Thank you to NetGalley, Lithunters, Alex Sapegin, and Elizabeth Kulikov (translator) for the opportunity to read Becoming the Dragon in exchange for an honest review.

*A note on the text: The English version is a translation from the original Russian language. With the way writing works, a translation can never be quite as eloquent as something in its original language. The premise of this novel is right up my alley, but I feel that some of the pacing and elements to the writing were lost in translation, bringing the enjoyment down just a bit for me in areas that felt a bit clunkier.

The first in The Dragon Inside series, Becoming the Dragon follows Andy. He basically gets teleported through a portal into a world of fantasy: castles, elves, orcs, and dragons. No spoilers here, as it's a key aspect of the book blurb, but Andy obtains an injury sure to kill him, but instead of succumbing to the moral wound, he undertakes an ancient ritual to become a dragon.

As Andy's mind works on figuring out his new body, he must learn the history behind his new dwelling and determine the best way to take action to save those he cares about, and exact revenge on those who have brought him despair. Dragons too can be changed to humans, but the success rate is low. Imagine a world full of intelligent dragons, where you, too, could become one!

I love the idea of being able to become a dragon and start a new life as one while still harboring the memories from my human life. The premise of this novel is very intriguing and excellent for lovers of high fantasy. The Dragon Inside is a complete five book series, and for those seeking a high fantasy adventure reminiscent of something like The Lord of the Rings or Eragon (just reminiscent, though my comparison choices may be a bit too strong), you don't have to wait to devour the whole story! Great for young adult readers who love fantasy or seek that book that exacts their dream of dragon transformation!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

*deep inhale*

Look. I don't like trashing something that someone has put their all into creating. This book is something the author has worked on for a long time and I get that a lot went into it's creation. I always try to find the good in the books I read, even if I didn't enjoy them. With that said, we're gonna talk about the bad things first and end with the good, so as to end on a positive note.

The Bad:

- Why did we need a description of every woman's cleavage? Seriously, at one point, I had to read this in regards to the king's youngest daughter: "The younger one, Namita, as thin as a reed, with a barely visible chest..." Why do I need to know about this *child's* chest size?! Why is this at all relevant?

-The fact that there aren't any well-written female characters in this is less shocking when you take point one into consideration.

- But the fact that *all* of the characters where about as exciting as dishwater was a bit disappointing. Especially in a book about a boy who turns into a literal dragon!

- And can we talk about Andy? How does a kid from our world who doesn't even read fantasy books tap into his insanely overpowered magical abilities so easily?! Make it make sense.

- Though that may be due to the fact that the timeline is a jumbled mess. There's so much jumping back in forth in such a short book that I found myself completely lost. And let's not get started on the overburdened paragraphs that attempted to explain the science and magic of this world. All those accomplished were making my eyelids droop.

...*sigh* Okay. Let's move on, shall we?

The Good:

- The premise is such a great one! It's unique and has a lot of potential.

- I did love the author's depictions of the new world Andy arrives in. They were vivid and made it easy to imagine the land.

- It was short, so it was a pretty fast read... *shrug*

And, in the spirit of ending on a good note, I will leave it at that! I will not be continuing this series, but I do wish the author all the best in his future endeavors!

Becoming the Dragon did not work for me at all. I really enjoyed the very beginning when he met the guy with the bow, but then it fell off hard and was unreadable. It was way too confusing. Minus the bow guy the characters were nothing special which made it even more of a problem to continue reading. I DNF the book.

A remarkable science fantasy with a brilliant cast of characters, both human and fantasy.
When Andy is teleported into a fantasy medieval land of castles, battling armies, mages, orcs and dragons, he is forced to endure great physical hardship before he learns to use his special gifts.

Sadly, I had to DNF this book at 32%.
It was poorly written, the protagonist was horrible to follow... How was he supposed to be a child? Sometimes he did reckless, childish stuff but at other times it read more like it was from the mind of a young adult.
I must say I have read fanfictions that were better than this book.

Unfortunately I had issues getting into this book and was confused for the most of it. It unfortunately didn't work out for me...

Tale of a boy and a dragon. Andy is struck by lightning and his life is never the same. In an effort to cope he takes up many hobbies yet finds himself on another world where he meets elves, ogres, and a dragon. This is the first book in the series and it ends with a cliff hanger. The book is well written, much like a cross between Lord of the Rings and Game of thrones. Happy reading.

I tried really hard to get into this book. I love dragons but the story was too confusing to navigate. The story building was not well formulated. It was confusing on figuring out who was talking. Great premise but needs work.