This one was not for me. The writing was fine - I just did not gel with the story. Therefore I will not be reviewing this novel any further. I did not finish it, but read a good chunk before I decided to leave it.

I am sure other readers will likely enjoy this one more than I did.

I am basing this review off of the first 50% of the book, as I will not be continuing.

I think this book's strengths are it's worldbuilding. I love fantasy that plays around with societal norms and this book definitely puts a spin on gender and gender identity that is so refreshing to see in fantasy. The magic and the set up of the world were interesting as well, though could have used a bit more description and development.

Where this book really fell flat for me were the character relationships. I think both Arcady and Everen are interesting characters and the basis of their relationship also had really interesting potential, but it didn't work for me. I felt like I was being told what their relationship was, rather than seeing it for myself. There were moments that I really wanted expanded on, but were chopped down to a sentence or two telling me what happened.

I also think that Everen's point of view being told as though he's talking/writing to Arcady was an interesting choice. Since I won't be finishing the book, I don't know how or if that choice will pay off, but for me, reading his entire point of view in that style got tiring.

ARC REVIEW
This book is great! The world building is slow but done brilliantly. The lore is so complex and layered, and the story itself is incredible. I love the fluidity of gender and gender expression in this world. This is such a compelling and enthralling queer fantasy.

I liked the general idea of the plot, dragons versus humans but the humans worshipping them as gods, but it started out very slow. Everen and Arcady are interesting protagonists. I think the gender-fluidity of Arcady is a very cool aspect, and the way it is handled in combination with the relationship between Everen and them is nicely written. I get that it is a country where genders are not as strict, but sometimes I felt like it was used a little too much.

The way the different characters had different ways of telling their part of the story was a very nice touch. I enjoyed the way Everen talked to Arcady, which turned out to be letters he was writing from his prison. Also Sorins way of talking from third person view when she was so sure she was unworthy, I liked that way of storytelling.

For me personally it was a bit slow though. It didn’t really catch me, and the cliffhanger is so mild that I am not really sure if I would read the second book. There might be some loose threats, and some „revelations“ (Magnes = purple dragon) that might change some things, but it is mostly closed off. Maybe that was wanted by the author, but for me it also takes away the suspense.

Have to start out with the props for a dragon-based magic system! Very rare to see in the fantasy world, and kept me very interested in what it could do and how it affected the world around them. The world-building was A+ which led to a slower pace than typical, but it allowed me to get more invested in the book as well as the characters.

A great read for anyone who is interested in dragon-based fantasy with queer/enemies-lovers tropes and looking for something new.

Well, what can I say? I am sucker for dragon tales and nobody could have stopped me from reading it. Especially after I saw Samantha Shannon sharing this in her story, well she is a queen of dragon stories. Regrets? Absolutely not. First of all, I loved the beginning of the tale, the different perspectives and the world-building based on a myth. Second of all, enemies turning into lovers? Yes please, I can never get enough of it. The story flows seamlessly, I really enjoyed the narrative and the characters, which reminded me of Six of Crows especially after the big heist part. I loved the tension between the dragon-prince and strong-willed female protagonist and reading their slowly-simmering love was one of the greatest parts of the charm. If you are looking for some kind of a unique fantasy element here, you might be disappointed but if you’re in for a good old fantasy with dragons, magic and impossible love, dive in you will enjoy this a lot. Even though the final battle of the worlds was a little bit underwhelming after all the built-up expectation throughout the novel, I do not have any choice but to read the sequel to see how our lovers will meet again.

Centuries ago dragons ruled until humans betrayed them, stole their magic, and banished them to a dying world. Today the dragons are worshiped as gods by the humans. But the dragons remember the betrayal and desperately want to return home. Everen is the last male dragon and destined to save the dragons. He escapes through the veil between the worlds and finds himself bonded to Arcady, a human thief. Everen knows he must complete the bond to tear the veil open and free the dragons but he also knows thousands of humans will die in the process. What will his decision be?

The beginning of this book was a bit slow. There was a lot of world, magic, and character building. It didn't really pick up until we met Larkin in my opinion. Although the tension between Arcady and Everen was palpable the whole time, despite the distrust and hatred brewing on the surface. I loved all the characters and they were very well fleshed out. One problem I had was sometimes I struggled keeping things straight. As the author used their own terminology for some things I think a glossary would have been nice. That all being said, I did enjoy the characters and the story. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

Rating 3.5 stars

I'll be honest, I struggled to get in to this at first because of the strange terminology without any sort of key or explanation for it. But once it got going I loved it! I really loved the representation going on in the book regarding pronouns and not making assumptions just based on gender. I thoroughly enjoyed this and am very excited for the next book to see what is going to happen next.

