A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert

I was kindly provided with an ARC by NetGalley and North Star Editions in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun, heartwarming and short read with the perfect summer vibe. Additionally, look at that georgous cover!

We follow our main character Jiara, who is a princess with three siblings - older and younger - in the queendom of Azzaria by the sea.
Jiara was never intended to inherit the throne, so she wasn't educated as strictly as her older siblings. Instead she got to lead a relatively free life for 17 years.

When her sister is murdered, Jiara is the only one who can take her place as bride of a foreign king to form an alliance between their countries. Her new husband is a good man, but now she has to balance being queen, learning the language of her new people and finding the one who killed her sister while dealing with political intricacies as well. In addition to that it's implied on many occasions that Jiara is dyslexic and has trouble reading and writing.

What I liked about this story:
- Jiara's flaws feel very real
- it's a short lighthearted YA fantasy standalone
- the magic was fascinating and well integrated in the lore

What I didn't love:
- the reveals and plot twists didn't suprise me
- the motivations of the villain weren't strong enough for me

If your're looking for the perfect lighthearted beach read with a slow burn romance, this one is the perfect fit!

Overall A Dragonbird in the Fern was a fast paced and interesting fantasy book. I really liked the dyslexia rep through Princess Jiara. This really helped the plot because a major storyline is that Jiara is trying to learn the language of her new husband's kingdom. I thought that this was extremely well written and was refreshing to see in a fantasy book.

I do feel that there were quite a few plot lines that were not completely fleshed out. The romance, solving the murder of her sister and the magic system all seemed to be competing with each other instead of coming together to build the story up. The romance was sweet but Jiara and Raffar had barely any page time together so it was a bit hard to believe that they were in love with each other. The ending definitely felt rushed and the magic system all of a sudden seemed to fix all the issues even though major things were not talked about until the end. To me it felt too much like a magic wand to bring the story together in the last few pages.

Rating this one 3.5/5 stars because I did enjoy it for the most part.

When an assassin kills Princess Jiara’s older sister Scilla, her vengeful ghost is doomed to walk their city of glittering canals, tormenting loved ones until the murderer is brought to justice. Jiara agrees to marry her sisters bethrothed in order to find out her killer, but by doing so she has to move to a foreign country, and learn a foreign language.

This proofs difficult for Jiara, she struggles with dyslexia, a disorder that she is never diagnosed with since her society doesn’t understand it. Rueckert draws from her own experiences in a brilliant way, Jiaras struggles felt very raw and the way the dyslexia ties into very important plot points was brilliant.

I really enjoyed how plot based this story was, but I also adored watching Jiara and Raffar get to know each other.

The story is a blend of a fairytale and a ghost story, the magic system was simple and understandable. The world building was good and the political machinations were just the right amount and it didn’t weigh down the story.

Ultimately I found myself enjoying this YA fantasy standalone, but I didn’t love it. I wish some of our secondary characters were fleshed out more, that way I would have been more invested in the story as a whole.

If you enjoy fast paced political fantasy novels with a light romance thread, this might be the book for you. Overall a 3 star read for me.

CW: Violence & Blood, greid, death of a family member (off page), death of a character (on page)

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

when i received this ARC and began reading it, i had never seen it mentioned or heard of amongst my friends before. therefore, i was hesitant to jump into this. but i've never been happier to be wrong!

the relationship between jiara and raffar developed so beautifully, with their private dinners and little board games. freyad was also an incredible character, as was matid in his own special way. and even the insight into scilla both as an earthwalker and a ghost were wonderful. though i suspected who the killer was after the incident with the elephant bird, i was satisfied as hell to see things play out this way. most of all, i loved how openly queer this book is in its own little way. even though jiara and raffar were not, the existence of trans identities, of mlm and wlw relationships, the importance and reverence shown to the process of adoption... it was all wonderful.

all in all a great read.

Very simplistic writing style, perfect for young readers to follow - that being said - I found it hard to be emotionally invested. The ghostly aspect of the story gives a sinister tinge to the tale but I found it hard to love Jiara - there was so much she couldn't do but not much to mention that of which she could. If she has lived in the Palace forever then what did she do with her time? You would think the royals would give her something to fill the days.
The romance element was just lost in this book- how can there we romance if they can't talk to each other without a translator?! Rafffar is an all powerful king, but can't speak any other language? I found this frustrating to say the least.

