Tag Archives: Dragons

Review: The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis

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The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie BurgisThe Girl with the Dragon Heart
Stephanie Burgis
Bloomsbury
Published on August 9, 2018

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About The Girl with the Dragon Heart
Once upon a time, in a beautiful city famous for chocolate and protected by dragons, there was a girl so fearless that she dared to try to tell the greatest story of all: the truth.

Silke has always been good at spinning the truth and storytelling. So good that just years after arriving as a penniless orphan, she has found her way up to working for the most splendid chocolate makers in the city (oh, and becoming best friends with a dragon). Now her gift for weaving words has caught the eye of the royal family, who want to use her as a spy when the mysterious and dangerous fairy royal family announce they will visit the city. But Silke has her own dark, secret reasons for not trusting fairies …

My Review
I enjoyed reading the first book in this series, The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart, so as soon as I heard about the second book, I knew I had to read it. I was even more excited to learn it’s Silke’s story. She was one of my favorite characters in the first book as Aventurine’s best friend, the creative and spunky storyteller. She reminds me of a friend, so I couldn’t help loving her from the first page.

Silke has always depended on her stories to get her out of trouble, and for the most part, they’ve worked. She’s always able to distract people or shift attention with wild tales and entertaining bits. She keeps her guard up, not allowing herself to get close to anyone or depend on anything in case she loses them the way she lost her parents. I loved how complex and tender she is.

The Girl with the Dragon Heart also has some sibling themes. Silke has some run-ins with the royal family, specifically the crown princess and her younger sister, who don’t seem to see eye to eye on anything. She rolls her eyes at their shenanigans, but watching those girls helps her begin to evaluate what went wrong in her relationship with her brother, Dieter.

Honestly, I loved this book so much. I liked the first book and thought it was a lot of fun to read, but this one absolutely leaped into my heart. The writing is peppy and smart. I think it’s my favorite of the two by Stephanie Burgis. Will there be more to this series? I hope so! I would read them for sure.

The book’s description says it’s perfect for fans of Shannon Hale and Cornelia Funke, and I say yes to that! I definitely see the comparison, and it held true for me, since I like both those other authors, too.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Silke has brown skin and dark curly hair. The princes have one white parent and one black parent.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Fairies use magic to attack others. A girl shapeshifts into a dragon.

Violent Content
Some instances of peril. Silke has traumatic memories of her parents being kidnapped by fairies. She finds two adults unconscious and feels responsible for what’s happened to them.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

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The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart
Stephanie Burgis
Bloomsbury
Published May 30, 2017

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About The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart
Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she’s ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw.

But she’s still the fiercest creature in the mountains — and now she’s found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she’ll be conquering new territory in no time…won’t she?

My Review
The Dragon with the Chocolate Heart is one of the most fun books I’ve read in a long time. I loved Aventurine’s spunky nature and her passion for chocolate. The story consistently shows her struggle with baffling human customs contrasted with her more familiar dragon ways. I loved the characters from Aventurine’s wily friend Silke to the strict chocolatier Marina.

On her journey, Aventurine discovers a love for chocolate which will certainly appeal to chocolate-loving readers, but she also learns to value humans despite how strange and different they are from dragons. When her new human friends become threatened by her dragon family, Aventurine must use all her wits and newfound understanding to bring the two sides together peacefully in the same way she’s had to make peace with her dragon and human self.

Readers who enjoyed Tuesdays at the Castle or Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George definitely need to give this book a read! Keep some chocolate handy to snack on, because you’re surely going to crave it.

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Cultural Elements
Brief reference to Aventurine’s friend having brown hands. Not much in the way of race or description details given other than that.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
The story contains dragons and some magic elements, mostly in that some humans use magic to fight dragons or affect certain tasks, like food preparation.

Violent Content
Humans and dragons are enemies. Dragons eat humans (not shown in the story, but briefly discussed) and humans tried to kill dragons they encountered in the past.

