Firstly I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC 🥰😘

Dragonfall tells the story of dragons and the humans that deceived them, the humans that stole their magic, forgot their evils and now worship them as gods. The humans have had centuries to forget their disloyal ways but their ‘gods’ the dragons have vowed to never forget.

Arcady is a thief who steals a very powerful artefact from the Plaguegiver, the most despised person pretty much ever. Arcady is looking for a way out of their life and into a new one and they know the artefact’s magic is the key and as well as a chance for revenge. When casting their spell Arcady tears the veil and drags the dragon, Everen, through. Everen has much to bear even before being pulled through - he is the last remaining male dragon it is said that he will save his kind but he has spent his life being scolded by his mother, the queen. Everen disguises themselves as a human and follows Arcady into the city, he has to find a purpose as to why he has been pulled through. He finds out soon enough when, after he is located by his sister, it is explained to him, that he is half bonded with Arcady and must complete the bond with them then kill them or their worlds will become nothing at all.

L.R Lam’s writing is flawless ❤️❤️ I love multiple POVs, the character’s are all fantastic!! I love that they’re kinda mysterious? Like you know them but not completely? I’m totally fascinated by Sorin and I’m hoping for more Sorin chapters in the next book!! Arcady and Everen bound to me now as well, my heart is so full and totally broken and I’m dying for the next book!! The ending killed me, I read it and was floored, it was a totally jaw drop!!

The From the moment I picked up Dragonfall I couldn’t put it down, even though I was ill I still had to have it close by to read 😂❤️ If you like dragons, romance, heists, Six of Crows and all things queer then this book is for you!! 5✨ for sure!!

Dense, a drag, just unpleasant to read. Feels very overwritten yet somehow I was confused and couldn't quite grasp what was going on. The characters had no personality and were not memorable. Because of that, I didn't care at all for the romance - the main reason I picked up this book - and was overall just very disappointed.

I had such high hopes about Dragonfall and the buzz surrounding it was so good so when I was provided an ARC of the book I was super excited. It was good, but definitely didn’t live up to my expectations. I’m also not sure I would consider this book a romance book either. It was lightly flavored with some potentially amorous feelings. So, if you’re looking for romance, this isn’t the book for you. It’s definitely a slooooooow burn-I’m guessing we’ll see more development in that arena in the following two books of the trilogy.
This book was heavy on the world building aspects and lighter on the character development than I would have liked. I don’t normally mind lots of world building, but it felt like plot advancement took a backseat to it for most of the book.
There were multiple POVs in Dragonfall and they did not stay in the same point of view style throughout. The two main characters, Arcady and Everen, were written in the first person and the additional POVs were written in the third person. I would have preferred the entire book to be written in third person because when we would switch between Arcady and Everen it was difficult to tell on occasion whose mind we were in with all the “I” statements and referring to the other character as “you”. I often had to back up or reread sections of text to remind myself if Arcady or Everen was the character we were with in any given chapter.
All that aside, once the plot picked up (around the 80% mark) it was a fast-paced, exciting adventure-with just that tiniest hint of romance-that culminated in a cliffhanger ending that I absolutely did not see coming! I think I will enjoy the next two books much more (and sooner in the book) because the baseline has been established and the book can focus on the plot and the characters rather than world building.
I would give this book a 3.5 rating if possible.

Dragonfall provides a bold and complex fantasy novel of longing, loneliness, prophecy and heist. With multiple narrators and POVs (first and third), this book will have you raising an eyebrow and flipping those pages.

I'm always a fan of a good thief character and Arcady is no exception. Arcady has a big plan, both short term and long term, but needs extra hands, which is of course when problems arise. Everen, the only male dragon, is tied to prophecy but attempts to forge his own path. Sorin, an assassin for the Order of the Dragon church, is conflicted in her tasks and I look forward to seeing where her beliefs take her.

The worldbuilding is intense from page one but it paid off by the end with compelling characters. A glossary would've been helpful to keep the geography and position titles clear. The majority of the novel takes place in Vatra, where gender is more fluid and pronouns are signed upon introduction. I really appreciated the queer and deaf representation in this book.

Though I was legitimately not understanding some of the world and bigger picture until the end, I greatly enjoyed Dragonfall. I'm intrigued and rooting for Arcady and Everen. The last chapter with a secondary character went where I expected and I am absolutely for the chaos that will come!