Overall I was quite disappointed.

A Dragonbird in the Fern follows Princess Jiara as she steps in to marry her sister's betrothed after her murder. Jiara learns that Scilla's murderer may be from the King's country and wishes to avenge her death. Jiara must do more than investigate her sister's murderer in her new country, however; she must navigate romance, queendom, and learning a second language with dyslexia.

I absolutely love Jiara's character and the dyslexia representation in this book! It is a really interesting choice to use a language barrier as a plot point, and the storyline between Jiara and the king communicating is extremely captivating. There is also a superb balance of magic, politics, and romance. While the novel has a simplistic but interesting magic system, it does not lack in political in romantic tension or political intrigue.

A Dragonbird in the Fern feels familiar yet refreshing- I truly believe that fantasy readers of all ages and preferences can find something to love about this novel. This debut is absolutely fantastic- I cannot wait to read more by Laura Rueckert in the future. I would be happy to read a sequel the world Rueckert crafted could easily be expanded upon, but the book ties up well as a standalone. I highly recommend this book to any young adult fantasy reader!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eArc to review- I'm so happy to have read one of my favorite books of 2021!

Title: A Dragonbird in the Fern
Author: Laura Rueckert
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5

When an assassin kills Princess Jiara’s older sister Scilla, her vengeful ghost is doomed to walk their city of glittering canals, tormenting loved ones until the murderer is brought to justice. While the entire kingdom mourns, Scilla’s betrothed arrives and requests that seventeen-year-old Jiara take her sister’s place as his bride to confirm the alliance between their countries.

Marrying the young king intended for her sister and traveling to his distant home is distressing enough, but with dyslexia and years of scholarly struggles, Jiara abandoned any hope of learning other languages long ago. She’s terrified of life in a foreign land where she’ll be unable to communicate.

Then Jiara discovers evidence that her sister’s assassin comes from the king’s own country. If she marries the king, Jiara can hunt the murderer and release her family from Scilla’s ghost, whose thirst for blood mounts every day. To save her family, Jiara must find her sister’s killer . . . before he murders her too.

I enjoyed this read. Jiara’s struggles with reading were captured beautifully, and I felt all of her embarrassment and pain. Her attempts to learn the language of her new husband and home grounded the story and made it relatable, even amidst the magic and strange cultures and settings. This was a solid read for a debut novel.

Laura Rueckert grew up in Michigan. A Dragonbird in the Fern is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of North Star Editions/Flux in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 8/5.)

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

A Dragonbird in the Fern has several storylines running through it, but I’ll start with the one that resonated most for me. In the kingdom of Azzaria, when a person is murdered their ghost will roam as long as their killer remains unknown, performing progressively more violent acts against their surviving family and friends – sometimes even killing them. As a fan of the paranormal, it was this poltergeist activity that grabbed my interest and wouldn’t let go.


All of the storylines revolve around Princess Jiara of Azzaria, who finds herself in an arranged marriage with the ruler of a neighboring kingdom following the murder of her sister, who was originally betrothed to the same king. In addition to the paranormal aspect I mentioned above, there is a romantic storyline involving Jiara’s relationship with her husband, a linguistic storyline involving Jiara relocating to a country where she does not know the language and where her (undiagnosed) dyslexia will stand in the way of her learning the language, and a court intrigue storyline which puts both Jiara and her husband personally at risk as well as leading their country into war. There is also was religious/spiritual aspect to the story as well. As you can see, the plot ranges widely between these various aspects, but the author balances them well and does a great job of turning them into a cohesive plot.

I gave A Dragonbird in the Fern five stars on Goodreads. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable story, superbly executed with the various storylines weaving seamlessly together. I recommend it to readers of all ages.

This review will be published at GATEWAY REVIEWS on August 20, 2021.

Pros
Dyslexic Protagonist: It's hard enough to find fiction featuring a dyslexic character. It is even more difficult to find a dyslexic protagonist, let alone one in a fantasy world. Jiara's dyslexia is important both character-wise and plot-wise. It's not just thrown in for kicks, or "diversity," or anything like that. This is a great bit of representation, and it is especially great to see not just how dyslexia affects Jiara but how she learns to both use and overcome what she has been given.

