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

After being disappointed by the previous couple of series, I told myself to stop requesting every Ava Richardson book I saw. The next thing I know, the next trilogy’s on my shelf.

But the Alveria Dragon Akademy’s Untameables has a different approach. Rather than a now-predictable unlikely pair bonding with a dragon, this time, the characters are the dragons, with both magic and shape-shifting abilities. There’s still the unlikely pairing, but that, too, has been handled differently.

Laini has the power of light and dark. A power not only exceedingly rare, but one she didn’t know she possessed until stressful circumstances causes her magic to manifest, resulting in her being blamed for an eternal night and ghosts roaming around.

I couldn’t warm to Laini. She’s naïve and desperate to belong. But her adamance makes her actions forceful, annoying and you can see why she wasn’t included. Once she lets go of that and starts accepting her place, you grow to like her a lot more. She’s resourceful and determined and when she applies that to everyday situations rather than fixating on one thing, she’s given the chance to develop.

Her magic is a mystery, but has the set up of a strong character arc as she learns who she is and what she’s capable of. Not a strong start for Laini, but I think she’ll really develop over the three books.

Tyr, however, was an instant hit. He’s a dragon-hunter with secret abilities and a past he doesn’t want to share. Strong, vulnerable, deadly and kind, you instantly connect to Tyr and the decisions he has to make. His story arc also has the potential for development but he’s a great character to get behind.

The relationship between the two was rushed. It’s hard to determine the time-frame events take place over but it’s only a matter of days. Tyr and Laini instantly fall for each other. I’ve always enjoyed the way the author starts the characters off as friends and lets feelings develop – sometimes romantic, sometimes just platonic. But this felt like a cliché young adult trope to make them fall in love before they know each other. It annoyed me.

As mentioned, it takes place over a short period of time. That being said, the pacing felt slow. The majority of tension revolved around Laini and not being able to connect to her character is most likely why I wasn’t emotionally invested in events. My attitude changed as the book progressed: the threat rises, all the characters are in danger and by that point, you’re starting to like them.

The writing is sufficient but there are moments when it’s missing an edit. Repetition of phrases stunted the development. Laini’s sudden regression to once again dwell on her need to belong undermined her previous development at a key moment. She didn’t get the chance to move forward.

The trilogy has potential and now the set up is out of the way, I’m interested to see where this goes next.

It was so great to read this book! I loved the first series, and to spend more time in this world-and we got to see the previous leads as adults-was just fantastic! I really enjoyed this book with a dragon who had a brand new, uncontrollable power, and a dragon hunter. It was such a great read!

I really enjoyed reading about Laini and Tyr's story. I loved their connection, because while she doesn't know, he does know that he's a dragon hunter, that he was sent there to kill her. But as he learns, she's not the one that caused this, the reason why he was sent here. So that was fun!

This book added to this world, by adding in the Norse Gods, but making them dragons. So that as an interesting take, and things like Hel and Fennir, it was just so interesting to read, and I can't wait to see how it's going to continue in the series!

That ending though! That reveal hit hard, with the gravity of what they're facing. I mean, they're facing a Goddess, and the hope to have the other Gods and Goddesses on their side died a quick death. I can't wait to see where things go from here!

Loved this book, and I'm so excited to read more of this series and of this world!

Dragon Untameable by Ava Richardson, This new series by Richardson is a good YA series. A young maid at the palace discovers she has powers when disaster strikes the kingdom and she is blamed for it...

I thought that this was a really good story with plenty of twists and turns
The characters were good together and I really enjoyed their interaction too
This was a great start to a new series and I am looking forward to book 2 to see where the author takes me - it is 4 stars from me for this one - highly recommended!