If this sounds like your vibe, make sure you give yourself time to understand what is being offered in Dragonfall. The pacing is smooth, even with longer chapters, and I promise the payoff is worth it for those who love an enticing, unique and queer magical dragon tale.

CW: death, murder, violence, blood, chronic illness, classism, religious bigotry

It was okay. I wasn't in love with it and I didn't love it either. I enjoyed the different take on dragons in a fantasy book, but it didn't make up for the things I did not love- the slow pace. The ending was a bit shocking though and I enjoyed that, a lot.

This book was a little young for me, i like the premise but I could not get into it. I DNF’d the book unfortunately

Dragonfall is an immersive journey through the streets of the coastal city, with cunning thieves and fascinating dragons, and the menace of a looming threat emerging from a reddening sky.

While I wasn’t totally in love with this book, it’s undeniable that L.R. Lam’s writing paints an incredibly well-thought story, with a perfectly crafted and layered world-building and a balanced magical system- there is something particularly endearing in the concept of humans turning their biggest betrayal into a foundational myth and their old allies in gods.
It’s also really warmed my heart that the “country” in which the story takes places is so respectful of queer folks- the system of always exchanging pronouns is just so amazing (“only you know the truth of yourself” YES YES YES).

The book balances the planning and execution of a complex theft, and the unfurling of a plot that would allow dragons to re-conquest the place they had been cast out of centuries ago. This is done by using two main different points of view that are harmonized together but are also unique in their core characteristics: if Everen’s pov is a reencounter of past events, with an introspective eye that only comes from looking at previous events knowing already how they are going to end, Arcady’s pov is fully immersed in the present, showing their uncertainties and their fragilities, and it’s only at the end that it becomes clear the reason for the different ways in how they tell the same story.
There is also a third pov that delivers another different look at the plot and the intertwining of events, but I just believe the narrator should take a break and get adopted by a father figure who is not interested in emotionally manipulating her.

I absolutely loved both Arcady and Everen with my whole heart. I particularly liked that the way Everen is written makes it clear that while he can shape-shift into a human, he is not one, and has not only different behavior but also different habits and an opposite lens of looking at the world. And all of this is highlighted by contrasting it to Arcady, who is so fully human, so headstrong and passionate, so focused on reaching their goal that nothing else matters (unless there is a sexy and mysterious guy who they are apparently bonded to).
They are such a perfectly executed forbidden romance, and I’m all for it.

Sometimes the book felt a little bit slow and it didn’t always hold my attention, but it’s definitely a book worthy of reading, and I’m so intrigued by the possibilities of development of the story in the future books. 

I recommend Dragonfall to those looking for an epic fantasy story, with an amazing romance and a captivating world-building.

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was incredibly excited to receive this ARC since Dragonfall sounded like a story that I would completely enjoy. Unfortunately, I DNF’d at 31%.

Over the last few weeks of trying to read this book, I could not immerse myself or push through the story. I felt as though the world itself was confusing and I didn’t feel as though I even really understood how things worked in the world at 31%.

The characters also felt 2-dimensional for me, and I couldn’t get behind either of them as a reader. I was more interested in Everett’s story but it felt like a cyclical plot line up until the point where I’d finished. I also expected this to be written in third person, and didn’t expect first person POVs to be included.

I think this novel could be great for readers who enjoy first person POV and a detailed writing style.

An absolute gem in the fantasy romance genre. This was exactly what I was in the mood to read and it did not let me down. The characters had me laughing and crying. I was falling in love as I read about them falling in love. The action was well balanced with the romance. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Dragonfall is now officially one of my favorite reads of the year. I am OBSESSED!! Dragons, heists, epic storytelling, high stakes, magic and queer romance?! I loved Dragonfall from page one!!

I promise you will adore Arcady & Everen! Learning about their ambitions, what they yearn for and their reluctant growing affection between them was one of my favorite aspects of this story. Not to mention a certain prophecy that linked them together in a way that it was impossible for them to escape. Arcady is a thief and Everen is the last male dragon of a vanquished land, so what can they possibly have in common? Aah, I just loved these two, they’re such a chaotic couple!

Now the storyline was absolutely amazing! As I mentioned in the beginning, magic, heists and mayhem are included in this book and I was all here for it! We also get to experience life in Vatra (where Arcady lives), meet some of Aracady’s acquaintances, learn the basics of his trade and even plan a heist! The only downside of this book is that now I have to wait for the sequel!

This is my first book by LR Lam, but Dragonfall has convinced me to read all of her books!! For all epic fantasy lovers out there, you must check this one out!

