I always enjoy Ms. Richardson's work, this book was a great start to a new series. The characters were what I expected from her and really enjoyed reading this book.

thanks to netgalley for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

ah i was so excited for another dragon book and the premise sounded great... but then it wasn't.

nova was a frustrating character to read from, the decisions she made made for a very predictable and unlikable character in my opinion. the writing also wasn't that great, it had a lot of info-dumps and no innovative (or at least enjoyable and seamless) way to build the world and relay all the things the reader needed to know. in short, a lot of tell and no show. i expected more but honestly it wasn't that good although it was a fun read that had so much potential.

Who doesn't love a good dragon series?

I will say that while reading this book, it did feel like it was geared more towards younger readers than YA. To be honest, that doesn't matter to me. It was still a good book! I love the world building the author paints with her words. I feel like I'm transported to this beautiful, medieval-like world of Ragond where dragons and magic exists.

16 year old Nova is stuck in the foster system with her best friend Zephyr. Nova has no idea what happened to her mom 10 years ago and pledges to find her again. One day, a dragon shows up in the forest, where Nova has run away to, and tells her that he can help her do just that! He takes both Nova and Zephyr to Ragond which only leaves them with more questions than answers.

In order to be permitted to stay and look for any information on what happened to her mom, both Nova and Zephyr have to prepare for trials to become either a dragon rider or a witch. At first they are reluctant, not wanting to get involved in another world's war, but by staying they end up finding a fresh start and that Ragond feels more like home than Earth. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to read this book, just after its release.

Unfortunately this book is not my cup of tea. I had a hard time getting through this book and to be honest I gave up when I reached the 50% of this book. I was a little in doubt if I should write a review about it, since I only have read the first half of the book. I have as you can read decided to write a review anyway, because I still want to share my reasons for not finishing this book. I do want to emphasize that this review is based on my opinion for the first half of the book.

First of all the writing style was really hard to get through for me. I felt that this book was written a little childish and it felt more like a middle grade book, then young adult. Story wise not everything made sense and from the start I kept thinking “sure I will roll with this…”. The reason why the story not always made sense to me were the decisions made by the main character of the story Nova. She makes a lot of rush and weird decisions that are based on nothing. She seems to trust everybody even when she doesn’t know them. She is very arrogant and acts as if she knows everything because she is sixteen years old. She is also very rude to the people who want to help her and give her shelter and food. But all this is without a reason as it seems.

Not only the decisions of Nova ruined the story for me but often the story takes weird and sudden turns. It also feels very rushed and doesn’t really give you time to breath or come to terms with what is happening. Everything just goes so fast that it almost seems unbelievable.

The side characters felt very blend and kind of kept explain the world to Nova and the reader. You really learn most about this world through side characters telling you how things go, why and how they look. I personally prefer world building were you experience it instead of being told.

Overall this book was not for me. And I do want to make it clear that this review is based on my opinion of the first half of this book. Maybe I am very wrong if I should continue this book. But I have decide not to, the biggest reason is that I don’t care for the story or characters. They are not in my head when I put the book aside. And I just don’t want to read a book that I don’t like or enjoy.

I do have a feeling I might I enjoyed this more if I read it when I was twelve of thirteen years old. But as an adult I find it hard to get through and believe the story or characters.

I won’t give stars for this book on Goodreads, since I haven’t finished it.. On Netgalley I have to rate this, I do feel a little bad for this... I have published this review on Instagram and Goodreads and will also upload it on my blog.

- Loved the world descriptions.
- Loved the element of magic.
- I loved that Nova was bold and confident and knew what she wanted.

What I would have liked.
- More world descriptive. (In-depth)

I really enjoyed this book! The friendship and loyalty between Nova and Zephyr is very potent and wonderful to read, and made this book an enjoyable experience. All the characters were very well done, especially the dragon twins, Rune and Hake. They have very different personalities, but enjoy a deep and profound bond that make the story all the more interesting. Dragon Link is a book that all dragon fans (and everyone else) should read!

I was able to get an advanced reader copy for this book from NetGalley.

I read this book in a day, I could NOT put it down! I asked for an ARC because… well, DRAGONS! It did NOT disappoint!!!! They TALK and they are of historic importance! I just love dragons!

Nora is an unlikely hero, oh so stubborn with anger issues, who didn’t want to stay in Ragond. She didn’t want to help with the war effort or do things for “the greater good”, she just wanted to find her mom and go home, wherever home might be. In most fantasy or even YA books, the protagonist goes off on their adventure by themselves and meets new friends along the way. It was refreshing to see Nova and Zephyr, Nova’s best friend, going together and seeing Zephyr, who didn’t like adventures, be the one who wanted to stay.

Nova is described as having darker skin, which we can see on the art cover of the book. We don’t see Earth much, but on Ragond, the colour of skin isn’t mentioned other than for description. There are no racial tensions, but there might be financial divisions and I am hoping book 2 will delve into it a bit more. Sidenote: it’s nice to see the main character being darker than the best friend.

The description of the landscape as we enter Ragond is absolutely beautiful. Some might think it was too much, but I thought it was perfect to mentally envision this new world, so different from Earth. Weirdly enough, I enjoyed the description of the bathroom in the girls’ room, it sounded so luxurious and spa-like. It was interesting to learn about Ragond (including Stonehaven and their bathroom) at the same time as the girls’ and wondering who Nova’s parents’ were and why people keep alluding to her blood at the same time as Nova. I am soooooo looking forward to book 2 and will also look up other books by Ava Richardson.

Now, I want to mention a few hiccups, nothing too dramatic or negative. The synopsis from the author’s website (synopsis NetGalley used) is too long and includes what I would consider spoilers. I love a fast-paced book, but why are we skipping over many weeks of their training?

Ragond Portal War book 1: Dragon Link was published on December 30th, 2020.
FYI, Book 2: Dragon Rebellion is expected January 27th, 2021 and Book 3: Dragon Alliance is expected February 24th, 2021.

Nova Harris is living in foster care in South Florida after her mother disappeared leaving Nova with only a pendant with a dragon etched on front and no memories. Her only friend, Zephyr is in the same foster house. After listening to another argument of her foster parents, Nova sneaks out and Zephyr follows her to their favorite place in the forest. A large lizard approaches and tells Nova she must come with him to another world called Ragond and he will help her find her mother. The lizard, Korgad changes into a dragon and takes the two friends through a portal to Ragond. The two 16 year-olds both grow in potential as young woman and their relationships with the young dragons is fun to read. The story is also a serious exploration of children losing their parents as well as a dragon losing its rider and where we find our family is not always by blood relation. This is the first book in the Ragon's Portal War series and I look forward to book two. I received a digital copy of this story through the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.