This is a unique and engaging reading. "Spread the word." My rating: 4.5 of 5.0.

Here are the characters identified by subsections in the first chapter:
The Police Chief With No Stories
The Wife Who Answers Phones
The Waitress Who Failed to be a Nurse.
A Dog Who Is A Good Dog
The Scientist in Charge of Unitime

Willow is one of the scientists who developed Unitime, a satellite system that controls all electronics and was put into place 14 years before. The system provided free energy and set the world on the path of a peaceful easy-going life with minimal crime and discontent. But now in 2054, suddenly the clocks are wrong – which means something has gone wrong with the Unitime system.

The government, communication, banking and other systems are breaking down. People go on strike or get relieved of work, frustrations and tempers mount. Crime and violence erupt with the chaos of having no control.

The world is hunting for Willow, depending on him to find the glitch in the system and fix it. They can’t even return to the old NASA satellites without getting the Unitme system fixed to launch them. Willow is working on simulations and reading a fantasy novel called Quest for the Enchanted Dragon while waiting for results. But he has a secret that could throw the world into more chaos – if that is possible.

The book starts with a little confusion as the seemingly unrelated characters are introduced with the point of view (first person, second person, third person) and tense (past, present and even future), changing with each character. I was pulled into the mystery and the plot ride as the flawed characters grew on me and their lives become woven together. I even loved Cider, the dog. The story is engaging and unique and well worth the read – well done. I recommend it to readers who like their sci fi with mystery or their mystery with fantasy and readers who just love to be entertained! Spread the word!

Source: NetGalley 2018.

With a title like A Book without Dragons you might think this fantasy obsessed reviewer wouldn't be interested. However the premise of Olivia Berrier's story intrigued me. Anytime you can take the concept of time and how it flows, moves, etc. I am game to read about it.

Plot Premise
While the plot is simple in concept, it is anything but simple for our characters to navigate. Time has been centralized, to one set of satellites. Almost all electronics have been connected to this set of satellites and so everything now runs off one continuous, 'perfect' system. No one ever has a clock, watch or device that reads a different time, EVER. So what happens when it all comes crashing down?
Obviously if the world were to start to rely on one system for too many things we could be in big trouble. What happens if the system is hacked, overloaded or otherwise fallible. Then what? No more time. But in Berrier's story it's not just no more time, it's no more medical devices working, refrigerators, water systems, electricity, etc. EVERYTHING that could be hooked up is hooked up to this one set of satellites and so taking it down, more or less, takes down all of society across the Earth.

Dystopia
I love dystopian books, so there was no doubt I was game for A Book Without Dragons. Even if the spoiler in the title is true. There are no real dragons in the book. As with most dystopian books we see the crumbling of society when time 'stops working'. I think a lot of writers have finally figured out that the best way to write a dystopian novel, is to focus on the characters and how they handle the situations given. As opposed to focusing too much on events themselves.

Characters
The characters and their treatment is the true genius of this book. Berrier has five main characters that include a child and a dog. Yes that's right a dog! I love the dog's simple perspective and his way of 'learning' information that people are thinking because he hears what they say when no one is around. This is a clever device to give the reader information without having to have the character disclose it to someone else in dialogue (and to get it second-hand from outside their thoughts).
All of the five characters were really well-written. I loved each of them in their own way. And hated some aspects of each as well. And of course, as all good writing does, these five stories pull together at the end for a final climax.

Overall
I've left out a ton of juicy tidbits about Berrier's novel as I don't want to given even a hint of anything away. But I will say that the time crisis may seem easy on a dog, a bit complex for a child, more complex for a husband and at ultimate complexity for the person that created the time singularity (if you will) to start with. Entwined into this brilliant story is a mystery, complex feelings, desires to make the world a better place, and a rubber ball that the dog loves.
What I will say is that this is a shorter read and it is well worth the time. I loved it and cannot wait to read more from Berrier in the future. Although I am hoping that her next book has actual dragons in it (lol).

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

*thank you to Netgalley and Olivia Berrier for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

Wow, this was a surprise. I enjoyed it more than I thought. I thought the story sounded interesting enough but was really surprised with how much I did actually enjoy it. I will admit that I was a bit worried about the writing style. It's very jumpy, but if you can manage to keep up, it's worth it. I would not recommend reading this in small dosages as it could easily get too confusing, but that's just my thoughts. Some people might find it easier in small reads but thats up to each individual. The cover for this is what grabbed my attention at first. I just love it.

