I have started and stopped this multiple times in the last few weeks, and something about the writing style makes me feel like I’m hitting my head against a brick wall. Idk if the author is trying to be intentionally dense in the first few chapters, but something about the word choice and formatting made it difficult to understand what was happening. It felt like it was trying to be casual/familiar and fantastical and vaguely Greco-Roman and all of that together just muddled the tone for me. Idk if this book is good or not, maybe I’ll come back to it in the future, or try listening to on audiobook, but it is not something I can read right now.

First of all, the cover is stunning. The red dragon is a beautiful contrast to the dark background of the cover, and the gold enhances everything.

Second of all, wow. Let's start with the things I really liked.

The tropes
This book had a lot of interesting tropes that drew me in. There is:
* ⚔️ The classic enemies to lovers (you can rarely go wrong with this trope)
*🐉 Dragons (I LOVE dragons in fantasy books, so this was a huge plus.)
*💎 A heist (I love me some action in books.)
*🔥 Slow burn romance (I hate insta romance, so this was also a plus).

The world building
I really liked how unique the idea behind the world was and how different the magic system was from other fantasy books.

The ending
While the ending shook me, I liked how eager I were to continue the series and get answers. I love when books have plot twist/open endings that gets the reader excited for the next book.

The only critique I have is that there was a lot of info dumping. I would have preferred if the info on the world was introduced more smoothly throughout the book, instead of introducing it all in the first few chapters. The info dumping (a long with some heavy descriptions sometimes) made some of the chapters feel very heavy as the pacing became slow.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, DAW, for this e-ARC. This review contains my honest opinion about the book.

It took me 9 days to read a 400 page book, and I think more than anything, that is indicative of what my experience was with dragonfall.

I found the first 30 pages to be a flood of information, and my biggest issue with that is knowing what information is necessary to enjoy the book, and what is just world building. This book didn’t differentiate between the two, so already at the start, I felt bogged down by making sure I remembered history that wasn’t actually necessary by the end.

Having finished the book a few days ago, I almost barely remember what my opinions refer to. I’m not writing this series off completely (nor this author!) but I think the next time I try it, I will speed read all three books.

Plot: 9/10
This plot could be a little slow in places, but it was really interesting. Despite a lot of this book being dictated by an old prophecy, the one concerning Everen saving the dragons, a lot of it felt character-driven. I appreciated that a lot of the decisions felt pretty reasonable. Before they meet Everen, Arcady is already looking for a partner, someone to trust during their planned heist. The book takes place over two months, so none of the decisions or developing relationships feel particularly rushed. Everen is trained by Arcady for quite a while, and there was a natural progression from event to event.

The worldbuilding of this book was so much fun. Everen being about as foreign as one could get means a lot is explained to him about Loc and the surrounding world. There's a good amount of information about daily life in Loc and the political situation, and I really like the way Lam made gender work there, even if some of the explanations were a little clunky. I loved the way magic worked, draining energy and causing literal hunger. Repercussions for careless use of magic is immediate and visceral, turning people into Starvelings that attack mindlessly. Arcady's family's involvement in the history of Loc is also quite interesting; I have a feeling there will be some good reveals in that area.

Speaking of reveals, there are some in the last few chapters that really work. One of them in particular strikes a great balance between a little bit of foreshadowing that still took me by surprise. I think the ending of the book as a whole is very good. It wraps up nicely with the contained plot (the heist and the thing they're stealing), but there's still so much going on that it definitely makes you want to continue. As someone who struggles with read-one-book-of-a-series-and-never-pick-it-up-again syndrome, it was great.

Characters: 10/10
The characters are so strong in this book. Arcady and Everen are likable protagonists, and their motivations are clear and easy to understand and root for. Despite the fact that they're on different sides of an ancient conflict (though Arcady doesn't really know that), they have surprisingly similar goals. They both want to get revenge for the people they care for—Arcady's family and the dragons—and that drives most of the plot.

Their bond situation is one of the best written ones I've read in a while. The bond forces them to spend time together since any injury to one of them affects the other, but it doesn't cause them to like each other or anything like that. Instead, Arcady and Everen spend a ton of time together over the course of multiple months, and their relationship builds slowly and realistically. One crucial part of the bond is that any skin-to-skin contact drains Everen's magic to Arcady, so they avoid touching as much as they can, which leads to them literally dancing around each other at some points. The tension between them is just so well done, and I was thoroughly invested.

