Dragonfall is my first book written by Lam. It if the first book in a trilogy. In this story we have Everen, the last male dragon, and Arcady, a thief. The plot immediately takes off when Everen gets pulled down to land when Arcady’s spell bonds them. Humans and dragons don’t know the others exist. Humans think dragons are gods and died many years ago.

What actually happened is that humans stole magic from the dragons and forced them to live in an area above the veil. Dragons are able to shapeshift their features to mirror humans.

Everen’s mission is to “complete” the bond with Arcady, siphon her magic and create an opening in the veil so that dragons can once again rule the land. The only issue is his growing feelings for Arcady.

I really enjoyed the story building. The characters were memorable. The ending was good and definitely left you wanting a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

"It's easier to blame those you already fear."

If I had to summarise this book in one sentence it would be: queer dragon and human enemies to lovers romance with a heist and looming prophecy.

Short Review
I can't believe how good this book was!! It started off slow with a lot of worldbuilding and info-dumping but after the first few chapters everything clicked into place. The author has a way with words and the prose just left me speechless! It flowed wonderfully and I had no trouble picturing all the scenes in my mind! Also the idea of a genderless society where everyone chooses their gender and no one judges? And sign language is the second language?!! Like such an amazing concept! Told in Dual first-person POV the story really comes alive in the second half of the book as the characters plan a HEIST?!! and the bond between Everen and Arcady grows, so does the tension and slow burn! These characters were so wonderfully written, each with their own secrets, lies and confronting pasts. I cannot wait to see where this story goes in the next book! BEcause that ending, omg I need the next one!!

Read this if you love amazing queer representation, dragons, heists, forced proximity, fated bond, prophecies, thief lessons, amazing slow burn, hidden secrets which will ruin everything, unique plot, magic system and world, forbidden attraction, a priest assassin, plot twist, and lovable characters!


Extended Review
THis book. THIS BOOK!! Just so amazing and like nothing I've ever read before! The magic system was a bit confusing at the start and it did suffer from the classic info-dumping of fantasy books, but after the first few chapters and I had settled into the writing style and world it just blossomed! I am not used to first person POV and I will admit I was very confused because of the use of all the You and They, but after it was explained everything just clicked and was so interesting to read about!

Now the world was very complex and like the magic system had a lot of different components which took a while to fully explain. But basically the humans think of Dragons as gods and they gifted magic to humans. But the plaguebringer brought a plague after the dragons 'disappeared' which they called the Strike. Now i'm not totally sure about other elements of this so you'll have to read the book to find out more!! The world building was complex but at the same time was written beautifully and I didn't struggle at all with imagery throughout the whole book! The author has some wonder prose which gave the book a great flow of events. Another standout aspect of the world was the idea of gender! It was so entrepreneurial! Basically there is no set gender, you choose what you feel like or not to identify and be gender-fluid like one of our mc are. And to tell what your gender is you use sign language! Like sign language is normal everywhere and it was such an eye-opening idea which could really be amazing in our own community!

The characters were AMAZING! I loved Everen and his conflicting thoughts and it was so cool to learn about the world through his eyes as a dragon who was stuck in a human form. Then Arcady who had such a deep backstory which is still not even fully developed! I love seeing how contrasting their POVs were, not to mention the slow-burn romance from both their perspectives! I just immediately loved both their characters and loved watching them as they grew closer! Also the fact that they couldn't touch just made the tension and romance all the better!!! There was also a few POVs from a preist/assassin Soren and Everen's sister Cassia, both were interesting but I was left wondering what part Sorin would play because they only had a small relation to the main story line so hopefully that gets developed!

Lastly the plot. This had to be my favourite part! It was so intricate and that ending left me REELING!! Like OMG loved it so much! Also the heist! Like dragons and a heist! This author just knows exactly how to please me! Just such an amazing read which I recommend to everyone!!



Thank you to the author, netgalley and DAW publishing for the eArc in exchange for my honest review.

I am excited that this is the start of a trilogy. I mean queer enemy to lovers WITH dragons! Can you ask for more
The world-building is great but it does take a little bit to get into the story- however i almost expect that with the start of a fantasy seriers.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This is one of those novels where the action only picks up a little after the midpoint. After that, it's a roller coaster ride.

This is also one of those novels where it took me around the 60% mark to actually understand the world building. For the longest time, I thought the Starveling and the Struck where the same thing. (They're not.) I didn't quite understand the magic system, and I'm the kind of person who 's absorbed in the fantasy genre 24/7, so this shouldn't have been confusing. People channel their magic through their seals? And if they use too much magic, they can turn into a zombie monster thing called a Starveling? Something like that.