This was a quick read. It’s a YA fantasy with a good premise but some how misses its mark. The YA main characters are well written but the adults need a little more fleshing out. The story starts out exciting enough but after the initial magic reveal, not much happens as the story plods on. Nightfall has descended on their territory and everyone unreasonably blames Laini. She is taken to the Akademy to begin learning how to tame her magic. Once she is there, she attends classes with other students that can’t control their magic. Tyr is sent to assassinate Laini even though she is under the king and queens protection. The queen is supposedly teaching Laini but she never offers her training or any advice on how to control her magic. The Queen seems to constantly be in meetings about why the untameable students should or shouldn’t be banished or killed. The adults give the students all these rules but don’t supervise or enforce them. They are told not to leave their tower but they leave all the time and are never caught. Because the adults seem to be doing nothing but blaming, Laini is forced to solve the nightfall problem with the help of Tyr and the other untameables. There are so many inconsistencies in this story that I just didn’t enjoy it. It could have been a much better story if there was more action and less plodding along. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Considering the amazing reviews, I thought that would really enjoy this but I just couldn’t get into it. It starts off brilliantly and draws you in straight away with magic, action and, of course, dragons. These are all things I love, so I was obviously excited to continue, but from here everything just felt a little...boring? I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the story as I feel that the writing only really covers the very basics of the magic system and world building, which are elements that I like to indulge in when reading fantasy.
Whilst it may not have been for me, I would still recommend this to those looking for a quick and easy YA fantasy, as I think my issues were purely down to personal preference!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I really liked being back in the Dragon world of Alveria. The first series set in this world was a lot of fun to read and I loved those characters, many are back in this series.

Laini is a great character, though I didn't really care for her passive personality at the start of the book. The type to apologize to people for everything, for example at the start of the book it's a birthday party for a young child and while Laini is still doing work, cleaning and getting more refreshments for the children, the rest of the staff who are supposed to be working are standing chatting and when she asks for their help they snap at her and she apologizes for asking. I think I don't like that in people because I used to be that way and was treated like a doormat. But Laini grew on me. She became less passive, I like that she grew and became less passive.

Tyr. strange name aside, I really liked his character. His motivations, his reservations. They seemed genuine. I like when characters are conflicted. It gives them complexity. I liked how his past and his secrets were revealed. As readers, we find out before everybody else, I am not sure if I would have preferred to find out before, or with everybody else. On one hand, it makes the impact of the reveal to everybody else less of a shock, but on the other, we get to understand more about him as a character if we already know.

The other characters in the Untamable class, Thea and Lokari. Thea has the dragon power to make sonic booms and Lokari can cast illusions. Both of these powers, along with Laini's, seem to be unique to those characters. They are the polar opposite to Laini, outgoing, outspoken and very sure of themselves despite not being in full control of their powers. But I have a theory about who they are in the grand scheme of the series, based on the synopsis of the sequel.

I really like this book, and I love that all of Richardson's books feature Dragons. There is a serious lacking of Dragons in Fantasy these days. I suppose most people think that nothing new can be done, but Richardson proves that wrong. This is the fifth book I have read by her, and they are all amazing. Highly recommend you check any of her books out.

I really enjoyed this tale about a lonely young orphan named Laini who has always wanted to have a family. Laini spent years alone but was given an opportunity to work at the palace. She tirelessly worked hard everyday to prove herself falling short as the other staff members failed to appreciate her actions. After a terrifying event the plunges the kingdom into darkness Laini's strange powers emerge as she struggles to save the royal children from benevolent manifestations that appear after the darkness falls. Once the children are safe rumors spread about Laini as a terrified kingdom looks for someone to blaim for the unfolding events.

Laini soon finds herself sent to train at an akademy to try to control powers no one understands. To make matters worse Laini has been targeted by a deadly dragon hunter set on eliminating her believing it will end the darkness.

The dragon kingdom of Alveria and its rulers King Lasaro and Queen Kaelan can no longer protect their people. Is Laini really the cause for the darkness? Would her death restore peace or cause even more chaos?

The characters and and world building is excellent. The beginning feels a little awkward to me but it quickly moves past that into an intriguing plot. It is not as fully developed as more established series but it has great potential. I recommend giving it a try if you like shifter storylines. I recieved this book for an honest review and I'm glad I gave it a chance.

