Unfortunately this book didn’t work for me and I DNFd at 45%. Rating 2.5 for what I read..
The writing style just didn’t work for me.
Yes there’s Dragons and yes there’s diversity rep but I just didn’t feel engaged. The main draw of this book that I saw in reviews seems to be that Everen would seduce Aracdy in order to save his fellow dragons and Aracdy is gender-fluid…. 30% in they only just meet…. My word it was a slow start. By that point the told but not shown, the awkward two POV with Everen told from second person just didn’t work for me anymore. I got somewhat disinterested.
Put it down and picked it back up weeks later and felt the same…
There were some really interesting eLements like the Struck and the magic stone systems but the plot felt all over the place with a random assassin’s POV and training a dragon to be a thief. I’m not a big fan of heist plot lines and this had that too.
I found myself skim reading more often than not.

More dragons, please! All kinds of dragons—sapient ones, feral ones, ones that pillage and hoard and burninate, and ones that just want to stay home and read a cozy book. When I saw L.R. Lam was coming out with a dragon-centric novel, I jumped at the eARC from NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton. Dragonfall has a lot going for it, from an original and well-constructed world to a compelling premise. In the end I wasn’t left completely satisfied, but this is still a good book.

Everen is a dragon (spoiler?). He is, in fact, the last male dragon. His kind once worked alongside humanity, dragons and humans often bonding and then becoming comrades in a battle against evil. But centuries prior, humans rose up and drove dragons out of this world into Vere Celene, which is where Everen was born. There is a prophecy that the last male dragon will lead his kind back and retake what’s theirs—no pressure, though. Meanwhile, back in the human world, Arcady is a poor, young orphan with a plan to pose as a rich noble and find a way to exonerate the relative who, even in death, is blamed for a plague that ravages the nation. Everen and Arcady’s paths not only cross but become inextricably entwined. Forced to work together, they grow very close—until Everen has to choose between Arcady’s life or his loyalty to his people.

See what I mean? Compelling premise here. The reluctant allies-to-lovers trope, the “I love this person but I’m going to have to kill them” sword dangling over the relationship. The utter mismatch of species. It’s a good time! Lam works hard on the slow burn of the romance, developing it quite gradually, layering on the physical attraction, the chemistry, the personality clashes. Anyone who enjoys romantic subplots more than me will hopefully quite enjoy this dimension of Dragonfall.

The diametrically opposed desires of Arcady and Everen are also important. There is so much conflict here between the two of them, and I love it. I caught myself cackling at points as I read because of the dramatic irony (the chapters alternate between Arcady and Everen’s points of view—Arcady’s in first person, Everen’s in second person addressed, epistolary style, to Arcady). The storytelling is quite effective, and Lam kept me wondering throughout how things would be resolved, whether Everen could keep his promise to his kin and, if so, how that would affect Arcady’s plans.

Also, I couldn’t work this into my summary, but there’s a heist, or at least, a caper. It’s not the smoothest of jobs and not the main focus of the book, but it’s prominent enough that I sat up when I first caught a whiff of it—you all know how much I love a good heist.

Finally, loved the subversion of cisnormativity, the way that Locians use hand signals to communicate their pronouns, and Arcady’s role as a nonbinary or genderfluid protagonist.

For all that I enjoyed Dragonfall, though, there were elements to it that I found lacking. The ending is a classic cliffhanger to set up the sequel. I don’t mind that by itself, nor do I even mind so much the huge reveal at the very last moment. Lam is trying for tantalizing rather than tricksy, so it kind of works. On the other hand, it didn’t get me excited for the second book. I’m not on the edge of my seat, not particularly invested in Arcady or Everen or Sorin’s next chapters.

The thing is, I feel like I should be? There’s so much in here to recommend it, but that’s just the problem—Dragonfall might be pulling from a mixture of too many brilliant tropes, and while Lam uses many of them to good effect, the final result is still a messy kaleidoscope. When I zoom in on it, I can appreciate the individual parts and find lots to praise. But when I zoom out and try to look at the novel as a whole, I’m left with less enthusiasm. If anything, this is a good example of how literature is not only a subjective experience but also can change within an individual reader’s perceptions. I am left, I suppose, decidedly ambivalent.