At least the plot itself was easy enough to understand.

I'll start with what I liked about Dragonfall. I actually really liked that one of the MCs, Arcady, wasn't a cliched and tropey Chosen One. The other MC, Everen, was pretty much a Chosen One for his people, but at the end, he subverted his own fate, and honestly, I'm here for it.

The relationship and chemistry between Arcady and Everen, and the subsequent romantic buildup, was well done and felt very realistic. They were both great characters and it was great to read the stories from both POVs so you could understand both sides of the story and relationship. This was my first dragon shape shifter romance, and I won't lie, I'm hooked.

The last ~70% was great! There was so much action that it pretty much made up for the meandering plot in the first half of the novel. It kept me hooked that I'm down to read the sequel just to see what happens with Arcady and Everen.

So what didn't I like about Dragonfall?

I didn't like the writing style. It felt very stilted and stiff. The words didn't flow well on the page, so that might be why I didn't really understand the world building until the halfway mark. Everen's POV in particular was really formal and he barely used contractions, so that might be one of the reasons why I had such a hard time reading it. If the words flowed better and sentences didn't feel so stunted, I would've given this a 4 star rating. Usually I only take a few days to read a novel, but this one really dragged.

Secondly, I didn't like how the other POVs (that aren't Arcady and Everen) were written in third person. It was annoyingly jarring to go from first person to third person whenever one of these side characters showed up. Since the POV characters' names are written in the chapter name, why not just use first person throughout the novel? Idk. This is just a personal pet peeve of mine, so that this with a grain of salt.

Another reviewer mentioned the whole Gender Studies 101 crash course info dump that happened here and there. I was only confused about the honorifics (They vs. they), but it just felt really unnecessary, especially since this is a fantasy novel.

And the character reveal at the end... I didn't understand why Everen or any of the dragons couldn't sense that particular character. The novel made dragons out to be really strong when it came to magic, so this didn't really make sense to me. Idk.

Those are my biggest complaints, but other than that, I liked this novel and I'd definitely read the sequel.

Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for this arc.

Are you looking for a queer enemies to lovers, hidden identities fantasy romance featuring dragons, heists, and political machinations? This is the book for you! We are set up with 3 main POVs (though there are a couple other POV chapters sprinkled here and there): Arcady, a thief trying to scrounge up money to go to a school to hone his magical abilities, Everen, a dragon who accidentally sets in motion a prophecy that could rip the barrier between the dragon realm and the human one, and Sorin, a spy and assassin for a mysterious community leader. What I love about this book is that the reader is plopped into a world and given snippets of the society and cultural norms but it steers away from a ton of info dumping. Sure there are moments, but it is so well integrated that I never felt like I was being bombarded or that the story was bogged down by it. I also really liked the discussions and normalization of gender and gender expression and of sex workers in this book. One of the main characters, Arcady, is referred to mainly as just Arcady. I don’t remember Arcady having any pronouns? Except very technically in Everen’s POV where it is in second person written as if Everen is speaking to Arcady and saying “you” and I guess when other people are speaking to Arcady and saying “you” or “yours.” I also loved the integration of signing and that it felt a majority of people had basic sign language knowledge. I was totally hooked from the start and it helps that this is a relatively fast-moving and shorter book (less than 400 pages!). I think this will appeal to a lot of people as a slow burn enemies to lovers fantasy romance, but will also appeal to people who like a fantasy world with interesting politics and religion. This book could be a good transition from YA to Adult fantasy. I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait for book 2!

Overall I was quite disappointed about Lam's Dragonfall, and considering it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I mean, who could resist Adult SFF, a queernorm world with a non-binary main character it sounded like it was made for me.

But after a few chapters I realised it was going to be a struggle to finish it, and I did consider DNF'ing as it felt so young and the writing style didn't work for me. However, I have always enjoyed Lam's work so I thought it might get better.

I did enjoy both the world and the magic system and how it connected to the dragon tongue. I enjoyed reading and learning about the bond between our main characters. The plot felt a little all over the place and its one of the reasons why I do want to carry on with the series because I think book one felt like set up and hopefully more will come to light as we see more of the world and the books figure out what they want to be. a heist? A prophecy? Or maybe about forbidden romance? Probably, all of them or none.

I did enjoy the enemies to lovers aspect and it was one of the main reasons I was so excited to read this book. Yet I never felt the characters were fleshed out enough and didn't feel the tension between the two. This might again go back to the writing style which made me feel so disconnected.