Drug Content
Enchanted hot chocolate turns Aventurine into a human.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

Review: Immortal Writers by Jill Bower

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, New Adult 18up, , , ,

Immortal Writers
Jill Bowers
Blue Moon Publishers
Available November 5, 2016

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About Immortal Writers

Young up-and-coming author Liz McKinnen has no idea that her life is about to change forever when she comes home from her first book tour. When she’s kidnapped and told by her captors that she has to kill her fantasy book’s antagonist, she thinks that she’s fallen into the hands of crazy, dangerous fans… until her antagonist sends a real, fire-breathing dragon after her. Liz is quickly initiated into the Immortal Writers, a group of authors from throughout time whose words have given them eternal life, and whose prose is so powerful that it’s brought stories over from the Imagination Field into the Reality Field. As Liz meets authors such as William Shakespeare, JRR Tolkien, Edgar Allan Poe, and Jane Austen, she has to learn how to control magic, fight dragons, and face her own troubled past before her power-hungry villain takes over the world. Will she survive the ultimate battle against the dragon lord whom she created?

My Review

This book reminded me a bit of The Muse by Fred Warren in its blending of reality and an author’s story world. I enjoyed the references to all the other writers that eighteen-year-old Liz meets. Some of the conversations and dialogue between them was pretty cute.

The romance element was a bit predictable, but I really liked Liz, so I was glad to see her find someone she felt was worthy of her. In one battle, Liz uses terrible memories to demoralize and defeat her enemy. On the one hand it had that sort of cool element in terms of her use of a lesser ability to defeat an enemy. On the other hand, I felt like it was a particularly cruel attack akin to torture. I wasn’t a huge fan.

Despite these hiccups, I really appreciated the story world and especially the peripheral characters. Fans of quirky fantasy should give this one a look.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
I think most everyone was white, but it’s difficult to remember. Race descriptions were minimal.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Moderate profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content – Trigger Warning
Liz faces memories of her stepdad sexually assaulting her. The descriptions are intense, but there’s no play by play of what happens.

At one point, a man watches Liz change her shirt. She begins a romantic relationship and has some lusty conversations with her new man. They share some kisses and he stays with her through a long, stressful night. They plan to do much more together, but the story doesn’t show those moments.

Spiritual Content
Liz’s characters use magic, and they bring their abilities into the real world. Liz can change herself and her characters by writing new stories.

Violent Content
Battles between humans and dragons. Some blood and gore.

Drug Content
At a restaurant with her boyfriend, Liz allows him to order wine for her, even though she’s only eighteen.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Of Secrets and Sorcery by Chris Solaas

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, ,

Of Secrets and Sorcery
Chris Solaas

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As Kyne settles into his new home and new school, he begins to notice strange things happening around him. He wakes with strange bruises that seem to match up with bumps he must have gotten in his dreams. In those dreams, he’s a prince of a faraway realm, on the run for his life, whose only friend seems to be an irritable red dragon. With each night the dreams become more vivid, and Kyne realizes they may in fact be as real as his waking life.

The dragon was probably my favorite character – because, seriously, who can resist a snappy dragon? I liked Kyne and his friend Zip, too. They were interesting characters, and immediately I wanted to know more about them.

I found the first few chapters a bit confusing – especially as the story introduced Jason, Kyne’s counterpart. It seemed like by the time he was introduced I was already supposed to know who he was. Once I figured it out, though, I was able to move forward with no problems. I liked the mechanism of shifting through dreams into another dimension, and the fact that instead of our world being the origin of the story and the characters traveling through to a fantasy realm, this world actually was the foreign world to Kyne and his family. I thought that was a cool way to make this concept a little different than the usual approach.

Another unusual touch is the cover art, which was created by the author’s children. I thought that was a creative way to draw kids into the creative process and involve them in having a novel published.

Overall the story reminded me a little bit of Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow by The Miller Brothers. It’s a light adventure story with strong spiritual elements.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A man pinches Kyne’s mother on her rear while she’s working as a waitress. Kyne’s grandfather immediately attacks the man and stops him from harassing her.

Spiritual Content
Kyne’s mother and grandfather refer to God as the One and make note to pray for His blessing. In times of trouble, characters sometimes stop and pray. A dragon shows up to help Kyne when he is in trouble.

A prince grows up with a terrible curse, in which anything he wishes for will come true. During his childhood, this gets him in a lot of trouble, because, as children do, he wishes for some things which turn out to be terrible and then he can’t undo them. Eventually he learns to use the power of his words to help others and promote peace, but it’s a hard-won lesson that doesn’t come easily.