This was a book I was super excited to read and I was so happy when I got the arc for it. However, it did feel a bit like a disappointment. The concept was super cool, the plot was interesting, and the characters were well developed but I could not for the life of me immerse myself in the story. The descriptions were there, and the fancy language was there, but I couldn't see the setting or the characters. I also could never picture Everen as anything other than human, the descriptions simply weren't descriptive enough for me. I thought it was awesome to see so much queer representation in fantasy, but Dragonfall lacked the immersive writing that Lam's other books have /along/ with queer representation.

As a self proclaimed connoisseur of dragons in literature (feel free to ask for recs) when I saw this book on netgalley as one of my most anticipated reads I had to request and couldn’t not be more grateful!
To start off, let me be clear this book is not for fantasy newbies, this is a high fantasy book. There is a big info dump, with world building and tone setting that lasts for about 150 pages before we get to the meat of the plot. With high fantasy there is an amount of learning the language of the world, such as Drakine in the book meaning Nobleman, which was well done I felt I adjusted quick enough. After finishing the book and realize the direction these books (it is not a standalone) will be taking I would agree that this info dump is necessary in order to make this story as compelling as it was.
Now to the actual plot I loved it. To me it gave 80s/90s fantasy (think Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey) with modern ideals. A major part of the book is the acceptance of being non-binary and gender fluid. There are many conversations of not constricting oneself to a box of what gender values are assigned and it’s refreshing to see in literature, if we are not quite at that stage in society unfortunately.
I’m keeping this review spoiler free because I feel like it’s best to just experience it blind like I did. But to hit some main points while I think the romance is while not quite a subplot it isn’t the main plot in this first book at least. But it is giving enemies to lovers to ???, there is longing, tension, hiding parts of yourself because you are afraid of the others reaction. Found family, a heist, betrayal and riding the line between how much we do is destined or based on free will.
I will be picking off the next book whenever that comes out as I can’t wait to see what happens next after that shocker of an ending. Thanks again for sending me the arc in exchange for an honest review!

There were a lot of great elements here! I enjoyed the way gender is handled in the world, and the world-building in general was really well done. I also enjoyed Arkady as a character and found her really compelling.

However, I think Everen, the dragon character, could have been more interesting as a character. And I think the “connection” element between the two main characters ended up feeling a bit forced. Those type of magical bonds are not my favorite trope, so others who enjoy that may like the book better.

I also didn’t really connect with the writing style, which sometimes felt like it was just trying to be different for its own sake, but without much guiding purpose. But that is largely personal preference.

Thanks to netgalley for providing me with this ARC!

There were a lot of great elements here! I enjoyed the way gender is handled in the world, and the world-building in general was really well done. I also enjoyed Arkady as a character and found her really compelling.

However, I think Everen, the dragon character, could have been more interesting as a character. And I think the “connection” element between the two main characters ended up feeling a bit forced. Those type of magical bonds are not my favorite trope, so others who enjoy that may like the book better.

I also didn’t really connect with the writing style, which sometimes felt like it was just trying to be different for its own sake, but without much guiding purpose. But that is largely personal preference.

3.75/5 thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

There were many things I loved about this book- the main one being the queer normative world. Lots and lots of casual queer rep here! The main character Arcady uses all pronouns and is genderfluid. Every character is referred to with they/them pronouns at first. There is also a type of sign language that the characters use to give their pronouns! I also loved that there was a deaf character who used sign language to communicate. I also enjoyed the romance. It was really well paced and had lots of tension and banter. It utilized one of my favorite niche tropes ‘I have to kill you but I’m falling in love with you’. There is also a heist plot line part way through!
Now onto the less positive things. The one things that held me back from giving this the whole four stars was the Magic system and world building. It was very confusing, and often info dumpy, especially at the beginning. The humans stole the dragons magic? How? It seemed like the characters just used magic and there wasn’t any explanations. Outside of that magic use causes hunger and will make you eat people if you use to much, which really wasn’t explained either.
The writing was also a bit weird, Everen’s pov is told in a mix of first and second person. It’s explained why at the end of the book, but it didn’t really feel necessary to me and just disrupted the flow. Certain characters were referred to in pronouns that were capitalized to show their status in society, and that bothered me as well. Also there was a third POV that was added in like every five chapters and I didn’t care about it, and it wasn’t super relevant until the end of the book.
Overall though this was a highly enjoyable book, and I’m definitely will be picking up the rest of the series!