First, thank you so much for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me.
The writing style made the reading experience like I was wrestling with it and made it really hard to read. Combined with the gender fluidity pronouns (make no mistake, I love when there is diversity in a book!) made it even harder for me to concentrate on the story and I had to go over some paragraphs a few times.
The new words and terms that are used also didn't have much of an explanation, and you had to figure it out as you go.
All this wrapped up prevented me to connect with the characters and the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read one of my most anticipated reads of the year!

This is an incredibly queer fantasy unlike anything I have read before. The plot moves at breakneck pace but it was the characters that kept me hooked. Arcady is everything I love in a protagonist—witty, wonderfully chaotic, and a true survivor. But I loved all the side characters that drove the story home as well. Their development, which allows them to grow into full-realized, complex characters, perfectly aligns with the book’s plot and the conclusion already has me begging for the next installment.

For fans of the wonderful queerness and otherworldly dragons of the ‘A Chorus of Dragons’ series, Dragonfall is a book (and series) that you will not want to miss.

Dragons were formerly deceived by humans, who took their magic and exiled them to a dying world. Their descendants still revere dragons as gods hundreds of years later. The gods, however, do not pardon because they remember.

Arcady, a thief, ekes out a living on Vatra's streets. He, the most despised person in Lumet history, snatches a potent artefact from of the Plaguebringer's bones out of desperation. Only Arcady is aware that the artefact's enchantment offers the key to a chance for vengeance as well as a new life among the aristocrats at court.

Everen, the final male dragon prophesied to save his people, is connected to by the magic, which drags him through the Veil. Everen, who has assumed the identity of a human, discovers that all it will take for him to realise his destiny and reclaim his actual strength and form is to persuade one small thief to bond with him entirely (body, mind, and soul), after which he must kill them.

Tropes:
• Enemy to Lover
• Supposed to kill but in love.

My thoughts: Intially, I thought that the book is going to be a boring read because early chapters are full of world information that could have been written better. But middle of the book just glued me. So, it takes time to cook a good story but is delicious in the end. Writing style is unique. Though sometimes it streched a little bit but I enjoyed it more or less. The book mostly uses two point of views. The romance part is cute and adorable. The magic system could have been explained little bit more properly. The plotline is unique. The language is easy and conversational. Overall, it's a good read but had more potential.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering this book to me as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A journey through a world of banished dragons and gods, fulfilled and pending prophecies, great heists, and magic. Follow a pair of reluctant bonded souls on their journey to their fated destinies.

A dragon attempts to bring his kind home from a dying world. A thief aims to study at university and clear the name of an innocent party framed for the deaths of thousands. An unlikely alliance is created to restore their magical abilities to their full potential.

Queer enemies to lovers, dragons, and magic. What's not to love?

"Maybe it was time to admit that sharing myself, even the parts I thought were ugly, dark, and broken, wasn't going to send everyone off running."

"I was a good thief, but I still did not like being reminded I was not always a good person."

I would like to thank @NetGalley and @dawbooks for the opportunity to review this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🐉

Dragon and heist lovers, UNITE! You're gonna love this one!

Bonus: an ennemies to lovers to ennemies kinda forbidden love.

What you get? Dual narration with occasional third character chiming in. One of the MC is a dragon and narrates his point of view in the second person. The other ones are first POVs. You get non binary representation in general and with the main character and it's so fluid!

To summarize, magic was once share by dragons to the humans. The greed pushed the humans to steal more magic and eliminate most of the dragons. The remaining dragons hid in another dimension waiting for their return. Meanwhile, centuries later, humans celebrate dragons as gods. Everen is the last male dragon and is designated to travel back to the human realm to find the person that will help him break the curse and free the dragons. He will find that person in a group of underground thieves. Together, they will pull a heist to retrieve an ancient relic.

Ugh Dragons… freaking love them and LOVE dragon books! This deserves 1000/5 stars for me because I couldn’t get enough!

A queer, enemies-to-lovers tale...with DRAGONS?! Yes! And then include a heist as well? A very enjoyable read. Also, how can anyone say no to dragons??? Definitely getting this for our collection.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Daw in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Fantasy, Fantasy Heist, High Fantasy, LGBTQ Fantasy
Gore Level: Low
Romantic Elements: Low (kissing)
Representation: Lots. Consistently uses "their, they, them, and any" through the story.