As for the side characters, there are two major ones who regularly get their own POVs. Sorin, an assassin trained by a mysterious priest with a very complicated relationship to him, and Cassia, Everen's sister stuck back in the world of the dragons, Vere Celene. I found Sorin in particular very interesting since her verging-on-worship devotion makes me hesitant about the man she serves, Magnes, but I really can't get a read on him. Cassia was a great look into how things were going back in Vere Celene, but I do think her own personality isn't quite a fleshed out.

Of the other side characters, I want to mention the Marricks, an organization of thieves that Arcady has a contentious past with. Arcady's relationship to their leader, Larkin, was complicated to say the least, and I can't help but hope that they get an opportunity for reconciliation at some point.

Writing Style: 9/10
I absolutely love how Lam worked with perspective in this book. First, the two main characters, Arcady and Everen, have their chapters in first person while any extra POVs, such as Sorin and Cassia, are in third person, which is a strategy I've seen used before. However, one unique trait was that in Everen's chapters, Arcady is referred to as 'you' instead of by their name or any third-person pronouns. First, it's a clever way to work with Arcady since they use any pronouns; even though most characters default to they/them for them (hence my use of it in this review), a true representation of their identity would be switching, which can get confusing for a reader. Second, it makes Everen's perspective much more intimate, hints towards the end of the book, and helps the reader connect to Arcady that much more.

As for the writing itself, it didn't blow me away or anything, but it was still great. Like I said before, the tension between Arcady and Everen is immaculate, and I also really like the descriptions of magic, especially the hunger that accompanies it.

Overall: 9/10
I'm really glad I got an ARC of this book because I really enjoyed it! I particularly liked Arcady, Everen, and their relationship, but the plot is solid and interesting, and the writing does something new. The only downside to this is that it's going to be at least a year before the next book comes out. While there's some intense cliffhangers at the end of this book, I don't really know how the next one is going to go, and I am very curious. In the meantime, I do recommend this book, especially for anyone looking for a slow burn fantasy romance with a bit more substance to it. And dragons, which is a good enough reason alone to read any book.

This was a great read for any fantasy fan. I loved Lam's writing and the entire thing was an adventure from start to finish!

Dragonfall was an enjoyable and unique story that fantasy readers and dragon lovers will find compelling and enjoyable. The different point of views do a great job of getting into the minds of both human and dragon alike, and really help to enhance the world that was created. There are so few books that I've read that use dragons this way, and it is incredibly exciting to see into their mind and other forms. I completely recommend this book for fantasy readers!

Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the aARC.

I know I love Lam's writing, and going into Dragonfall I knew I would be in love from page one.

Their ability to write such a rich world that slowly brings itself together is something that may not be for everyone, but this is the type of fantasy I fall into so easily. This world stands out - it is this beautiful canvas that lets characters develop in ways that aren't narrowed by some artifical scope (in this case, gender being a big one).

I loved watching Arcady and Everen together. I loved the way dragons have intense and large personalities. I loved that the supporting cast felt like they belonged.

And that twist? I did not see it coming and it made me genuinely gasp.

Lam has put so much care into their world and this story and I cant wait for what comes next.

This had potential for a four-star book, but I had such high hopes for it that when it failed to engage me and I ended up DNFing it, I gave it an emotional downgrade. The rating is based on the first 20% of the book.

I liked the premise and the magical system, but even the best world won’t engage me when I don’t like the characters enough to follow them. I can’t even pinpoint what it was about Arcady that made me dislike her from the start. Something about her motivations. Wanting to find the truth about her grandfather should’ve been a perfect goal, yet I couldn’t get behind it.

I might have persevered, however, if it hadn’t been for the language. It was forced to work overtime for the worldbuilding with its made-up words, capitalization of pronouns, and the changes between first-, second- and third-person narrative, which made for a tiresome reading experience. I especially disliked how Everen narrated the story to Arcady beyond the events taking place. It yanked me off the story every time and became so aggravating that I had to stop reading.

I truly do love books about dragons. However the only parts I truly enjoyed in this book were just that, the parts where one character was actually a dragon. I did like a couple other parts with the family drama and the world building was quite lavish and I could really see it. This just wasn't going to be one of my favorites. Someone who is more into fantasy than me would adore this one. I liked it but it was just meh for me. However I am deeply appreciative of the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this one early.

Source: DRC via NetGalley (DAW Books) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: May 2, 2023
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

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You can find me at all around the internet via my LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/angryangelbooks

Why did I choose to read this book?

