I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book, the relationship between a human and a dragon made me a bit nervous at first but the author really wove the narrative together well.

With a genderfluid thief as the MC this book has a fantastic queernormative world. Waiting for children to decide their own gender and asking for pronouns is normalised - they even have their own way of showing their pronouns with hand signs.
Besides the queernormitivity of the world the way it was built was phenomenal. The magic system, the dragons rage, it was a perfect mid between plot driven and character driven. And despite not really connecting to the characters strongly, I did find their motives worked well with the plot.

Though I know people are saying they didn’t like Everen’s chapters, I really loved the way they were in second person as though he was addressing them to Arcady, it added great texture to the book. But that might be my love of Harrow the ninth peeking through. :)

Could not get into it. Didn’t find any of the characters very engaging or likeable. I’ve actually never see gender identity be so forcefully used. Seeing “They” and “Their” capitalized all over had me confused and it was a lot. I’m sure it could have been an interesting story but as of right now I can’t finish it.

I didn’t want to start yet another on-going series, but I’d been wanting to read this for so so long, so I requested an arc. And then, it got accepted! I dropped everything I was reading to get to this.

𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘭𝘺.

This was SUCH an amazing start to a dragon fantasy trilogy, and really makes me want to read the next book and the rest of the trilogy.

The writing is so detailed, and just so amazing. There’s no other way to put it. At times a little slow, but otherwise I loved it!

𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

Sorin was a really relateable mc, or as relateable as someone can be when they’re basically a dragon, and sorin’s a huge part of why I liked this as much as I did.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Dragons, enemy-to-lovers and queer! Dragonfall was the book I didn’t know I needed!

Drangonfall is a queer high fantasy that contains three separate and unique POV’s: Arcady- a thief trying to make a life for themselves, Everen- a dragon transported and trapped in the human realm with the hopes of his entire species resting on his shoulders, and Soren.

L.R. Lam’s writing style is very different than anything I’ve previously read, and it took me a few chapters to enjoy the flow, but it was worth getting past this hump. Similarly, the plot took a little while to get rolling but the pace picked up once the initial world building was established. All information was drip-fed deliciously, and motives were clear from the beginning, allowing the story to flourish as Arcady and Everen navigate their bond. Their relationship was a slow-burn and the progression was incredibly well-written. I can’t wait to continue the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

1/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

DNF @ 20%

I really wanted to like this one but unfortunately I couldn’t get into it. The worldbuilding is so incredibly infodumpy and yet I still had questions. I couldn’t get into the writing style and couldn’t connect to the characters, so I didn’t care at all about what was happening. I wish I could say more but the part I read was so incredibly bland that I barely remember what happened.

DNF @38%
I really tried a lot to convince myself to finish this book......but I just can't. Although the premise was very interesting, this just didn't work for me, unfortunately. I wasn't a fan of the info dumping in the beginning, and it was a lot to keep track of. Ultimately I forgot most of the things. The magic system was also not well-established. I couldn't connect to any of the characters. I really wanted to like this, but sadly it didn't work for me. Maybe I'll give it another chance later.

WOW!
Queer enemies-to -lovers...with dragons?? Say no more.
Dragonfall was quite the journey, with incredible world building, with an interesting magic system, and captivating characters that kept you wanting to turn the pages.
I really enjoyed the different POVs, as it added depth to the story and pulled you right into this new and eclectic world.
There was a little receptiveness throughout the story with lots of information thrown at you at the very beginning, and some of the descriptions became a little repetitive. I also think Lam could have taken a little more time to explain how their magic system works and why. However, this was a new and innovative idea for a book which was a sigh of relief.
The character's interactions were so fun to read and I wish I had Sorin's mini-dragon pet.

Would definitely recommend this book and cannot wait to read the rest of the series!
Thank you so much to Netgalley and DAW Books for the ARC!

The initial draw for me towards this book was the beautiful cover art and dragons! I am a huge fan of any fantasy book that has dragons. Its even better since this book is enemies to loves WITH DRAGONS! I'm also loving the "I have to kill you but I can't now because I love you" Trope.