Violent Content
Battle scenes show soldiers being shot down with arrows and run through with swords. That’s about the level of detail that the story goes into though.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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A Wow-worthy Sequel: Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Shadow Scale
Rachel Hartman
Random House Children’s
Pubished March 10, 2015

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With war between dragons and humans exploding across Seraphina’s once-peaceful home, she vows to find the other gifted half-dragons and use their power to end the conflict. One of Seraphina’s would-be allies seems to have other loyalties. And unstoppable power.

Seraphina works to bring the isolated and fearful half-dragons out of hiding and teach them to operate as a team. Time is running out, however, as an army of dragons threatens to rain destruction down on Seraphina’s homeland. Alliances begin to unravel. A new, unpredictable saint dazzles the people, distracting them from the conflict at hand. In order to pull her own army together, Seraphina will have to understand and unleash the power she has buried inside herself.

The book begins with a clever note from a Goreddi historian summarizing the novel Seraphina, which precedes Shadow Scale. It’s a nice touch and brings readers up to speed nicely. Of course, since Seraphina is a whopping 499 pages, there are a lot of things that get left out. I read Seraphina just a few weeks ago, and I approached Shadow Scale wondering if I’d be able to enjoy it without the background of the first story. I think it could be done, but the second story is so much richer for having read both of them.

As her readers have come to expect, Hartman fills the pages of her tale with well-developed landscapes rich with history, culture and religion. I loved that the stories about the saints played a part in the grander plot. Though Seraphina is the main character, many other characters play important roles. They are well-developed and intriguing.

Readers who enjoyed Seraphina are very likely to enjoy this second book as well. Those who haven’t read Seraphina yet can still enjoy Shadow Scale, but I’d recommend reading Seraphina first. You’ll get a lot more out of the experience.

Profanity Content
none

Sexual Content
There’s a pretty intense kissing moment which seems like it could go further but the characters stop themselves, not wanting to be impulsive. There is a very brief girl-on-girl kiss. One culture uses a large number of pronouns to address its citizens, including a category for “emergent feminine.” It could be that Hartman means this as a way for transgender individuals to be more accurately addressed. It’s not deeply explored.

A dragon briefly discusses his hopes of being mated with another dragon in a conversation with Seraphina.

Spiritual Content
Citizens of Goredd worship a large collection of saints. The story often references various writings by different saints. In Porphyry, the people worship a god of chance and goddess of necessity.

Violence
Brief references to torture (no details.) In several scenes, dragons battle one another.

Drug Content
None.

Review: Two Renegade Realms by Donita K. Paul

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Two Renegade Realms
Donita K. Paul
Zondervan/HarperCollins

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Cantor and Bixby have spent the last few years serving as Realm Walkers. They cross through portals to other worlds to keep peace and protect anyone in need. Now they join forces again to stop two realms on a collision course with their homeland. The Realm Walkers Guild stands mired in corruption, so Cantor and Bixby will find no allies or aid there. Instead they set out to locate Chomountain, a man supernaturally gifted by Primen. They will have to find and free Cho before their homes are destroyed.

While the first book in the Realm Walkers series had a middle grade feel, Two Renegade Realms begins later, with Cantor older, wiser and much taller. The story takes on more of a young adult tone though its content remains safe enough for younger eyes and ears. The characters and their quirks make for a warm cast.

Between the action sequences, characters shuffle through and rearrange hampers, which always seem to contain fresh, wonderful foods and useful items. They enjoy many picnics and meals together. While those scenes are cute, some of them feel like filler – not much is happening. Some of the conflicts resolve easily – once so easily that even the characters comment on how simple the solution was. Instead of the action and suspense building to a mountain peak as the story unfolds toward its climax, it has more of a slalom feel with conflict and resolution repeating through the course of the tale.

Fans of Cantor, Bixby and Bridger will enjoy following more of their story and seeing how their relationships with one another have changed since the earlier novel.

Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Cantor and his friends are devoted followers of Primen in a monotheistic religion similar to Christianity

Violence
Brief battle sequences and some instances of peril. No gory details.

Drug Content
None.