ava richardsons dragon books are a delight. seriously. vivid settings, great world building, good characters and engaging plots. love her

Of course, after Dragon Called and Dragon Magic, I wanted to read the end of the Deadweed trilogy. Because I wanted to know whether Dayie would finally learn more about her past and if she and Akeem would be able to fight of the Deadweed and the Water Wraights for once and for all.
Although the story flowed better than Dragon Matgic, I found myself getting tired of all the deadweed attacks. I get it, that it is hard to conquer, but after pages of new attacks in different places, I found myself almost skipping pages: "Yeah, yeah, deadweed, yada yada".
And when I - finally - came to the last part of the story: you know, the epic ending of a series, I kinda deflated. I will not spoil the ending, but my reaction was sort of this: "What?! This is it?! Pffff..."
In all, a nice trilogy. But it may not surprise you that it didn't knock me off my socks. Three out of five stars and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

After the heightened tension, faster-pace and character development in book two of the Deadweed trilogy, I was disappointed with this one.

I failed to connect with Dayie’s character for the entire trilogy, which undermined the whole thing as she takes 80% of the narration. Even in this final book, there is an arrogance to her that I haven’t come across with Ava Richardson’s characters before: normally these traits are the flaws they overcome. Dayie, however, remains convinced she knows more than others and even her bond with her dragon has undercurrents of this arrogance.

Akeem is a much stronger character. You can pinpoint key moments in his journey from the first to the last book. You see him grow, witness him making decisions that would have been unthinkable for him when we first meet him: he becomes the type of leader he is destined to be.

One thing lacking in this one for me was the friendships between the humans. Perhaps it is because they each have their own dragon, whereas before they’ve bonded with the same one, which instinctively deepens the connection between the humans. But while we realise Akeem truly values Dayie, there’s not that borderline romantic connection as other books, where they are as loyal to one another as they are to their dragon. That friendship, that loyalty, has always been the charm of these books and why I keep coming back to them.

Usually, secondary characters are given the chance to develop as much as the main ones. Again, this was lacking: Nas had the potential to become more, and wasn’t given the chance to truly redeem himself from his actions at the beginning of the book. Same with Heydar – I was expecting more from Akeem’s second.

It wasn’t just the characters that let this one down for me. Despite the encroaching threat of the Deadweed, despite losing territories and people along the way, there wasn’t the same tension. The book became predictable – I figured out who the “sea witch” was going to be early in this book, and was proven right.

There was no final climax, no big battle. Instead, the characters had a quick chat, chanted a song and that was it; done deal. There wasn’t that satisfying good conquering evil or teamwork where everyone plays a valuable part, even if they have been a secondary character up until now. I found the battles of the second book far more engaging; they at least made you fear for the characters. This time, it just felt like there was no threat.

These books come out quite quickly. This is the first time, however, that they have genuinely felt rushed, with not enough time or effort given over to developing the characters. I know they are intended for a younger audience, but this is the first time I haven’t been able to connect. Given how many of Ava Richardson’s books I’ve read, that’s saying something.

A disappointing read that undermined my love of all her books.

Dragon Song by Ava Richardson, a great sequel that really helps tie the previous books together and provides a good conclusion to parts of the story. Looking for more from this author.

See that 2 stars? They are two very disappointing stars. Being the last book, I had expected more, but it ended up being a damper of the trilogy, so much so that I actually felt it was a waste having invested my time on this.

The Deadweed and Water Wraiths are still as rampant, leaving wreckage and deaths wherever they land. The South goes one step further by going to the North — to Torvald — where they could perhaps ask for help to fight against a common enemy. But victory seems impossible. The power of the Sea Witch is so strong, they cannot hope to fight against the evil forces even with dragon fire. Later, Dayie finds that the only solution to this is a sacred land of the dragons, where the key to it all can be found.

Let's start with the good things first. After going through the whole series, it is clear to me that the author has a strong grasp at creating fantasy settings. Her descriptions of places are fantastic. There is also a certain style in the way she creates her dragons, and I really enjoy how cute Zarr can be sometimes. Even though he's big, his young age can still be seen from the way he acts and thinks, and I find that appealing. There are aspects of the storyline that truly interests me as well. Making new discoveries and meeting new dragons are always welcome. The twist at the end, too, is a major plus. *cough* Even though it is a little too convenient in my opinion. *cough*

But that's about it. Yes, there is the twist, but ohmygoodness the ending. The very abrupt ending. Why did the author have to spoil the story this way? So many questions left unanswered, and yet I actually found this pretty draggy (it took forever for the Sea Witch to appear — TOO LONG). I was even hoping that there would be an announcement of a fourth installment at the end of this book. I should have known it was too much to ask for. Akeem did improve somewhat, but there's little to no chance for him to prove to me that he has definitely become a better leader. The book does end very quickly after all.

The author's writing too... I know that what I read is an ARC, but I can still see a lot of her style amidst all the grammatical errors. For one, the exclamation marks used are bountiful. It really disrupted my reading, from the first book to the last. There were so many sentences that ended with the rise of tone when I read them in my head, a consequence of that punctuation mark. There is really no need for so many. The thoughts and the dialogues that come up because of exclamation marks really makes me wonder if the characters here are really what they are described to be: late teens, early twenties. It would be more appropriate to lower their ages, I should think, if the author was really keen to include all the exclamations.

That aside, if the author had tied up the ending a lot better, I would probably have liked this more. Akeem's annoying personality that continued to persist pushed me to lower my rating to a 4, then a 2 when I was on the last two chapters. I was actually looking forward to reading more of this author's books, but after touching on this slipshod work, I have decided not to.

The saga continues in this book with Dayie and Prince Akeem seeking for solutions to ending the deadweed and water wraiths to save the kingdoms around them. However, picking up from book two- it's obvious that there is a connection between Dayie's magic and the deadweed and it does not help that she cannot seem to wrap her mind around it. As time and calamities increase, she soon discovers that there may be a way out but it will involve more than she bargained for and as always you cannot help but love her stubbornness and sheer determination. Reading this book was a thrill and I love how there was a sense of calm or shall I call it a shift in Akeem's perspective, it's like he is becoming wise.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

This novel continues where the previous novel left off in the conclusion of the Dragonweed saga. Dayie and Akeem need to stop the deadweed and water wraiths before the entire world is overrun and destroyed by it. Dayie must confront her past origins to save all the kingdoms. Dayie’s abilities as a witch affect her relationship with Zara, her dragon companion because she does not have complete control over her abilities. Akeem is torn between being the leader of the Wild Company and his father’s last words to him, since he is the prince. Once believed enemies will need to become allies, but there are those with their own agendas. Akeem and Dayie will travel to other parts of the world to seek the answers they need to save everyone. The truth lies in the past.