*You must read Dragonfall if you love reading about:
Epic Fantasy
Slow burn queer romance
Heists
DRAGONS!
Fantastic storytelling
Epic worldbuilding
Thieves
Prophecies
Magic

I am only giving this book four stars because I personally struggled to read it. It isn’t hold my attention long and I kept not wanting to come back to it. However, the story itself and the characters were all solid. So you can make your own assumptions on if it’s truly a four star read or not. If it had kept my attention it would have been five stars. But it didn’t.

In a world filled with magic dragons are considered gods and any relics (bones) are highly prized by the church. Arcady is non-binary (and I absolutely LOVED that they were no binary) and in an effort to clear her grandfather’s name they set themselves up on a path to do just that. There’s only one hangup. Everyone has a seal, that dictates their name for all to see, and arcady’s name is tainted by their granfather. So they perform a spell for a new one. Only it doesn’t exactly go as planned.

Everen is the only male dragon in the world where the dragons were banished many years ago. In an effort to fight against his fate he thrusts himself into a void in the world and ends up bound to Arcady. Neither of them wants the bond but both need it in ways they can’t even imagine. Arcady needs to clear their family’s legacy and everen needs Arcady to die to bring the dragons back to their world.

This story is filled with puzzles and intrigue between two beings who have every reason to distrust the other. And yet they find common ground. Mixed in is a good old fashioned heist and the chief cleric and his ward who are out to prevent the dragons from ever coming home.

The magic system here is solid and so is the story. I loved seeing Everen and Arcady interact and the aspect of a sickness that plagued the world have echoes of our own world and how it effected each and every one of us. If you love dragons and magic and two people destined for each other but fighting it all the way, you’ll love this.

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam is the first book in the new unapologetically queer, epic fantasy trilogy The Dragon Scales. Divided into 4 parts, Dragonfall explores the worlds, cultures and customs of Lumet and Vere Celene by following the stories through the point of view of 4 interconnected characters: Arcady Dalca (Eremia), Everen Emberclaw, Sorin and Cassia Emberclaw. Although the majority of the book focuses on Arcady (a human thief from the city of Vatra) and Everen (the last male dragon) and the exploration of their characters and the (magical) bond that forms between them, Lam’s masterful writing manages to weave these intimate, chamber-like scenes to a grander tale.

The book’s playful experiments with narrative perspective and technique, while jarring at first, serve to draw the readers’ attention to the queernorm world of Dragonfall. This intentional choice makes the readers deeply aware of gender and issues surrounding this topic, the assumptions, prejudices and preconceptions people have on the subject. It forces the readers to focus on this issue, to think and question themselves and the world, their attitudes, thoughts and feeling about this topic.

“Gender is both so important and yet inconsequential, in the grand scheme of things. The more you think about it, the stranger it all seems. Trying to unpick what feels innate to you and what is put upon you by others.”

Dragonfall is not only an extraordinary successful writing experiment with narrative positions and focuses on queernorm, but it’s also a book with bewitching, well-developed world and characters and a plot that will keep the readers glued to the book even if they find the aforementioned experimentations with narrative positions difficult to navigate or get used to.

“Knowledge was escape. Books were thresholds, and you could cross them and leave yourself behind, or use what you found inside to transform into someone else.”

L.R. Lam gave birth to a marvellous fantasy book that contains a fascinating world filled with interesting characters that I am eager to know more about. It is quite difficult for me to describe my experience of reading Dragonfall. Due to its experimental nature, Dragonfall might not be the easiest read, but the reward of reading a great book is certainly worth putting the effort into it.

Dragons and a heist? What more could you ask for. This book was a lot of fun. The world building was great. The magic system is unique and has interesting elements of danger. The romance is fine. I am sure we will get more in later books. Overall I liked this book and think it’s worth any fantasy readers time.

I read the first 22% as an eARC and it’s everything I wanted it to be. I have a finished copy now so I will be rereading the first part I’ve read and then finishing it, but LR Lam has knocked it out of the park. They are an amazing writer and Dragonfall solidifies that they are my favourite author.

Thank you to DAW books and NetGalley for the eArc of this title!

This book is SO special and unique. We’ve got a queer normative society, a world of magic wielding humans who worship dragons, said dragons that are trapped in another world with a vendetta against humans, a genderqueer MC, a dragon shifter, a magical bond, and all manner of thievery and antics. Not to mention SUCH a diverse, complex and FULL fantasy world.