Overall, although this won't be my favourite book of the year, Dragonfall is a book that has a lot to offer to the fantasy genre. It salvages some of the things that die-hard fantasy fans enjoy while bringing fresh new ideas to the genre. And I do think that Book Two might be able to salvage some of the aspects that I didn't enjoy this time around

3.5/5 ⭐️
I think this book will be good for anyone who enjoyed Priory of the Orange Tree or House of the Dragon (I listened to the score music while reading). You could tell the author put a lot of attention to detail for the worldbuilding, and I really appreciated that. It made the story feel more immersive and real, despite the magic and dragons. Also, they wrote a society that was completely non-binary. The citizens called each other they/them unless the person told them they preferred he/she. And I liked that for the character who was not from this society, they initially went by their gendered assumptions until taught otherwise. I liked that cause I’ve read books where a character somehow automatically knows only one person goes by they/them without being told or it being the base assumption in that society.
The writing style was interesting. I didn’t mind it, but I think it might turn some people off. For example, most of the POVs were written in the typical first person we are used to. But only one was written where they are writing to a particular person, so they used a lot of “yous.”
Overall, it was a very interesting read with a very rich world. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes the slightly higher fantasy as found in Priory of the Orange Tree and House of the Dragon, but with a Six of Crows-esq heist.
Thank you to NetGalley & DAW Publishing for providing an advance reader copy for my honest review.

I made it about a third of the way through this book before deciding to give up. I don't like the writing style, it's more telling than showing. The plot is interesting, but I don't care about the characters.

(Goodreads)

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a huge fantasy & enemies to lovers fan, however I just couldn't get into Dragonfall. I tried to read it on two separate occasions, and I ended up DNF’ing it in the end.

As others with similar reviews have stated, it is not an awful book by any means, and I certainly saw the potential in it and can understand why some highly rated it. I just think it might be one of those books that are a hit or miss based on personal preference.

Sometimes when I read, I’ll lose interest as the book progresses, but I was extremely apprehensive about this book from the start. I was not very fond of the writing style and the pace felt a little slow, making it challenging for me to get invested in the characters and their story. For me, the rough start prevented me from paying attention to the world building enough to ever fully comprehend and appreciate what I was reading.

Maybe if I found it in myself to get through the whole book my opinion would have eventually changed, but I’m one of those people who have a limited attention span and find it hard to concentrate on books without being captivated from the start.

With that being said, if you have an opportunity to read the book, I say go for it! You may be one of the people who have a completely different experience than me.

This was an overall excellent read. Hitting all the right checkboxes for an epic fantasy without feeling too grim, Dragonfall has a rich history, stellar cast, and exciting plot. The book is definitely a set-up for the remainder of the trilogy, but I liked learning about the dragons and the humans and their tumultuous histories, and how the book's main characters navigate that legacy. A huge thank you to Astra Publishing for sending me an eArc of this novel in exchange for my thoughts!

I've fallen in love.

Lam's writing, worldbuilding and characters are amazing! It's queer with enemies to lovers and dragons. Do I need to explain more? No, I don't. I was hooked since the very first moment. It was a hell of a ride and I enjoyed every part of it.

I love a good dragon tale! And to get one from the dragon's POV was very fun!

I found this book to a very fun time. The worldbuilding was great and the pacing was very well planned out. I thought the characters were extremely compelling and had a great arc. Plus you can't go wrong with an enemies to lovers story. Great work L.R. Lam!

Thanks Netgalley!!

Great fantasy but unfortunately struggled to connect with the writing style and story. I would still recommend if you enjoy dragon centered fantasy. I can see talent, it just was not my cup of tea.

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC of this book. I was very excited to be able to receive an arc of this book, however I had to DNF very early on in the book. The writing style was not for me and I had trouble connecting to any of the characters. I hope to try to finish in the future.

Unfortunately this one was a big miss for me. There were so many things in this book that I thing had potential and I liked the idea of the idea, but overall everything ended up being half baked and under explained.