I’ve never read anything by this author, so when it popped onto the first page of Most Requested on NetGalley, I decided to give it a go to expand my repertoire.

What is this book about?

The dragons were cast out of the world into a pocket universe, and a prophecy is close to becoming fulfilled that says they will return and reclaim the land as their own. The dragon the prophecy revolves around (Everen) discovers the prophecy, read it, and then tries to run and fulfill it himself, but he falls through a rip in the veil and becomes bonded to Arcady, a shapeshifter whose grandfather was accused of something terrible and he seeks to clear his name. The book follows their bonding, Everen’s attempts to fulfill the prophecy, and Arcady’s big caper which should net them enough money to go to the university and learn all they need to know to clear their family name.

This book is about the bonds we form when we don’t have a choice, and how we discover if those bonds are true or simply forced.

What is notable about this story?

The gender bending and pronoun emphasis throughout the story was handled much differently than I’ve seen it in any other book. About halfway through I realized that I didn’t really know who was any gender and at that point it didn’t really matter, it was just about the characters. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love a story that does not attach trauma to things like gender identity and instead incorporates it as a normal part of society, and L. R. Lam does this so well.

Was anything not so great?

I have said this about Sarah J. Maas’ work (i.e. the idea of someone only having one Mate/forced to bond or be together) and I’ll say it here: the idea that Everen and Arcady are chained together throughout the book made me very uncomfortable. That Arcady steals Everen’s magic and causes him pain, that they are attracted to each other but not sure if it’s the bond or if they are actually hot for each other, that Everen is a dragon and the cross-species physicality of it is weird…just all very uncomfortable. I think the heart of all of this is the idea of consent. Neither Arcady nor Everen chose to forge this bond, and their actions toward each other are harmful by default, so it was just kind of cringy. Not so much that I didn’t want to read it, but enough to comment on it.

What’s the verdict?

3 stars on Goodreads. I liked it, but I didn’t need it. I will say though that I would highly recommend this book if you have a person in your life who identifies as trans. It’s an excellent example of gender fluidity and Lam writes so well that, like I mentioned previously, you’ll experience it as though it was a completely normal part of society. Representation is important, and while this book did not grab me, I could see it being very important to many people. Definitely check it out for yourself and see what you think.

Disclaimer: This review is based on my honest experience reading an eARC thanks to NetGalley, DAW, and L. R. Lam! My review was not affected by this in any way.

In Dragonfall by L. R. Lam, we meet Arcady, a human resident of Lumet, and Everen, the last male dragon. The humans of Lumet betrayed dragons centuries ago, through stealing their magic and casting them out of their world, and now have forgotten their crime and worship dragons as gods. When Arcady steals an artifact from the tomb of the Plaguebringer, a spell is called forth that brings Everen through the Veil and into Lumet’s world. Everen’s kind hate humans, and have not forgiven their betrayal. When he falls through the Veil he loses some of his power, and soon learns that to get it back and to save his people as he was foretold, he needs to get Arcady to trust him so their bond will complete, and then he needs to kill them. However, what he didn’t expect is that as time goes on, Arcady and Everen keep growing closer.

This book was deliciously wonderful! The world Arcady lives in is queernorm, and Arcady themselves is queer, which gives us some WONDERFUL queer enemies to lovers. The dynamics and tension between Arcady and Everen are wonderful.

Also in this story, Arcady is a thief, so there are lots of themes of heists and other related things. I was not expecting that, so it was a nice surprise! Along with the thievery, this book had a lot of magic. I think the magic system that Lam came up with was very interesting, and I am hoping to learn more in the next books.

All in all, I highly recommend this book! It ended on a cliffhanger, but the story was wonderful, the plot was well-done, and the characters were so likeable! This book publishes today, so make sure to check it out!

This review is based on the ARC I received.

3.5⭐️

This book is an enjoyable queer fantasy, with dragons. That plot was good overall how ever the large info dump at the beginning made this book hard to get into. It took awhile for this book to gain interest for me (about 40% in) but it did get bigger and ended up being a good LGBTQ fantasy read.

Was a very interesting, captivating read. I went into it just with, you know, dragons. But it was so much more than that

The world building was awesome. The emotions of the characters was captivating. And the premise was great.

This book had a slower start for me, but epic fantasy often needs some time to fill us in on the details of the realm and how things work so that was definitely expected. What I really liked was the unique magic system and complex history that L.R. Lam wove into the story. Perfect for fans of Eragon and Lord of the Rings!