Paranormal Activity: There is, generally, an unspoken distinction between fantasy ghosts and "paranormal" ghosts. Fantasy ghosts are more ethereal, much looser in definition than are their paranormal counterparts. Paranormal ghosts are more likely to be associated with gory slashing and poltergeist-style hauntings. They're just different. But here, that distinction isn't made. This work of fantasy features a slash-in-the-night ghost, violent and bloody in her spectral presence, and that adds a unique and interesting touch to this world of fantasy.

Culture Abounds: I haven't read a fantasy so steeped in cultural worldbuilding in a long time. Though the cultural aspects are not always well-woven into the story itself, it is clear that Laura Reuckert loves the world she's built. From wedding ceremonies to gods, supernatural phenomena to fauna and flora, all parts of the cultures presented are given the utmost care and respect.

Cons
Overly Descriptive: There are two common problems I find when it comes to fantasy descriptions. The first is long-winded passages that describe without any real point. The second is an overload of adjectives and descriptors sprinkled throughout. This book unfortunately suffers from the latter. The text is burdened with descriptions. While they are often vivid and imaginative, the descriptions can also be a bit overloaded as well. Laura Reuckert definitely gives a full picture, but from a reader's point-of-view, things can get a little bit bogged down. Having so many descriptors to describe a single object, person, or place can make it difficult to picture at all.

Too Much, Not Enough: There are far too many name-drops at the beginning of this book without enough worldbuilding to back them up. It's fine to have a lot of countries in a fantasy world. It is fine to have a complex political situation both internally and externally, but to start off with all of it kind of dumped on the reader is a bit much. It was hard to distinguish the difference between allies, potential allies, and enemies. There was too much information given at once--and also not enough. Because I didn't ultimately have enough information to set the countries, people, places apart in my mind. I got there eventually, but it did make for a rough start in the first few chapters.

Lost Focus: It peeves me to no end when romance creeps in and overloads the plot, especially in a book (like this one) where the author so obviously cared about fleshing out the world, culture, and characters. She took the time to highlight characters struggling and growing, especially Jiara with her transition to an entirely new culture and language, and all of this gets swallowed but bouts of uncontrollable, lusty romance. This book might have done better as an adult book in that regard. Because of the young ages of the main couple, there's an element of "we-have-to-wait" which leads to lots of longing looks. If they had been older--without the need to wait--like the couple would be in an adult novel, this lusting would have progressed to something quicker than it did. And with that out of the way, we could have gotten back to the plot again. Alas, they needed to wait--and as a reader, I needed to wait out the romance, too.

Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6/10

Fans of Tricia Levenseller's Blade of Secrets will love this new down-to-earth protagonist with real life struggles. Those who loved the lush world of Elizabeth Lim's Six Crimson Cranes should immerse themselves in this new fantasy world.

A lovely and unique take on the Stranger in a Strange Land story. And while no beautiful blue dragons make an appearance, the title has meaningful resonance, and the cover is gorgeous.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was an extremely pleasant surprise! A Dragonbird in the Fern is perfect for readers new to fantasy or those who struggle with long, complex fantasy. The worldbuilding was simple and easy to follow yet still interesting. Knowing it was a standalone was one of the reasons I finished this book so quickly. I knew that the mystery would be resolved by the end of the book.

I loved the two main characters in this story. They were brave, likable, and easy to root for. I was immediately sold on the relationship as I found the love interest so genuine and endearing. A Dragonbird in the Fern also features a dyslexic main character! I believe this is the first fantasy I have read with dyslexia representation and I thought it was really well incorporated into the story.

My favorite part of this book was the depiction of being a stranger in a strange land and adapting to the customs and habits of the land. I loved following Jiara as she learned the language of her new home. I feel like the difficulty of learning a language is often glossed over in fantasy books or avoided through the inclusion of multilingual characters. It was particularly engaging to watch Jiara and Raffar find different ways to communicate.

The plot with the vengeful ghost kept the tension high throughout the entire story. This suspense was another reason that I felt compelled to finish the book in one sitting. While I think the concept of the earthwalker could’ve been expanded on for clarity, I enjoyed the sense of anticipation that it added to the story.