First of all, the first few chapters was a struggle for me with loads of world building and information. It was a little difficult to keep up but eventually it all makes sense in the end.
I really liked the multiple POVS, well three POVS to be exact. It really gave me sense of the inner minds of each character and their relationships. I loved that it was not romance heavy, the romance is there but not the main focal point. It was subtle and banter was amazing.
Overall, I think its a great way to begin the trilogy.

The twist in the end had me wishing I already had the sequal in my hands. I will be looking forward to book 2.



Thanks to NetGallery for this advanced copy in exchange for a honest review.

This book was initially on my radar for the cover art, the subject matter including dragons, and for the overall description. For lovers of all things dragons and high fantasy, this title is worth trying. I enjoyed the plot and thought the premise for the book was creative. However, as someone who enjoys fantasy with only a few years of experience diving into the genre, the book was a bit inaccessible.

The main problem I found that prevented me from becoming immersed in the story was how the world building and norms of this realm were presented to the reader. Within the first couple chapters, there are already dozens of terms that are either completely made up or perhaps have a language origin that is not my forte. It was rather confusing having so many unknown words thrown at you that either had implied meaning or would be delved into later. I do appreciate that there was a more organic approach to the world building, but it was also so much that the more natural presentation of terminology was on the more chaotic side.

At the same time that the terms were not outright explained, a ton of the history of this world was info-dumped in the same first few chapters. One one hand, I was completely lost in the new words but also overloaded with really long sections of backstory that were interrupting the characters' actions.

I found the jumps to the two main characters and the switch from first to second person POV a bit jarring. I've seen this creative decision work well in other stories. Maybe it would not be an issue for others but it was one that I struggled with in this instance.

I can understand why some readers would enjoy this book but the approach to world building and the stylistic choices in the design were just not really for me.

I Read Dragonfall as an arc in exchange, for my honest opinion, so here's what I think about this book.  I feel pretty neutral about this book, which is pretty uncommon for me because either I like a book or I hate it. Likewise, I normally love dragons books, but Dragonfall didn't catch me. The writing style and characters weren't it for me, and I just couldn't get used to it, but that's just my personal opinion, and maybe you would love the writing style and the characters. The book was carried by characters and tropes, which is not my thing and I prefer if the focus lies on the plot. But overall it wasn't a bad book and I would still recommend it if you enjoy dragons.

I want to say the world building was amazing, but took me a while to get into it. There were new terms which I understood through context but some are still not entirely clear. Like Starveling, I hope it was explained a little better.

The story has a good blend of dragons, magic, prophecies, betrayal, schemes, and a heist. But, it's kind of slow. It felt like the first 75% of the story was just a build up leading to the heist, and that said heist happened really fast. However, that twist at the end was shocking.

Also, the exploration of queerness and gender was wonderful. Every character was introduced with the pronoun 'they', until such character acknowledged which gender they identify with.

The thing I disliked the most is it is told in switching POVs and in different persons. It confused me too many times, and had to check the chapter page to check on whose perspective I was reading.

The romance of the two main characters was not the focal point of the story, which is great. However, I found it not that believable on how they eventually fell for each other. But, once they got together, I was rooting for them.

I don't think this book amazed me enough to look forward for the sequel, but I might still read it just to know what happens.

Thank you so much DAW and @netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It took some pushing forward to get into this story, but once I was in it, I loved it. The conflicts, the tension, the plotting, and a slow burn that finished still very much up in the air leaving a lot of potential development in books to come. The pace, past about 13% in, wasn't slow nor too quick. It was well balanced.

It was an enemies-to-lovers on one side and a forced-proximity-makes-friends-to-lovers on the other. And the friendship was real, to the point where I felt what happened to that bond. Honestly, when I requested this Arc, I had not expected the romance aspect, which was a welcomed surprise.

Now while I did love most of it and I can't wait to get my hands on book 2, I did have problems with the beginning that might have stopped short my reading had this not been an arc read.

The first few chapters were a little bit of a trial to get through. First, the prologue definitely should have been chapter 1. It's needed for an initial understanding of Everen. But beware, it is riddled with heaps of purple prose. Same goes for Everen's following two or three chapters, then suddenly the flowery prose clears up. Arcady's first two chapters are basically info dumps. Again this clears up and information is then evenly distributed. Lastly,
while an aspect I did enjoy, the gender fluidity of Loc's culture was not explained until 19% in, which made me wonder for waayyy too long why the them/they was applied in many situations but not others.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, and I want to know what happens next, but at the same time new readers need to be willing to overcome those initial hurdles in order to dive fully into this story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc. My opinions are my own.

