I loved it! Huge potential!

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I was thrilled when I first heard the concept for this book, and this excerpt was even more amazing. I love dragons, and even more so, books that explore the bonds between dragons and humans.

The human characters in this book were so incredibly authentic, and the author demonstrated such an accurate depiction of the aftermath of revolution, how years of discrimination and prejudice do not just magically disappear overnight. Moreover, neither side was absolutely good or evil. There were shades of gray and darkness on both sides, and I am interested in seeing how this will be explored throughout the course of the story.

Like I mentioned before, the characters were very realistic. I enjoyed seeing so many different personalities, and especially Annie who reminds me so much of myself. And this story already showed huge potential in discussing not only discrimination based on gender or class but on personality--the ways in which certain traits are favored and people are not given the resources or time they need to grow.

Probably my only complaint was that I wish there were more descriptions of the dragons' appearances, the riding gear, and the flight maneuvers. For instance, did the dragons have horns or spikes on their tails? Were all the scales the same size across the entire body? (The only descriptions were based on color or basic body shape and behavior.) What was the saddle made of and how did it attach to the dragons? Did they have some kind of way to strap themselves in or did they rely entirely on balance? How did the riders signal movement to their dragons? Telepathically?

This vagueness may have been intentional on the part of the author in order to dedicate more space to the character interactions or leave room for the readers' imagination, but it did mean I had trouble picturing some of the scenes. Additionally, I wished there had been more development on the dragons' personalities, especially since the human characters were so well-developed.

That being said, the various conflicts and plot threads introduced have huge potential, and I am thoroughly invested in the characters. I cannot wait to find out more!