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Though the first half of the book was a little slow-paced for my taste, I feel the rest of the book made up for it with a great fantasy with fantastic characters!! I feel like a liked a lot of the book, but the fact that it did drag on in some points took away some of the enjoyment for me.

If this book sounds interesting to you, then I would definitely give it a try!!

DNF @ 32%. I really wanted to enjoy this one. When I saw Samantha Shannon reading/enjoying it I thought I would love it since I’m such a huge fan of Samantha’s writing. Unfortunately I just can’t get into it and have decided to put it down for now.

The idea of having a dragon as a main character is so unique. Unfortunately in the book this feature fell flat as Everen was portrayed to look like a “human” so I didn’t get the fun-factor I thought I would be getting when I read the description for this book.

The world building was really cool and I loved how the idea of gender was portrayed in this book.

I think this book has great potential and I’m hoping to give it another try in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

This is a very promising start to an epic fantasy trilogy!!! The characters were phenomenal, not only in their character development but also in their bonds with each other. It was written in a multi-POV style, which is my personal favorite! My only negative, if you can call it that, is that I would have liked a bit more world-building to really understand their world’s history. With all of that being said, I am EXTREMELY excited to see where the next book in the series takes us!!! I definitely would recommend this to high-fantasy lovers!

Dragonfall by L.R. Lam is a queer fantasy romance with dragons and that is all I needed to know to be interested in this book! It has a lot of great aspects like prophecys, heists, and dragons. It is also enemies to lovers which is perfect for this fantasy novel. I felt like this was a very unique story because of the society of this world and how well written it was. I did find it to be a bit slow in the beginning but that is expected because the world needs to be developed for the first book in the series. The finale was intense and I am excited to see where the story is going to go!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Centuries ago, mankind broke the bond between humans and dragons, stealing magic for themselves and banishing the dragons to another world. That world is now on the brink of destruction, and it has been foretold that the last male dragon, Everen, will be the one to save his kind.

Arcady lives on the streets, surviving by stealing. She has lofty goals, though, not least proving that her grandfather wasn’t the Big Evil history has painted him, and in doing so reclaim a place in a society that shuns her. The first step is yet more thievery, however, and casting a spell that will let her hide from her past.

Neither side was prepared for the spell to link them, dragging Everen – now stuck in human form – into Arcady’s world and setting up a magical link between them. With time ticking away, Everen must gain the trust of this human… but, to what end?

I’m really surprised to find I’ve read so little of Laura Lam’s work before, especially as I’ve been following her for so long on social media. This, then, was the first of her fantasy books that I’ve tried.

Full disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of romance books, and this book is all about the will-they-won’t-they (kill each other ;)) romance – making good use of the trope of enemies to… well, probably still enemies, but it’s complicated 😉 So, perhaps I’m not entirely the target audience – but, if that is your cup of tea, you will LOVE this! Even shying away from that side of it a bit, however, there is such a lot to enjoy in this book.

Both main characters have complicated backstories and motivations, and watching them cautiously dance around each other is a joy. Then there’s the worldbuilding and fascinating magical system – both wonderfully drawn, but with only just enough detail to explain while leaving me wanting a HUGE amount more. The tension levels across the board just keep ratcheting up: time is running out for the dragons, while Arcady stretches her trust levels and safety to assemble a crew for The Big Heist. Meanwhile we the reader also get point of view chapters from a ‘holy man’ and his protégé, hunting the ‘false god’ that has been sighted in the city – because of course, dragons don’t exist any more…!

And oh, there are more than enough twists and shocks along the way to keep things very interesting!

If I had any complaint at all, I’m a little uncertain about all the ‘dragon-in-human-form’, even though it’s very necessary to the plot. It worked, I just somehow couldn’t quite get my head into the idea as much as I wanted.

But overall, this is just a great read, full of action and drama and a whole new world – two of them! – that I’m really looking forward to exploring more of in the rest of the trilogy. Bring ’em to me NOW!!

LGBTQ, dragons, enemies to lovers. Those three things are enough to convince nearly anyone to pick the book up and I am here for it. The pacing could feel slow in the first half, but the world building and writing is pretty phenomenal. That being said, I don't know that the POVs felt super different or as if they were genuinely different people. That's okay, I still had a pretty good time. Very much so excited to read the next of the series.