This fantasy story will work for some readers, for me, it didn’t really vibe. I understand this the first story in a trilogy so I do give it some grace. I can see the bones of the story, five gods, numerous genders/fluidity, magic systems and guilds… it just doesn’t seem to matter. Yea there are five gods, but how does this affect the people? Their thoughts? They are also very accepting of different gender norms, but not very accepting of literally anything else, especially poverty. I feel like a society so accepting of other genders and that makes a big point of this should possibly flow into other parts of theirs lives…. I did like Arcady’s POV okay, especially in the first few chapters however I didn’t care for the other two POVs.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC for a review!

I'm giving this a solid 4.5 stars out of 5 stars, and rounding to 5 because WOW. This book was so unique, with a splash of Six of Crows...the magic system was so interesting, the world building was complex and simple at the same time, and I just ate it up. The slow burn of the romance was perfect, and when the tension broke, boy did it break.
I love love loved how it touched on LGBTQIA+ and gender roles. I had no idea that was what I was walking into when I started it, but it was a very pleasant surprise. With one or two plot twists I DID NOT see coming, the ending of this book certainly has left me crush, and I'm extremely eager to read the next in the series! Thank you so much to L.R. Lam, DAW Books, and NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for my honest review/feedback!

After reading the synopsis of this book, I couldn’t wait to read it. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I wasn’t invested in the characters and didn’t really feel the chemistry between the two. The terms used are also confusing and I found myself wishing for a glossary. The last 100 pages of the book really saved it for me and has kept me interested enough to find out what happens next. Thank you NetGalley and DAW for the arc.

When fantasy and dragons collide, they generally follow one of two paths: either the dragons are gone and we're trying to bring them back, or the dragons are here and we're trying to get rid of them. L.R. Lam's Dragonfall, the first book in in the new Dragon Scales trilogy, introduces a potential third option: romance the dragon.

In fairness, this is more like a fourth or fifth option. The setting of this new trilogy is a world in which humans have achieved the use of magic though—as far as the humans are concerned—the blessings of dragon gods. This magic is carefully controlled through the use of seals, which are tied directly to individuals and have a degree of identity protection on them. Ask the dragons, however, and they'll see it differently: humans stole the magic of dragons, banishing the dragons to a different dimension.


That's not the only theft going on in this book, either. Our protagonist, Arcady, kicks things off by committing some light identity theft for a good cause: to prove their grandfather's innocence. But the spell required to begin using their grandfather's seal has a side effect. Everen, currently the only living male dragon, is dragged through a tear in the Veil, trapped in a weakened human form in the human world. But this has been foretold, and his kind see it as an opportunity: use Arcady to his advantage by the next big human festival, and dragons may have a chance at taking back what's rightfully theirs.

But then, Everen starts to fall for the human. And as their magical bond strengthens, so does their emotional bond... leaving Everen conflicted.

While Everen and Arcady's strange blossoming romance is the heart of Dragonfall, the bulk of the central plot is a heist. And we all love a heist. While the whole book is a fascinating read, the actual elaborate scheming of the heist is well-crafted and fun. It slots nicely into the worldbuilding that came before, with a nice balance of risk and reward colored by the setting's magic system. For example, a clever (magical) disguise is a key piece of the plan—but there are plenty of opportunities for intriguing slip-ups.


The enemies-to-lovers romance between Everen and Arcady isn't slow-burn so much as hot and cold. It's clear there's a long way to go between these two as they figure each other (and themselves) out, and the book leaves off on a tantalizing cliffhanger. Readers who are hoping for drawn-out steamy scenes may find themselves disappointed; those who are in it for the long haul will, I feel, be rewarded.