My only real critique for A Dragonbird in the Fern is that at times it felt a bit too simple and predictable for me. I enjoy complex fantasy with a lot of twists and turns so I called the plot twist in this story almost immediately. I was hoping that the twist would have more reveals towards the end to add more complexity. However, this only minimally impacted my enjoyment of the story and it is a very personal critique. The fact remains that this book kept me engaged the entire time. I read it in one sitting, staying up until 3 am to finish it.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a light fantasy and I cannot wait to add a physical copy of A Dragonbird in the Fern to my bookshelf.

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)
When Princess Jiara’s sister is murdered, she agrees to marry her sister’s betrothed from the neighboring kingdom. Now an earthwalker, her sister Scilla will not be at peace until her killer is found. Jiara marries and travels to the new kingdom. She is confronted with language barriers, new customs, new gods and new everything while battling her dyslexia and investigating her sister’s death.

She battles with her sister’s vengeful spirit, who is angry her killer hasn’t been found. She is increasingly becoming more aggressive, even to the point of killing.

During her investigation, Jiara catches the eye of the Watchers. They are the deity and are very involved in each persons life. Jiara is smiled upon many times which endeares her to her subjects and those around her.

For a debut and a standalone novel I was impressed by the word building. It’s immensely satisfying to see a well formed world that involves such counter balance; the scary spirits vs the watchful deity. I was immersed in the descriptions of the wildlife but also the landscapes and differences in each land.

Jiara is a fabulous protagonist. She is strong but second guesses herself with the language and her right to marry her sisters betrothed. Dyslexia is something she struggles with and feels inadequate because of it. Rueckert does an impressive job making dyslexia more understandable by seeing her struggles. She makes it relatable while showing the struggle and accomplishment at the same time.

And where can I find a drawing of these elephant birds? They intrigued me but I could never quite picture them! All in all, this is a great story with impressive world building and character development. I have a new author to watch!

Content Summary: Look at that! NO language! I’m always impressed when an author can write an exciting story with little to no language. The intimacy involved desire to consummate a marriage (she was 17, he was 21 or so) but they waited until she was 18 and then there was one bedroom scene with a few details then the chapter stopped with no further details. There was some violence and intense scenes, mostly involving a spirit acting out in anger and causing harm to others.

Thank you to North Star Editions/Flux for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book releases August 3, 2021.

“A Dragonbird in the Fern” is a fun young adult fantasy, with a touch of murder mystery, with vengeful ghosts, and it was exciting!

Jiara is the main reason why I loved the book. She brings the tale to life as she adjusts to her new life with Raffar and investigates Csilla’s murder. She also stands out because she displays signs of Dyslexia as she tries to learn the language and adapt to the culture. I adored her relationship with Raffar. It was lovely to see how they interacted irrespective of know verbally communicating, without the translater. Moreover, I thought the author wrote her scenes with Csilla very nicely, where initially I didn’t know if Csilla came as a ghost or if they were memories. I also adored the scenes where Jiara studies the place and the people with Freyad.

The author also wrote the world-building nicely. I was fascinated with the concept of the Watchers the political unrest when Jiara moves to Farnskag. There are some memorable moments, like when the bird attacks Jiara or interacts with the dolphins. The author paces the story well, which leads to an exciting climax.

However, I felt that the supporting characters could be more assertive. Raffar was predictable and did not bring much to the story. Moreover, the way the author reveals who betrayed Jiara was predictable. Nevertheless, the story was still entertaining to read, and I thought the author did an excellent job for a debut novel!

Overall, “A Dragonbird in the Fern” is an intriguing young adult fantasy debut by the author and worth picking up.

3.5/5

Princess Jiara has never been good with her studies, not when the words refuse to stay on the page. However, the murder of her older sister means that not only must she find her sister's killer, she must take her sister's place to marry a foreign king who does not speak her language.

I really liked how this book dealt with the heroine's dyslexia. I've never read a protagonist who has this condition, but getting to read Jiara's struggles and triumphs was definitely rewarding. She's clever and resourceful in her own way once she figures out the proper methods. And the way she tricks people into assuming she's dumb in order to eavesdrop critical information? Delightful.