I overall really enjoyed this book. I found myself having a difficult time getting into it in the beginning, but the more time we spent with Arcady in particular really endeared me to the story, and everything picked up once Arcady & Evereb officially met. I loved how well crafted and complex this world was, but I did find it getting info dumpy at times, and It was easy to zone out for a paragraph or two and realize later that you’ve got to go back and try again. This also made the pacing a bit awkward, as we would have a great relationship moment or action scene which would often quickly turn into another info dumping session right afterward and it would suck me right back out of it.

Ultimately, this was a book I had to read and enjoy in small doses rather than long stretches, but it really does have a lot of great things to offer. I’m looking forward to the sequel, and can see the awkward/clunkiness clearing up as the story goes on. It already did adjust itself quite well even just by the end of book 1.

I’d definitely recommend this to fantasy fans, especially ones who want to read ALL the dragon books AND to those who want to fully emmerse themselves in a queer normative, high fantasy world unlike many I have read before.

Dragonfall is a gripping, tension-filled ride full of the many, many secrets the characters keep from one another. Everen, the last male dragon, falls into the human world and is apparently destined to re-open the rift connecting that world and the world where dragons live -- at, of course, a cost. I held my breath as Everen was confronted with the complicated, messy reality of humanity and still found something to care about. His relationship with Arcady is complex and compelling: equally full of vulnerability and fear of that vulnerability. While the story took a little while to get rolling, it was difficult to put down once it did. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me.

The writing throughout the book was decent. Detailed, not overly flowery but descriptive, with some cool choices of words. I particularly liked the first few chapters in Everen's (the dragon's) POV, where he uses very distinctively "dragon" concepts to describe things. But that detailed writing didn't hold up its charm for long. As the book went on, the descriptions became more and more generic and unmemorable, hard to tell apart from any other typical medieval-esque fantasy setting. The lengthy details didn't add much to the worldbuilding, and it only made the plot drag.

The characters also felt a bit dull. I'm not sure if this is a result of their personalities or a matter of writing, but every POV character sounded passive and glum, and their voices became less and less distinguishable towards the end. As a result, I just really couldn't feel connected to any of them.

To end with a high note, however, I did like the very few intimate scenes. They were short and far in between, but done gracefully, and that rescued the book to a great extent for me.

Yep. Dragons, again.

𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦.

It is rare to read a book that also has the POV of the dragon so this has been an enjoyable experience. After Eragon, and the usual appearance of some dragons on other books, I haven't read anything thus far that is dragon-centric so this is probably why this book appealed to me.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Dragonfall is the vivid and imaginative world-building. Lam creates a rich and complex society, full of diverse characters and intricate power dynamics. The dragons are portrayed as sentient beings with their own culture and traditions, which makes their plight all the more compelling. The magic system is also well-developed and adds an extra layer of depth to the story.

Reading through the story might be a little confusing at first because of the historical background but as you go deeper into the story, the immersion to all that is wonderful was a treat to experience

This is a queer epic fantasy, which I instantly loved that. The characters are written beautifully and the world building is amazing. I love that it has an action aspect to it and it seems to be enemies to lovers, which is one of my favorite things. The slow pace can get a bit tiring, but overall the book is great.

Headlines:
Power and magic struggles
Bonds that pull
Sulphur and sneak

I found myself totally pulled into Dragonfall within a couple of pages because of a striking outset to the plot and dragons are always going to intrigue me. The narrative was a little unusual to start with but I quickly settled into most of the POVs and the way that the two MCs Everen and Arcady narrated. I particularly liked the styling of Everen's POV, the way he voiced as if recounting back to Arcady. Sorin's POV was a little less easy but it carried a small yet important thread.

The idea of dragons banished to a volcanic and inhospitable land, fighting to return to the world inhabited by humans was fascinating. It was intereresting to see the power imbalances in a way I didn't expect. There's minimal insight into the background Dragon characters like Cassia, Everen's mother and Milagrist; I am hoping for more about them in the next book.

Arcady and Everen, connected by a distant bond, couldn't have been more opposite. Both were hiding much from the other but a kind of trust slowly built. One was a thief, the other a killer steeped in magic; I was hooked to the page through the plot but moreso through their growing connection. These two were a couple to cheer for.

Readers are left in longing with how this completes. My final thoughts are that Everen has my heart and that I'm desperate to read more.

Thank you to Hodderscape for the review copy.