A strong heroine, dragons, magic, what more could you ask for? A little faster pacing would have been nice, but overall a good read.

I love dragons in general so a book called The Dragon Tamer grabbed my attention! This one was quite enjoyable and was high action and fast paced. I have read better dragon books but this one was still fairly enjoyable.

This is a good start to a series with interesting characters and good world building.
Unfortunately the story was slow in places so only 3 stars.
The author never seems to fail with interesting ideas though.
I will definitely read the next in the series.

If you know me, you know I love dragons and wow this story was awesome! This book truly delivered. It was generally exciting, and the plot and world building were really interesting to follow along.

Great book easy to get into and my daughter has now started to read it's too. I would recommend it's.

~~ I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~

It took me forever to get through this book. Not because of verbose language or a complex story but due to not being engaged enough to get through the exposition of the story. Kaelan the main character is sassy and a go-getter and Prince Lasaro is determined but I don't know that I was invested in their success. As the story progressed it definitely got more interesting. The world building was slow, but it is expected with the beginning of a new series. The story itself is solid and the plot moves slowly, but once the action picks up - almost at the end - the reader is pulled in. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book of this series, we'll see what Ms. Richardson has in store for these characters.

I gave my daughter a chance to read this and she loved it. She's 12 with a passion for dragons.

She says she wishes she was Kaelan, and could have a chance to tame a dragon.

All in all I think this book is amazing for all fantasy readers.

I absolutely loved this book. It follows kaelan who is the daughter of Aris who is very poorly with a wasting sickness. She gives Kaelan a letter that gives a eltite Academy the information that Kaelans father was a dragon and therefore Kaelan is entitled to become a student at this academy to become a dragon tamer.

Each dragon needs a tamer to help them control and focus their powers, if they allow the powers to go to their heads they can get lost in it, lose their humanity and become rogue which means they are banished.

Things do not go well for Kaelan, she is a peasant and the masters of the school wont accept a peasant as a student and so throw her into manual labour.

However things start to turn around for her with the addition of crows, an anonymous benefactor and falling in love.

Would happily read book 2.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dragon Tamer is the first installment of the Alveria Dragon Academy series. In it, you will Kaelan. She is living in pretty crappy conditions with her mother and grandmother. It also doesn't help that her mother is very sick and they have found no cure to fix her ailment. So they send her off to the Dragon Academy while also spilling that her dad isn't the most popular dragon.

Along the journey to the school, she happens to run into the Lasaro - who just happens to be the prince of this kingdom. Upon seeing her he finally shifts into a dragon for the first time ever. After rescuing her from some other dragons, he comes to the conclusion that she is his tamer.

Now at this school, you have the dragons and the tamers. Tamers are supposed to help Dragons stay sane in a way because if they don't have a tamer then they eventually go rogue. Throughout school, the dragons and tamers alike go through some challenges to ensure that they a solid bond.

Unfortunately for Kaelan, she doesn't get to go to classes to become a tamer. Some of the masters looked down upon her because she's a peasant. They actually banned her from taking classes and kept her as a worker in the kitchen. Kind of like Cinderella a little? Even though they did this, it did not thing to keep these two from hanging out and creating a stronger bond.

Of course these two were adorable. I could sense the little tension between them and kept wanting them to become an item. I wanted something form them but the little hints at a possible romance blossoming between them was enough (I guess?). Then there's that damn cliffhanger that kind of took my heart out of my chest. I can't believe they said that to each other and now I need to dive into the next book - which luckily, I have the next ARC.

Overall, I loved this book. The dragons and the world building was so freaking entertaining. I wanted to know more about her family history and I'm hoping we get more in the next one. I mean he freaking spoke to her and I want to know what the heck is going to happen next with them!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This started out as a promising YA dragon shifter novel. Kaelan is a brave, strong girl trying to become a dragon tamer so she can save her dying mother. But once she meets the Prince the story fell flat for me.
I was not taken with the Prince. Although his goal is to show his mother he can be king, his character comes off as a bit immature and insecure. He wants to keep his distance from Kaelan but quickly feels like he's in love with her because she helps him shift. It's almost like he's unsure of himself and that comes off in their interactions.
In spite of that this is a decent first series novel and would recommend it.

I really enjoyed the beginning of THE DRAGON TAMER and had no problem getting into the story, the middle was a bit slow and I found myself drifting, but it did pick up again towards the end.

The plot was very intriguing, the characters were interesting, but the romance was too YA for me and took up more of the book than I would have prefered.

I probably won't read more, but I enjoyed THE DRAGON TAMER.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I knew YA novels with Dragons to The Core but here I am left speechless by The Dragon Tamer by Ms. Ava Richards!
The story starts in usual was There is a girl that is an outcast in Her own village and things are getting worse for Her and Her family There. That sucks right? And some long hidden Secret is revealed and this thing set off all future events.
Looks like your usual YA read? Yep, but...
The author knows how to describe The World and events so readers will be devouring The book like The meal after long yours between eating last meal - trust me you won't be disappointed!
Characters were really Good and they were not Black or White but had gray shared in themselves which I really liked as that's how People are!
For fans of Fantasy, Dragons, YA, royal things.

The Dragon Tamer: Alveria Dragon Akademy is the first book in a YA fantasy trilogy by Ava Richardson, author of The First Dragon Rider trilogy, The Sea Dragons trilogy, Upon Dragon's Breath trilogy and Return of the Darkening Trilogy.