Starting with the world itself. Never have a I read a book that started off with so many info dumps and yet feeling like I have no idea what the world is. I almost DNFed after the first few chapters because reading this book felt so confusing, but I persevered on. Once I got past those first few chapters I did fell less actively confused, but not because those things were explained and made sense. I think this book would have been better served to have focused on a few of the most relevant bits of the world and fully explaining those things while leaving some things as a mystery for future books, but instead that page time was used to just mention a lot of things and expand on none of them. I left this book feeling like I couldn't explain how most of the world works. Like there's a whole society of exiled dragons and yet I couldn't tell you what they were like at all. There's a dragon worshiping religion, but also they exiled them? Not really sure what the story there was. There was magic, but I have no idea how any of it works. And while I don't need every aspect of magic to be laid out like a user's manual, I would have expected some level of expalanation at all about the bond between Everen and Arcady as that was a pretty pivotal part of the story.

Speaking of the story, this book could not figure out what the plot wanted to be. Was this book about fulfilling a prophecy? Was it about Arcady's revenge desires? These were the two things that were introduced in the two POVs initially but Everen especially seemed to go off script pretty quickly and it didn't seem like he was doing anything to further his goals. And then the plot pivoted to a minimally prepared for heist plot? And while the heist did tie back to a step in Arcady's goal to get into the university, it still very much read like a side quest. And you can't just do a side quest plot in the first book of a series. You have to wait until readers are entrenched in the world and characters to pull that off.

The writing overall was fine. I found it pretty quick to read through, however I did have an issue with how Everen's POV was done. He was written in first person but where he was telling the story to Arcady. Except this wasn't established until the last chapter so I didn't know this was supposed to be a letter or sorts to Arcady. This was okay at first when they hadn't met up in plot yet. But once they were together in plot they were together for most every scene at that point and so he just used "you" a lot in place of Arcady because she was in the scenes a lot. since it hadn't been explained this was a letter, and because honestly it didn't read like I would expect a letter would (too much of him just telling Arcady what she was doing, like hello she was there she knows) it just felt like I was reading poorly executed second person POV and I started to actively dislike reading Everen's POV as the book went on.

The last thing I want to touch on in this review was the romance. Or rather lack of romance. There is established physical attraction. And then that's it. That's the total sum of the romantic build up. When the first move was made between them it felt so completely out of nowhere and made no sense. And it didn't help that part of Evern's deal is that he was trying to manipulate Arcady into being close to her because of the bond and prophecy stuff. So that made the "romance" feel even worse with lack of actual build up.

Overall a book with some good ideas and a reveal at the end that almost blinded me into saying I was going to continue the series, but poorly executed and underexplained and unfortunately a disappointment for something I had high hopes for!

This book was a bit slow to get off the ground, with a distinct narrative voice that fits the style of the book. I am always down for a complex magic system based on dragons, which I loved in this book as well.

I also absolutely loved the LGBTQ representation, specifically the gender fluidity, and I'm excited to see even more representation in fantasy books this year!

Oh i love dragon and this made me happily jump when I saw the cover?! It’s so epic how the pretty words in fantasy books enthrall me and this is just one out of many. The mythologies behind the story and the realms described in thriving plots and fun narrative. Wnemies to lovers with dragon innit is such a combination I love! Such an interesting and thrilling read!

If you're looking for a book that gives you dragons, ancient curses, heists, and a sprinkle of enemies-to-lovers romance, then this book is for you! Lam takes readers directly into an age-old grudge between the banished dragons of Vere Celene and the humans who banished them and stole their magic. The main characters, Everen and Arcady, are brought together by a mysterious bond, sharing injuries and emotions across a golden thread tying them together.

I love soulmate/bond plots, especially when it extends to injuries and emotions. Neither of the characters can hide from the other, which escalates the tension between them and makes for some fun banter! The plot was exciting while still relatively straightforward to follow (as a college student preparing for finals, I appreciated this). I was engaged throughout the story and excited to pick it up again.

Also, one thing that tends to stand out to me in fantasy stories is the author's creativity in building the politics or culture of the region. L. R. Lam knocks this out of the park! Without setting aside pages for a massive info dump on the political system's hierarchy, Lam could articulate the pecking order and bring forth an exciting "royal" title in the Honorific. I loved this incorporation, and that it was such a cool small-detail way to distinguish the level of the character in society.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book! Can't wait for the release of the sequel!

This book was thoroughly original and had a fascinating concept, but it felt worn out about halfway through and overall fell flat for me. I really enjoyed how the author played with gender, and the slow burn romance was well-executed, but the book was about two pages too slow and draw out.

Unfortunately DNF at 20% just wasn't for me. I had high hopes for this book but I didnt really enjoy the writing style and how long it was taking to get into the story. There are so many information dumps that I found myself just skimming paragraphs and wanting more to happen. Disappointing as there were some lines that I loved but just a bit too confusing the lore for me.