Hello guys!!
Today is Saturday and after the super busy shift I had yesterday and the fact that I'm working night shift tonight, I'm taking the day easy and thinking of baking some to help me relax a bit more!
As I've already mentioned my backlog of reviews, I'm having two reviews for Saturday Pages today, and I'm starting with one very awaited book of this year because DRAGONS! and because it's Julie Kagawa and she's in my auto buy list!
Talon by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had been extremely excited about this book because DRAGONS! + Julie Kagawa had to be awesome, and although it was quite awesome, it was a lil different from what I expected.
What was most different from what I expected was that somehow I was expecting it to be more fantasy contemporary, and it was more like paranormal contemporary, I'm not sure if that difference will make a lot of sense to you guys, but it threw me off a bit at first.
The book is done in alternating POVs between Garrett and Ember and since we started with an epic chapter of Garrett taking down a dragon with St George's army and then we move to chapters with Ember and Dante trying to assimilate and behave like normal teenagers... it was a bit jarring!
There's so much we don't know about the past of Talon or St George's, only that dragons were nearly wiped out, that St George are trying to defend humanity and that dragons can take human shape, and that's something rather unique about this book and series, they feel more like were-dragons (paranormal) that the usual non-shifting dragons of fantasy.
The relationship between Garret and Ember was very sweet and although both of them kept lying to themselves because they kept on noticing things that pointed out to their real identities, I loved their time together surfing or at the fair, pretending that they could be normal without all the extra baggage!
The one thing that caused me to make a face was the love triangle... when it appeared at first I was all "grumble grumble why love triangle grumble grumble" but then it was clear that Ember was attracted to Garret and Ember's dragon was attracted to the rogue dragon, and that quite makes sense that "beast" and human part could have different opinions. I cannot help but ship Garret and Ember more than Riley and Ember but we'll see if I'm sailing the sinking ship!
The second half of the book is what made it worth of the 4 stars for me, because stakes keep getting higher, more things start happening with Talon, with the mission to discover the sleeper and we learn a lot more about the rogue dragons, the actions starts taking off and the final third of the book is non-stop and makes you want to flip the pages even faster!
By the end of the book there are quite a few questions unanswered about Ember and Dante being twins, about what Talon really is and what really happened between St George and the dragons originally! I cannot wait for book two, Rogue! Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!
View all my reviews
Today is Saturday and after the super busy shift I had yesterday and the fact that I'm working night shift tonight, I'm taking the day easy and thinking of baking some to help me relax a bit more!
As I've already mentioned my backlog of reviews, I'm having two reviews for Saturday Pages today, and I'm starting with one very awaited book of this year because DRAGONS! and because it's Julie Kagawa and she's in my auto buy list!
Talon by Julie KagawaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had been extremely excited about this book because DRAGONS! + Julie Kagawa had to be awesome, and although it was quite awesome, it was a lil different from what I expected.
What was most different from what I expected was that somehow I was expecting it to be more fantasy contemporary, and it was more like paranormal contemporary, I'm not sure if that difference will make a lot of sense to you guys, but it threw me off a bit at first.
The book is done in alternating POVs between Garrett and Ember and since we started with an epic chapter of Garrett taking down a dragon with St George's army and then we move to chapters with Ember and Dante trying to assimilate and behave like normal teenagers... it was a bit jarring!
There's so much we don't know about the past of Talon or St George's, only that dragons were nearly wiped out, that St George are trying to defend humanity and that dragons can take human shape, and that's something rather unique about this book and series, they feel more like were-dragons (paranormal) that the usual non-shifting dragons of fantasy.
The relationship between Garret and Ember was very sweet and although both of them kept lying to themselves because they kept on noticing things that pointed out to their real identities, I loved their time together surfing or at the fair, pretending that they could be normal without all the extra baggage!
The one thing that caused me to make a face was the love triangle... when it appeared at first I was all "grumble grumble why love triangle grumble grumble" but then it was clear that Ember was attracted to Garret and Ember's dragon was attracted to the rogue dragon, and that quite makes sense that "beast" and human part could have different opinions. I cannot help but ship Garret and Ember more than Riley and Ember but we'll see if I'm sailing the sinking ship!
The second half of the book is what made it worth of the 4 stars for me, because stakes keep getting higher, more things start happening with Talon, with the mission to discover the sleeper and we learn a lot more about the rogue dragons, the actions starts taking off and the final third of the book is non-stop and makes you want to flip the pages even faster!
By the end of the book there are quite a few questions unanswered about Ember and Dante being twins, about what Talon really is and what really happened between St George and the dragons originally! I cannot wait for book two, Rogue! Very well deserved 4 stars for this one!
View all my reviews
Great review, Pili!! I'm so excited for this one :D I like the concept and I LOVE dragons. Perhaps I'll love this one just as much as you :D Except a love triangle, ewwww.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the love triangle almost made me drop half a star! But we'll see how it progresses in the next books!
DeleteI've loved every JK book but I've heard so pretty bad reviews about this one. I'm so glad you hear you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review!
My fave books of hers still have to be the Blood of Eden series, but I think this one was pretty good and the second half was quite awesome, Lis!
DeleteAwesome review Pili. <3 I'm so glad you enjoyed this book :) I adore Julie Kagawa. But oh. I am not ready for this book :( not yet. And that makes me so sad. Things I have heard about the plot bothers me. And the love triangle shit. What is the point? Sigh. But anyway. Happy you liked it :) Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3
ReplyDeleteYeah, the love triangle I wasn't very happy about, but the rest of the book was very interesting! I do hope you'll get to read it someday sweetie!
DeleteI'm no longer interested in this book, unfortunately (before I even read your review though). Boooo, love triangles. I've seen very not-so-positive reviews for this book, so, no thanks!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Triangle was a bummer for me too, but I liked the book in spite of it! But I know what you mean when you feel a book won't be your thing!
DeleteThis was my first venture with Julie and I must say I am/was truely disappointed. I kept trying to give the book a chance, but it really isn't about dragons at all, or even people who change into dragons; it was about spoiled teens talking about and doing spoiled teen things, who happened to have a couple of friends who could, but didn't, turn into dragons. I kept reading because another blogger said it gets good after the 50% mark (which I am near), but honestly, after reading Ensnared, which is great from the first page, I said to myself, why? We shouldn't ever have to wade through half a book's worth of muck to get to the good part. My other problem with this story is it is one those books that paints a picture of American teens being vapid and shallow. Thank goodness many readers said it was nothing like her other books because I still might give one a try.
ReplyDeleteThe first half reads a lot like contemporary, that's true, but it changes after that.
DeleteI'd highly recommend you try the Blood of Eden trilogy, really amazing vampire books!
I think a lot of people are disappointed in this book because it's more paranormal than fantasy, but I'm totally okay with them being were-dragon like! It reminds me of Firelight by Sophie Jordan, which I loved. I think I'll really enjoy reading this book. :) Great review, Pili!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was a bit disappointed at first cause of that. But I'm glad that my review helped you guessed whether you'd like the book or not!
DeleteYou know, I tried this one and gave up about page 80. I wasn't feeling it :-( I figure I'll try again at a later date but I was so sad since I loved her last series so much. I'm glad you liked it overall. The love triangle does make sense but still feel meh about it. I might wait and see what everyone thinks of the second book and go from there. Great review Pili!
ReplyDeleteI also took a small break from reading it and then returned and ended up liking it, but I understand it can be a bit off-putting with so little info on Talon for a while. I cannot wait for book 2 myself!
Delete