This book started off with an interesting idea and then just wowed. I enjoyed the twist and surprises this book had in store. It was fast read with wit, humor, and ideas flowing. The whole book just took me by surprise.

Book Review
Title: A Book Without Dragons
Author: Olivia Berrier
Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian /Sci-Fi
Rating: ****
Review: The opening to a book without dragons was, we are introduced to Willow Ayers in the year 2054, who is one of the creators of Unitime which basically controls all electronics. However, strange things start happening with clocks being wrong, phone calls dropping and much more which should be impossible due to Unitime’s technology. We begin to see how this begins effecting everyday people and when we are finally introduced to Willow’s perspective we learn that he might not be able to fix the system, he might just have to stabilize it long enough for NASA to launch the old technology back into space, but he isn’t sure he can even do that. Despite his fame Willow seems to be a bit of a recluse with the only person he trusts Jasper who is his friend from college who works for the FBI.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we the readers and Willow are beginning to see how much these small glitches are affecting people and how in many cases it is causing people to panic and allows criminals more freedom as police are concluding that many incidents are caused by the glitches not by people.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, we learn more about Willow’s history. We learn that his partner Troy died in a car accident just before the Unitime satellites were launched. We learn from Troy’s brother that he sent him a text with a date and nothing else which happens to be the exact date that the Unitime technology started malfunctioning. Despite Willow’s personality we are now beginning to question whether this malfunctioning system was planned or completely random and what was Willow’s relationship with Troy? And how did Troy know this was going to happen years in advance?
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Willow despite all Jasper’s efforts to keep him hidden often goes walking about at night because he can’t get his anxiety medication anymore. On one of these midnight outings he comes across Zabby who is trying to escape her abusive father, and both accidently make friends with a little dog called Cinder. After a few weeks the world has really gone to hell with almost everyone not being able to function without technology. Willow in a bid for help decides to put a message out to the public and tries harder than ever to correct the glitch but nothing works, and he seems to be completely unaware that Troy’s brother is set to kill him not even when he wants to meet with him.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, we see how all the characters are banding together to try and fix the problem or find a way to live without the technology but there are still major issues floating around in the background that hopefully will brought to light very soon. The main issue being whether or not Willow is actually responsible for Tory’s death because he wanted to hide something or is Troy’s brother just a little crazy.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, the true motivations of the characters are revealed, and I must say it turned out to be an extremely interesting concept and I’d love to know where the author found this idea. Overall, I felt that a Book without Dragons was a little slow and hard to get into but the pay off was definitely worth it.

This was an interesting read. I was wondering where the "without dragons" plot would come in. I thought it worked in pretty well at the end seeing how people resolved problems that had been troubling them. I think I caught on to the problem/solution earlier than the end of the book, but it was still far enough away that we weren't sure what was going to happen or how it would ultimately resolve.

I don't really know how to feel about this book. We have different characters but the more we read the more they become connected with each other. I like how with each narrative, the perspective and writing style changed, it was interesting, but as their story (and themselves) grow the narrative itself change and at one point everything was the same and it was difficult to distingue from who we were reading. I like the fact the narratives were all different and the fact they change as their character change themselves, but it became way too confusing.

The story itself about the technology and how people act around/without it was interesting, but I find like everything was for nothing at the end, so that was disappointing.

Thank you NetGalley and Olivia Berrier for this arc.

This book has been getting great and good ratings on Goodreads and is being promoted for teens and YA. It's a dystopian "feel good" read concerned with our increasing dependence on technology. While I really liked Cider (the dog), I found the other characters flat and underdeveloped. Overall I felt it was and overly simplistic story for teens and young adults and more for grade school readers. I rushed reading through the last 40% of the book just to finish it.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me a digital copy of the book for review.

Reading a book that switches not only perspectives but also tenses is not my idea of a great read but the author manages to convince me otherwise. The writing in this book is straightforward and honest so that there is very little confusion. The main protagonists face problems that one can easily relate to or has seen around them often enough. But still the characters manage to be original enough and everything is tied together neatly in the end. The book is short and it fits the concept of the story; an exploration of human nature and the perspectives that bind us together and what would happen if we changed the way we perceive certain elements of the world around us. Some things in the book might seem a little strange but these are minor details. The story is kind of like a short science fiction TV show that manages to find the right balance between violence and happy endings. The concept behind the narrative is alluring and it felt like an accurate assessment of the human condition. I would be excited to read more of the author’s work.

Rating: 3/5 stars