I received a digital copy of Dragonfall through netgalley in exchange for my open and honest review:

DNF at 24%

The following contains mild spoilers for the first quarter of the book, so proceed at your own risk.

There was a lot that I liked about this book settings wise, but there was just an absolute failure to launch for me. I was hoping for a dragon based high fantasy: instead I got dragon stuck in human and/or humanoid shape while they must find the person they have accidentally become bound to.

The primary human character, Arcady, is just kind of…there. They exhibit no real elements of personality, like they do things and they consider things and consequences, but there is just no reason to care and the character doesn’t make you.

The worldbuilding and magic system has a large amount of potential, although it came in a disappointing trickle, and I could not sit through these bland characters and yet another ‘promising dragons and not delivering dragons’ story.

Also, despite the progressive (which is good) stand on world-building, a stuck polymorph really comes off as making fun of neurodivergent people by having a character clearly not able to parse social cues (with the excuse of being a dragon) and not sufficiently going into differences of culture between the species when in the “Dragons” point of view.

Everen is fated to save the dragons' dying world. Following a prophecy, he falls into the human world, bonded to a human, a thief, Arcady. Dragons despise humans thanks to their history, while humans unbeknownst to the facts, revere them as gods. With his actions, he'll either save the dragons and give them their world back, or doom them all.

Everen's plan and duty definitely don't include falling for Arcady, but the way they obliviously end up longing for each other... chef's kiss.

Getting into the book was a little bit hard at first thanks to the overwhelming amount of world-building info dump at the beginning. The history is detailed and the magic system is beautiful but a little complex, which doesn't make it easier on you at the beginning. I also felt that the style of writing aspires to be beautiful and sophisticated but ends up a little hard to read. Oftentimes I felt myself wanting to skip ahead, so we could get to the point finally.

But once you get going it's a great queer fantasy romance, with dragons, magic, and the "I should kill you but I'm falling for you" trope. So if that's up your alley, then give it a go, and don't give up after the first few chapters.

I really wanted to love this book. The premise is super interesting (hence the 2 stars instead of 1). Last male dragon in the world needs to save his dragon planet from eventual destruction and take their land back through the fulfilment of a prophecy? Yes, please! However, within the first few chapters the dragon thing kinda disappears because he ends up trapped in a "preterit" form, which was never fully explained so I can only imagine it as a somewhat humanoid / unevolved dragon. The language confused me. There were words that were never defined - maire, paire, taire, which you eventually figure out through context but with the lack of definitions this was really off putting initially. I had to DNF at 52% because this was moving at a snail's pace and the "love story" was less of true love and more of a planned manipulation to enhance the "bond" (this will make sense if you read it). I didn't like the manipulative aspect or how disingenuous it was. I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters and they didn't have any truly defined personalities. The plot was slow and had a really boring reason behind it (steal expensive thing to make lots of money to avenge one's family name... But go to school first). I'm not sure if this is a debut novel for this author but it reads like one. Overall very disappointing and nothing pulls you in to keep reading. I hate dnf-ing and have only done it a few times in my life. I usually try to push through it to see to the end, but this just wasn't for me. I hope you all have a better experience!

Thank you netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

At outset, I was struggling with the multiple POVs, gradually I managed to get adapt to the writing style.

It's set in a outstanding world building with dragons! AND the eccentric magic systems is what intrigued me the most, not to mention the enemies-to-lovers (which is the "I was supposed to betray you" trope ugh) + queer representation.

Once, the humans and dragons lived together peacefully in the land until the day humans betrayed and exiled dragons.
Leaving a group of outcasted dragon hiding and surviving in a corner of the world. But when Everen-a dragon was forced back to the human land as a consequence of a spell, he has to gain the trust of Arcady-a thief, human and outcast, to complete the bond in order to save his family.

