book that I fell in love with, and I'm hoping there are diverse characters in the next books so I can find no fault at all.
Characters ★★★★☆
Setting/world building ★★★☆☆
Writing ★★★★☆
I was iffy about this one, I tried the Iron Fey series after reading The Immortal Rules but couldn't get into it. I think I'd rather like Garret, Riley however, no. no, no no, no. I'll probably like Ember (but I guess I'll find out when I read it). I think I'm either going to love it or hate it, and it all resides on the characters. But if you loved it, I probably will. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you do love it! And Garret! (he is a total sweetheart and I will protect him forever.)
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