This novel was a great read in Ms. Richardson's dragon saga. We see the return of old characters and the arrival of new ones. This novel is a bit different than the previous ones, bringing in the Norse gods and Asgard. The story is very well written and develops nicely for the second novel in this series. Laini, one of the main characters is a dragon and does not discover her abilities until a darkness falls over the land of Alveria. Laini is an orphan and desperately wants a family, a place where she belongs. But, she gets blamed for the darkness and she wants to suppress her powers and for things to go back to normal. Queen Kaelen wants to have Laini control her powers and along with two other powerful dragons, they become the Untameables. If their powers cannot be controlled, they will be declared rogues and the Hunters will be sent out to kill them. Laini does not realize a hunter is closer than she knows. This hunter, who has a past and secrets of their own, who believes in protecting the kingdom and the innocents, begins to see who Laini is and begins to question the orders from Huntmaster. As Laini and the others begin to unravel the mystery of the darkness, they realize that it an even greater danger that is coming, but will they be able to stop the inevitable?

Dragon Untameable is the first book I have accessed through NetGalley and I am so happy that I chose this book. Laini is an orphan working in the palace as a maid, until disaster strikes at the Princess' birthday party, a never-ending night begins and Laini's unusual powers flair to life. 

This book contained so much about YA fantasy that I adore, we have a great slow-burning and angst-filled enemies(ish) to lovers (although not yet) romance.  A group of outcasts finding family and teamwork with each other and a super interesting world that I can't wait to discover more of when the rest of the series comes out. I loved reading both Laini and Tyr's perspectives and really connected to both of the characters, watching them grow and get to know each other with the undercurrent of tension surrounding them was a joy.

I'm usually incredibly fussy when it comes to how dragons are incorporated into fantasy novels, I have no idea why but often dragons can really make or break a book for me, and they were so well done here. I just want to know more about rogue dragons, the dragon hunters guild and the Akademy itself. The Akademy was without a doubt my favourite part of this novel, I wanted to live in the library the author describes, I want to explore the mountain it is a part of. It was so richly described and I'm hoping we get to see a lot more of it as the series goes on. I'll also definitely be picking up the series about Queen Kaelan when I get a chance, as she was one of my favourite characters here.

The reason this isn't the full five stars it could have been, is because I felt that a couple of the supporting characters weren't as fleshed out in comparison to others. Thea and Lokari are siblings, and where Lokari feels like a complex and dynamic character, Thea next to her doesn't feel so well rounded. However, I'm hoping we get to learn more about Thea and get to see her character grow in the next book. Towards the end some of the writing became a bit repetitive, overly reinforcing this group of 'untameables' as a family a bit more than was necessary. 

Overall, this was a really fun read in a fully formed formed fantasy world that I'm definitely planning on returning to.

I like the idea of Dragon Untameable by Ava Richardson. The magic, power over light and dark, some norse mythology strewn in, and dragons! Who doesn't like dragons? So I had high hopes for this book; but maybe a little too high.

Like I said, I like the story - or the idea of it, but the writing style didn't work for me. We are thrown right into a big, unnerving event in the beginning, which is great to hook the reader and something i appreciate. I was reminded of Alina's beginnings in Leigh Bardugo's Shadow & Bone trilogy. But here, it all happens before we truly know where we are, who we're dealing with (that includes the main character), because all the info we're getting is very skeletal in nature. Just the construct, not so much the depth that's needed to truly connect - at least for me.
Unfortunately, this doesn't change throughout the book, and thus no real immersion took place on my end.

I would still recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a quick, easy to read tale about dragons and magic, but it wasn't for me.

It feels so good to be back in the kingdom of Alveria again!
This time, Kaelan and Lasaro are the reigning Queen and King and their kingdom is under attack, casting the whole of Alveria in darkness and one young orphan girl, Laini, is being blamed for it. What follows is a trip back to the Akademy and there is an endless intrigue of magic, realms and the fight to uphold good from evil.
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC. This is yet another story where the underdog gets her day and I can't wait to see Laini grow into her full power.