The first time I started the book, I was so thunderstruck by the dragon calling me, the reader, "YOU", I paused before the second chapter. Then in the second chapter the main character of Arcady didn't match what I look like so the "you" was throwing me off. And I took a break.

The second time I started the book, I was not able to get over the honorific capitalizations and it threw me off as I figured out if I had missed the beginning of a new sentence.

Third time was the charm. I got into it and read the entire thing at lightning speed.

I think it was hard to get into for me because it wasn't what I expected, and I had to become accustomed to several author choices—such at the second person-ish references and capitalizing pronouns sometimes and other times not. You must read the chapter titles to know who is speaking.

Now that I've born all my picky problems, let's get into the actual review.

I was fascinated with Everen as a dragon and how he viewed the world. Everything made sense that he saw life through a different lens. And as the only male dragon, I can only imagine the pressure he is under from the queen and his sister, the future queen. I was also interested to see his character arc. *Chef's kiss!* Ever since reading Pern, I've loved reading about dragons, and this one has a new twist.

Arcady is wounded from the death of her grandparents and the legacy left behind. She literally trusts no one because when she has, she's always burned. I feel like she's had an interesting arc here and am anxious to know where else she'll go in the future. I have a soft spot in my heart for scrappy, morally gray heroes.

The world building is stellar! There are multiple countries, different religious views, and casts within the the main society we are following in this book. There are moments when the characters discuss what it means to be male and what having a variety of choices is like when understanding yourself and sexuality. I also liked how we got to be in so many different places with characters: caves, woods, city center, monastery, ocean. In addition to all of this, the dragons also have a different take on history and their role. They also have a complex system, and I feel like we've only scratched the surface.

I feel like there is so much room for growth in this novel. It's fascinating on so many levels.

Even though I had a hard time getting into it, I'm only marking it down 1 star, and I'm definitely recommending it.

Happy reading!

Within the first few pages, I got the feeling that the writing style of this book was not going to be for me. I kept reading in hopes that I would be proven wrong, but the more I read, the more sure I was. I ended up DNFing at 38%.

You can tell reading this that the author really knows the world, its history and geography, and how the magic system works. Unfortunately, the explanations (in the instances where there were even any given) rarely succeeded in transferring that knowledge to me. A whole speech was dedicated to explaining the non-binary/genderfluid society, which was about the only thing I didn't actually need explained. By that point in the book, I felt I should have understood how the magic worked, but I was more confused than I had been at the beginning. However, there was a prevailing feeling that this could be a real world somewhere—I wish the author had managed to make sense of it for me.

The writing style was the biggest hang up for me. It was very straightforward with little to no exploration of anything beyond surface level. Arcady and/or Everen go there and do this and feel mad/annoyed/angry about it, and then we move on. It didn't work to get me to care about the characters or the plot. I liked the use of first and second person POVs, but even with that Arcady and Everen's voices were too similar, and I struggled to remember whose chapter I was reading. This is definitely a preference thing. I know some people prefer this style of writing, so your mileage may vary.

This one wasn't for me, but there are tons of people who loved it, so don't just take my word for it. It very well could be that some of my confusion and issues with the worldbuilding may have become clear if I had continued on. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough of a connection with the characters or plot to find out.

Dragonfall may be for you if you like any of the following:
-heists (I didn't get to that part, but it seems to be the direction it was going)
-forced proximity romance
-queernorm societies
-prophecies
-dragons as gods

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

With the first page I knew that I will fall in love with this book. It is unpredictable in the best sense possible, beautifully written and the style is just… something else.

Multiple POV, but not overwhelming. Giving you more insights to one full story in different emotional aspects.

The magical world is just stunning, the idea is something I’ve never read before but also the way it was given life is just brilliant.

Everen and Arcady are two characters that I will not forget for a long time.

Dragonfall is a fantastic fantasy novel that is unique and whole developed. While there was an initial confusion in the beginning, with a lot of worldbuilding and terminology thrown at you, it eventually softens out and becomes more manageable. There is a lot to enjoy in this first installment and I will def be checking out more of this author in the future!

Everen, the last male dragon who is prophesized to save his kind, finds himself in human form on the other side of the Veil and he must fulfill his destiny to change his form back and get his true power. But when his destiny becomes intertwined with a little thief things become desperate, he must earn the trust of the thief to get the artifact and that is no easy task.
This is a good book, lots of action and suspense. Those who grew up with other dragon series will find this a new and refreshing series for the more adventurous of readers.