A very interesting take on dragons, humans and magic, and what happens when the three intersect. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some things are left for the reader to interpret early on, but I had no trouble following along. I applaud the nonbinary representation but felt some of the passages explaining it were clunky and unnecessary. I found the way the 2 countries built up their respective lore about dragons to be very interesting--very different views of the same events and how time has changed the meanings. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgally and DAW Publishing for the chance to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dragonfall is a fun fantasy book that is the start of a series about a human and a dragon from two different worlds that bond, ruining plans for their own species. Everen by way of a spell spoken by Arcady, ends up on the human side of the veil. The rest of the dragons left behind see this as the perfect opportunity to break out of the prison of their land, which is dying. In Arcady’s lands the dragons are viewed as relics of the past and gods. But their return would upend those in power, both in wealth and influence. And meanwhile, the partial bond between Everen and Arcady leaves them both more than a little testy. Everen increasingly feels conflicted about the role the dragons expect him to play in opening the veil for them, and Arcady reluctantly recruits Everen into the world of thievery as he tries to pull off the ultimate score that would allow him to go to school and educate himself enough to leave. The story is fun and the dynamic of the relationship between Everen and Arcady is enjoyable. The story tends to drag some. I read an advance copy in digital format and was surprised when I found out the story was only 400 pages long. I like the diversity among the human characters, but I also felt like Arcady’s motivations tended to be muddled and complicated. I felt like it would have been tighter if it had been more focused on clearing his grandfather’s name. And as the book is part of a series, the ending wraps up much of the events of the book, but leaves other things open-ended to have a starting point for the next book. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Really enjoyed this story!! I have always been obsessed with Dragons, so having this book in the POV of the dragon was a really cool perspective! Can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy, the cover is beautiful!
Thank you so much for sending met he ARC of Dragonfall!!

4.5 stars, hot damn!

Let me tell you one thing that’s going to make you read this book even before you read this review: It’s queer enemies-to-lovers with dragons.
Bonus point: It also has the “I’m supposed to kill you but now I’m in love with you” trope too.

All right, back to the review.

So first let’s talk about what didn’t work for me, which is not a lot but they still need to be mentioned.

THE INFO-DUMPING
This book, like many other fantasy books, fell victim to this. The first few chapters were ONLY written for info-dumping. Not only that but they were also way too confusing. I felt like an idiot, and I am an idiot most of the time, but believe me when I say even Einstein would roll in his grave trying to understand what was happening. I get that it is needed to set the world and the scene but it could’ve been written better. I’m glad they were short though.

THE MAGIC SYSTEM
Now now, I rather enjoyed the magic system but it could’ve been explained and explored way better. It has been three days since I finished this book and looking back at it, I can’t tell you a single thing about the magic system or how it worked. And it’s not because it was insignificant, it just took a backseat in this book when it had so much potential.

THE WRITING STYLE
It was different from most of the writing styles I’ve seen through the years. It was fascinating but it was dragging A LOT sometimes that I found myself skimming more than I’d like to admit. There is a thin line between poetic and “get to the point ffs” and this book played jump rope with it.

And that’s about it. Now let’s get back to how much I loved this book.

THE WRITING STYLE, AGAIN
Yes, the writing style gets two mentions in this review because I’m having a love-hate relationship with it. I already explained why I hated it, now let me tell you why I loved it. It was unique and reading most chapters felt like watching a painting being made if that makes sense. I also did enjoy how the chapters were handled. This book has dual-POV, triple if you count the assassin girl who likes to pop up from time to time. I saw some reviews not liking this, specifically not liking how Everen’s chapters felt like letters to Arcady, and do not listen to those reviews because it all ties together. I promise you will love it in the end. You will cry but you will love it.

THE ENDING
Speaking off, THAT ENDING?! I need the next book now. It is not up for debate. I hate how I can’t talk about it since I’m trying to keep this review spoiler-free but come on man. Leaving us hanging like this must be a hate crime.

THE ROMANCE
Without giving a lot away, I just wanna say I can kill or be killed for Arcady and Everen. They have a hold on my heart none can break. Their banter, longing, and overall interactions got to me right from the start. They were oblivious to how much of a simp they were for one another and it was honestly adorable. Again, I NEED MORE.

So in the end, stop reading this review and go read this book. If you know me, you do know I hardly ever like books or leave positive reviews since being an asshole is more fun but I honestly can’t find anything to hate about this book.