Fantasy Romance published by Entangled: Red Tower Books 2 May 23
I totally agree with our own Kaitlyn this is one of the best books of the year, even though we still have six months to find more exciting books like this one.
I have been following Rebecca Yarros for the last few years, and I’m happy to see her stretch out into another genre, one of which she has now mastered, after only one book.
I have been looking for a paranormal book to dive into recently, so this one came just in time. And dragons have always been a favorite of mine. This book hits the spot with the grueling gauntlet young, upcoming dragon riders must face before chosen by their own dragons.
Violet Sorrengail is the daughter of an unfeeling, regimented mother/colonel, who has dictated.Violet become a member of the Riders Quadrant of the college instead of the Scribe Quadrant, which Violet has trained for all her life. So as she begins the horrendous training, she also discovers, other than the fact a small percentage of those wanna-be riders will not make it past the first obstacle, there are plenty of enemies who have it in for her because of her mother.
One of those is Xaden Riorson, who is a wing leader despite the fact he is considered a traitor, along with quite a number of other young adults, all of whom share a terrible past. His seemingly smoldering hate for Violet jumps off the page in their early scenes together, but her unpredictable attraction to him pulls the reader further into the story, leaving you wondering what will become of them.
The dragons nearly steal the entire book, once they are introduced and their choice of riders begins. It’s Violet once again who has to navigate the unexpected when Tairn, the largest and fiercest of the dragons, selects our heroine as his rider, and other surprises go hand-in-hand with that choice.
Xaden, going against his initial reaction to Violet, is now tethered to her due to unforeseen dragon “issues.“ Thus, the tide begins to turn when it comes to feelings and emotions between these two. It is a slow-building and sizzling beginning to a complicated relationship.
Ms. Yarros does a terrific job when it comes to both the terrifying process and results of the rider competitions and the unexpected fights for life during the last quarter of the book. All of those scenes are compelling and nail-biting, but the connection between dragons and riders is both heart wrenching and fascinating.
If you are a paranormal fan – even if you aren’t – definitely pick this book up as soon as possible. It is a thrilling and emotional ride, even though you aren’t on the back of a dragon.
Grade: A+
Summary:
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