I also really enjoyed all of the political elements. I'm always critical of book where the rulers never have to actually do anything political or balance international relations because it's just not believable for me, but this book handled it really well. I liked how everyone problem-solved their way out of situations rather than using violence.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a huge fan of the characters as a whole, and was underwhelmed by the romance. I did appreciate the casual diversity in queer representation, though, and how that might have political ramifications (but nevertheless, love wins!). I also thought that the plot itself shot itself in the foot a bit with all of the specific incidents of Plot Armor that lessened the stakes.

All in all, it's a fun adventure story with clever storytelling that I do recommend for anyone who wants to read a different type of heroine.

Wow! I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did! If you love ya fantasy/ paranormal romance then you definitely will love this one!

Arranged marriage, foreign land and language, a ghost out for revenge, and a crazy adventure of figuring things all out!

Jiara has so much growth in this book! She has to do the unexpected and is so amazing! Her connection and chemistry with Raffar is intense and man is it slow! But there are sparks flying all over the place between them.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from this book, I absolutely devoured it!

𝘼 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙧𝙣 is about a princess who wanted to find her sister's murderer. Took all cost including unwilling marriage then travel far away from home.
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🌟 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪
"Like yesterday. Like forever.”—Chapter 15
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I recently finished A Dragonbird in the Fern. It was a fascinating read for me. A fast-paced story keeps me reading and guess what's happening next.
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Actually I got confused by the beginning of the story but then it goes well and I really like it. I enjoy the writing style, some foreign languages used in the story, and the world building.
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I adore the main character, Jiara. She is such a tough girl. I like how the author describe her as a dyslexia girl, read her struggle to adapt and find her sister's murder. Sometimes I laughed when read Jiara communicate with her husband. They're so cute. 🤣
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Overall, I like to read Jiara's story, great combination with paranormal spice. 😉
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If you're looking forward the story about family, arrange marriage, and murder mystery, you can try read 𝘼 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙚𝙧𝙣.

3.5 stars

The main thing I enjoyed about this book was the dyslexic representation because that's so rare in YA fantasies. It gives the reader an inside look on the struggles of dyslexia and how it becomes quite a task to fit in somewhere you can't.

This book has such a pretty cover but the insides are just... meh. I kept thinking "I've read this before, haven't I?" because it's such a generic YA fantasy. But even more than that, the characters are all blank slates.

Jiara is dyslexic. She likes... nature? She wants to keep her sister's ghost from hurting her family. That's pretty much it. Raffar is... well he's a king. He has tattoos. Otherwise he's impassive. His translator has more personality in one scene than Raffar has in the first quarter of the book.

Partly this is the language barrier. Neither speaks the other's language, so they communicate through translators. But even then you'd expect *some* personality to shine through.

The author has clearly thought a lot about the worldbuilding, but it could have been integrated into the story more smoothly.

Ultimately I came away with the feeling that it sounded like a great read but needed a lot of help to be able to get to that point.

*Thanks to NetGalley and North Star Editions for providing an e-arc for review.

First off I want to say thank you to TBR Tours & Beyond for giving me a spot on their Blog Tour, to Netgalley for providing me with an Arc ,the publishers North Star Flux and finally Laura Rueckert for writing a very interesting and different YA fantasy.

Our main character is seventeen old Jiara who finds herself betrothed to Raffar the King of Farnskag and sent to a foreign land where you did not speak the language and found any form of learning hard due to being dyslexic. I loved this that Laura made Jiara this way as this made the book stand out more. I also loved how Laura made each land different from each other and her descriptions were stunning. I am still trying to imagine what an elephant bird would look like. I also loved the different belief systems of each land and seeing Jiara embracing Farnskag beliefs was lovely to see. I did not see what happened towards the end of the book which was very well paced throughout all I can say is dang. I loved all the Characters apart from Aldar he really was a very annoying character and we saw a lot of him throughout the book. I really wanted to learn more about Raffar than him. I can actually see how well this story could be developed for tv or film i think viewers would enjoy it. For all these reasons I am giving this book 4 stars. I admit i probably would not have picked up on my fruition and so I am grateful to TBR Tours & Beyond for giving me this chance

This was a nice story. The setting, the magic system and the writing were good. I did think Jiara’s language issues limited the story a bit, because for the most part there was very little decent dialogue and interactions with other characters, which, in my opinion, made the story feel smaller. Still, if you like YA fantasy, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.