Overall, Dragonfall has a good flow, deftly balancing worldbuilding and storytelling. The plot does occasionally screech to a halt for commentary on the construct of gender—something that's already shown well as each character contends with their own identity and place in this particular corner of the human world. Short of Everen's education in hand signs for pronouns and introduction to the concept, it makes little sense for people for whom this is a normal part of life to stop and expound on how weird it would be to think otherwise. This feels more like being taken aside by the author than immersion in a world where this is the norm and we are being invited to see it as the norm. Both Arcady and Everen—one versed in this society, one having left a world where masculinity is seen as automatically violent—give ample opportunities to explore this simply by existing near and with each other.


There is a secondary plot that I am deliberately leaving out... and that is because to say much about it at all would spoil an amazing final-chapter hook. While the book's outro for our romantic leads is compelling enough to bring readers back, this finale rolls in like a mid-credits sting to insist on our presence for book 2.

There are still plenty of questions left for this trilogy to answer. What was the original relationship between humans and dragons truly like? Will we ever get to see this at full power with Arcady and Everen? What about Arcady's grandfather? Heck, what about... that final-chapter sting? There's so much more to come, all of it exciting.

Dragonfall is equal parts searing romance, heist adventure, and high fantasy. The world it introduces us to is fascinating, and one readers will be itching to return to as soon as possible.

Everen is the last male dragon prophesized to save his kind when he suddenly finds himself back in the dragon's home world half-bound to human, Arcady. As he figures out how to act human, he partners up with Arcady to gain their trust and potentially complete the bond in order to take their magic. Arcady has their own plan, which involves stealing an important artifact, in order to fund their university tuition. The characters are well-developed and the world is intricately created and laid out with lots of nuance. Overall, an interesting start to this fantasy series.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of Dragonfall. I feel this didn't get the recognition it needed since it came out the same time as fourth wing which was promoted beyond belief. This was about dragon shifters though and was fantastic.

Dragonfall has an interesting premise, but doesn't move fast enough for me.

Dragons were expelled from Earth many years ago and sent to an inhospitable realm. Most dragons are female, and when Everen was born, it was prophesied that he was the one who would save their peoples. Everen flies into danger, knowing some of the prophecies about himself, but not all - his family and the ancient dragon who sees the future have kept many things from him.

Arcady is the grandson of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. But Arcady remembers his grandfather as kind and wise, and wants to clear his name. He steals an artifact from his tomb, and the magic draws Everen across the Veil and into his world. The two are semi-bonded, and neither is entirely truthful with the other about what they're trying to do. If Everen's plan works, all of the humans will die. But does he really want that to happen, now that he knows (and maybe loves) Arcady?

I found that I didn't really care for the main characters, and there was way too much description. I found that I could skim pages and still keep up with the story, which is never a good thing.

This is the first of a trilogy, but I'm not sure I care enough to read anymore. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

What a beautiful cover! It’s a shame the execution of the idea was a huge setback.

The premise was good. An enemies-to-lovers story — what can you want more? But I had a major issue with the writing style. It was far more telling than showing and there were simply too many points of view to read from. It was jarring, especially when the story read from a dragon’s pov. Also, it was difficult following Everen’s point of view as his story was like a person telling to Arcady, while Arcady’s story was from the third-person perspective. Unfortunately, this did not work for me.

This is probably one of the best enemy to lovers fantasies I have read, ever. And I really do mean ever. Also, I have the largest crush on Everen, omigoodness he is completely swoon worthy! And while the whole interspecies romance is usually not my cup of tea I admit that I have completely made an exception with Everen and Arcady and I am rooting for them to have a Happily Ever After!

Alright now that the swooning is out of the way I'll get to the rest.

What I enjoyed here the most was that I've finished the book and even though I know who at least one bad guy is (or at least I think I do) I'm also pretty sure that all of the bigger players among the humans and the Dragons are a little bit evil. Everen's Mom and Sister are just to dedicated to their hate to not be hiding something huge and while the end reveals someone who has got to be the big evil it all seems to simple for a world (s) that seems to hold some complicated secrets.