The Dragon Tamer is the first book that I have read by author Ava Richardson but it is definitely not going to be the last. The Dragon Sickness, book 2 in the Alveria Dragon Academy trilogy releases 26 December 2018 with the third book in the trilogy, The Dragon Throne, releasing soon after on 27 February 2019.

During the wait between the second and third books release, I have every intention of reading all of Ava Richardson's past fantasy works.

Truth be told, I absolutely love it when I discover a new to me author who has plenty of books already out - because, not only does it allow me to become more familiar with the authors work and the worlds that they create, but it provides me with endless hours of reading pleasure.

The Dragon Tamer is an easily read book that captures the imagination. I read this book in the span of a day and at no point did I want to put it down or stop reading. I'm enthralled and captivated by this dragon world that Ava Richardson has created and can't wait to read the next books in the trilogy.

This book would appeal to fans of Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe works, Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar and Dragon Jousters series, and perhaps fans of P.C. Cast's YA fantasy works as well.

Highly Recommended

While trying to avoid a dreaded reading slump, I decided to try something outside my normal reads and came across The Dragon Tamer. Even though it’s leaning towards the younger YA readers, I still found myself pulled into this story. The magical world of dragons and their human tamers was done really well.

Right off the bat we get a strong female lead who you instantly want to root for. I loved Kaelen. She was sassy, brave, loyal and all around pretty awesome. Lasaro was another interesting character and meeting him really added to the story. Being a huge romance reader, I really liked the relationship between the two MCs. There’s a lot going on around this pair and although this first book was low angst/drama things are hinting that it won’t stay that way for long.

It was a bit lengthy and the start was a bit too slow for me. It does improve half way through and overall, the story was a good one.

This is an excellent book !
The world building is complex and well made and the characters are really interesting
I can't wait to read the rest of this series

Meet Kaelan, a sixteen-year-old apprentice healer who finds out she can roar like a dragon. Yes, that is the introduction Kaelan has to her powers, and the only thing that makes her dying mother reveal that she had an affair with a dragon all those years ago. And not just any, dragon, but the most reprehensible dragon in their country’s history: Mordon. Since only people with dragon blood can be accepted into Alveria Akademy, the best school for dragons and their dragon-blooded tamers, Kaelan decides to enroll in the hopes of finding a cure for her mother’s disease.
On her way to dragon-school, Kaelan meets a mysterious stranger on the road and the prince of Alveria. Lasaro (read, the prince) rescues Kaelan from danger by shifting into his undiscovered dragon form. Lasaro immediately decides he wants Kaelan to be his tamer (his partner, basically). Since he saved her life, Kaelan immediately swears the most contrived oath ever written to the prince. Now, the oath is well thought-out for a 16-year-old peasant. Kealan puts in some reasonable restrictions. But still, the entire thing felt so stilted that I didn’t believe any of it. Even the friendship that forms between Kaelan and Laraso feels forced and the dialogue is abysmal. Lasaro is too obsessed with his princely expectations to hold a real conversation and Kaelan fluctuates between carefree and grimly depressed.
The writing isn’t bad overall, but the story has some serious flaws. I am not attached to any of the characters because we usually met them in a single scene that went something like “Hey, we should friends.” I have no plans to read the next book.

I love any story that involves dragons and old magic, so this was a treat.

It also helps that Kaelan is a young determined woman who is more than her social status and is as kind as she is fearless in battle. I got to read this book courtesy of Netgalley and now I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
If you are looking for a fast paced adventure into the world of dragons through the eyes of a young girl who is seen as an outcast, then this is a must-read.

This book surprised me! That's a pretty big deal, especially in a YA novel. Stories with dragons really seem to go one of two ways, but not this book. This book went it's own way.
1. Loved our heroine. She's determined, she's brave, and she's smart. There was a part in the middle of the book where she got kind of stuck doing nothing, which was frustrating, but she made up for it in the end. The dialogue was good, even though the story was lacking in side characters. The story felt a little too to-the-point without some of the character-building that's enjoyable in a story. She should have interacted with more people to add some interest.
2. Love the boy. There's always a boy, and we're always Supposed to love him, but frequently for me he falls short. This boy is adorable, he matches the story perfectly. He's a good character in his own right.
3. World-building. While the world-building was pretty basic, it was also Unique! I treasure a unique world. Dragons who are also humans who also rule the land. And the non-dragon humans are mad about it. And there's dragon school. Love it. It took some familiar elements and mixed them in new ways. I like to be curious about what will happen instead of predicting it from the first page. Everything did hurry on to the end (the book felt short). Some more description and dialogue would have helped.
Definitely made for a younger audience, with that simplicity and goodhearted feeling you often find in J-Fic novels. That's not a bad thing though, because I liked it. It was magical. A little like the early Harry Potter books, which are cute and happy and magical.

This is the first book in a new YA fantasy trilogy set in a world with dragons. Unfortunately this one didn't work for me. I wasn't invested in the characters and I didn't find the plot very compelling. The world was quite an interesting one and I'm a fan of dragons, but other than that this book wasn't for me personally. If you love YA fantasy then this may be worth checking out.

This was a fun book to read, it had some great characters and a really engaging story line. I definitely recommend reading this book!!!