Obviously, I loved the characters. There was never a point where I felt that their actions weren't realistic and I was really surprised that I felt the progression of Arcady and Everen's relationship felt completely natural and realistic.

The world building was fantastic as well. Lam's descriptions of the world (s) were far simpler than I usually enjoy and yet I still have a crystal clear picture of both Lumet and Vere Celene in my head.

My one very tiny complaint is Magnes, I'm not really sure when I figured out who he was but it was pretty early on. I wouldn't necessarily say he was a trope but I think his character walked a fine line. And I'm not saying I didn't like his character because I did, I felt like his specific character was almost necessary for this story. I just wish he had been a little more hidden. For those of you who haven't read that probably won't make a lot of sense until you do.

Overall, Dragonfall was an excellent beginning to a new series that I found to be pretty unique in comparison to some of the other fantasy I've been reading lately.

I was very excited to get this as an ARC. When it has dragon characters AND lgbtq+ rep, I was sold. I enjoyed the overall plot and the introduction to characters. The writing however is what threw me off. There was nothing majorly wrong with the writing, just came across slightly juvenile and maybe too detailed in parts where it wasn't necessary? But I still enjoyed the book enough that I want to go buy a physical copy. I will definitely read book two in this trilogy. Overall I gave this 4 stars.

Dragons, a genderfluid society, & a heist all in one? This book was high on my list this year and while it didn't blow me away like I had hoped, I did enjoy it. Definitely a slower read and feels more like a set up for the rest of the series than a self resolved book. I am more excited for the conflict that has been set up than I was for any of this first book. The ending and the increased pace at the end of the book really saved it for me. I'm still not sure if I liked the character POV of letter writing because while it was finally explained at the very end, it was a bit clunky to read. Overall a great YA book and I look forward to book 2!

This was closer to a 3.5/5 for me but rounding up because it trends closer to a 4 star read than 3 star.

First: that cover?! Gosh, it’s so gorgeous!

I love a good fantasy with dragons, this was exactly what i was looking for!

Loved all the inclusivity in this book.

“You dreamed of me for years, and now, I dream of you.”

Dragonfall has EVERYTHING I wanted in it - a queer normative world, dragons and magic. Dragons have been kicked out of the human world after years of them being bonded. Now, the humans have mostly forgotten the dragons and worship them as gods but nothing more than myth. The dragons? They want revenge and to take the world for their own. Dragon artifacts are considered illegal to sell and there's an entire order dedicated to eradicating those who do.

Enter Arcady - human thief who's trying to clear the name of their grandfather who's supposedly brought along a plague. The counterpart is Everen - the only male dragon who's been prophesied to save the dragon race. Arcady's one spell to become a new person draws Everen into the human world and binds them.

Everen has one goal - get Arcady to trust him, complete their bond and kill them, taking Arcady's power for himself and open the rift between the worlds. Arcady just wants to become a new person to be able to attend college as a rich elite, but needs money to do so....HEIST TIME!!

There were so many unique concepts in this book. The magic system is innovative where magic requires substance and those who use too much magic are at risk of turning "starveling" and basically turning into rabid animals. Additionally, humans carry seals from birth that identify them and are linked by magic - which helps when everyone has such a flexibility with gender and sexuality. Arcady says by their own words that they see themselves between male and female and it's seen as SO normal in the world which I loved.

Unfortunately the plot is what fell flat for me. There were quite a few plot holes or things I just didn't understand in terms of world building, Everen's prophecies and how it applies to his choices and the entirety of the bond between the two of them. The pacing was also a struggle and I felt like the author threw out a lot of terms without explaining them, even with context clues sometimes it took me a while to understand what they were saying.

I did love many things about this book, dragons and a queer normative world !! so I'm looking forward to book 2!

rep// queer normative world, NB MC

cw// death, murder, violence, blood, chronic illness, classism, religious bigotry

Thank you to the publisher for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.