I got about 25% but couldn’t get into it. I think it might just not be for me but I bet a bunch of others will enjoy

The main character Marise is a girl who is interested in Witchy practices. She is so intrigued by Wicca that she steals a crystal ball & accidentally propels herself into another world……full of dragons! Once she is there she learns that some of the dragons are dying from a mysterious illness and she wants to help but not all of the dragons are happy to see her! Does she save the dragons? Does she find a way back home? Or is she stuck with dying and deadly dragons forever?

The story begins quite fast-paced with a lot of action happening straight away, I enjoyed this rather than a slow build up and it had me asking questions from the start. I do think there could have been a bit more background to give more context but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Marise is brave in her endeavours but I didn’t overly warm to her in the beginning. I found I was more concerned for the dragons but as the story went on I found I opened up to her a little more.

I loved the writing about the dragons and how they communicate, it’s so different to anything I’ve ever read about dragons which was a nice change. The mysterious illness had me worried for the dragons and I found myself vying for them to live!!!!

I would love to see a second story in this series, maybe even a prequel. I would like to know more about how the dragons live with each other, their relationships and the hierarchy etc. It would be great to get a bit more background on them.

Overall, I found this book easy to read and it kept me engaged throughout. The pace did lull in places but I was still drawn in by what might happen in the end. If you love dragons (I’m sure everyone does) and magical adventures (who doesn’t?) then this is definitely a book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton & Rosemary Drisdelle for an Advanced Review Copy in return for an honest review!

I'm going to have to DNF this one. Definitely geared more towards middle grade so I am not the target audience you are looking for.

This is absolutely more middle grade than YA. The pacing felt really off. It jumped around a lot, some parts were really drug out, and it was just kind of weird to read. The plot was a little thin, we weren't given a lot of backstory about the new world, and it was just a bit more silly.
Middle grade audience would definitely like and appreciate it.

DNF I am definitely not the target audience for this book. The Prologue was way too graphic and violent. The descriptions of the baby dragon watching and hearing his dad get murdered then eaten turned my stomach. Animal violence is too much.

Then in the first chapter with the missing old man the lack of empathy was appalling. Even as the characters talking tried to explain that wasn't what was happening and that they really did care, I didn't believe them. If your going to be a terrible person at least own up to it.

Also, I don't need to be reminded that your Wiccan and your doing this to better your wicca practices. I get it. It reads like that emo kid in middle school who is constantly telling you they are emo and edgy. Like I get it, your not cool, now be quite.

Thank you to SparkPress and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

I think the target audience for this book is much more middle-grade than YA. It was very different from what I expected, but not necessarily in a bad way! I think 5th/6th grade me would've had fun with this story- it has dragons and dragon riders, what's not to love? Plus the cover is gorgeous.

For me, the pacing of the book felt off. I felt like it kind of jumped around a lot and some scenes felt quite choppy and underdeveloped. I also think the plot was quite shallow and surface-level- I think it would have been interesting to explore more of the dynamics between humans and dragons and see how else the humans have affected this world. There was also a lot of exposition and less action than I would've preferred. A lot of Marise, the main character, uncovering the truth about why the dragons were becoming sick was her reading someone else's research or someone explaining something to her.

I did love Marise as a main character though! She was very believable and likeable and I think her character development and growth was very well executed. I adored her dynamic with Javeer.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book was an interesting and unique middle grade story, but i felt like the writing style was a bit difficult to get used to at first. it's obviously intended for a rather younger audience, which i'm sure will grow to appreciate this cute book, especially so if they're interested in science!

First, I would like to mention that I believe this book is categorized in the wrong section and is a middle-grade fantasy. I believe I was told YA fantasy but the writing gave off a very middle-grade type of story. I don’t mind middle grade but if you aren’t told from the beginning then the outcome of the book doesn’t come out well as you went in with other thoughts.

This book was a cute read and I can see middle graders being appealed to the book. It’s easy to read with not a complex world-building. The main character, Marise, is very likable as she’s a young girl trying to survive in the world of magic. I love dragons and Javier was such an amazing dragon. The storyline was well taught out for an MG book and for a YA/Adult reader, I liked how it wasn’t so complicated to read and figure out the story. Everything was just there was no “lines in between”. Overall not a bad book but I went in thinking it’s YA.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

For me, as much as I did enjoy this book and think it has the potential to be very popular with readers, I would be more likely to pitch this as upper middle grade rather than YA as it reads as if for a much younger audience

I'll have to admit I was a little wary at first, going into this book. I've had a bad experience with dragons and female humans so I wasn't really sure what to expect. One thing I was curious about was how Rosemary would tackle how the dragons spoke and I loved the idea of the spheres being their way of communicating. The worldbuilding was lovely, I was able to picture the scenes in my mind as I read.

Marise and Javeer had a great relationship. They both loved one each other (thankfully not romantically) and I loved how in tune they were with each other and how they would do anything for each other. I'm really looking forward to seeing where Marise's next journey will take her and how Javeer will play into it.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book after reading other reviews but I actually really liked it! I'll preface this review by saying I do think it's aimed at a younger YA audience but it was very sweet and action packed.

I loved the main characters Marise and Javeer. Marise starts off as quite a selfish character but her development into a compassionate, caring girl was lovely. Javeer the dragon is just downright adorable and sweet. The other characters were well rounded and interesting.

The storyline did start out a bit clunky and disjointed but it soon smoothed out and it felt like a lot happens in the story. The world building was really well done and I enjoyed that we got to explore a lot of the dragons' realm. I did feel that the wicca side of Marise's story could have been explored a lot more; it was the catalyst for the whole story but then didn't seem to feature much afterwards. The magic system was really engaging and unique, nothing like anything I've read before.

This is set up as the start of a series and I'm excited to see where the next book takes Marise.

I DNFed this book and so I don't feel comfortable rating it publicly or posting a full review online since I don't think that would be fair. After about 100 pages I really didn't feel like I was able to find a middle ground between the writing style of the scenery and inter-thoughts of the main character vs her actual dialogue. I understand this is a middle grade focused book so I expect a middle grade thought process however everything aside from her actual speech reads like a much more mature book. I don't know many 11 to 12 year olds that this book would keep their attention because the language used to describe is very fantastical but not in words I think they'd understand.

I also had a hard time with us jumping from point to point, from the crystal ball to Moerden was great we immediately feel topsy turvey where are we and confused. But then from the dragon fight to the next scene she's unconscious. Then from the river to the cave she's unconscious. And then she sleeps and its the next scene etc.

Overall I don't think I'd recommend this book to anyone because of the DNF but also the writing style. I think it's pendulum swinging from two opposite ends of a spectrum and I'm not sure what kind of reader would enjoy it.

From the very beginning I could tell that this book is intended for younger audiences, so I can't really compare it to other YA Fantasy books, even though it's marketed that way. The writing was fine but I didn't like the addition of text messages in the story. The main character was annoying, but there was some character growth along the way. Overall, an enjoyable middle grade book, but I don't think it would do well as a YA Fantasy.

Follow the Shadows just wasn't it for me... I found it to be a little overwhelming. The fantasy mixed with science was a unique take just not executed well. The story felt predictable and the characters felt somewhat one dimensional. A younger audience (maybe middle grade?) would enjoy this but I don't see this falling into YA.

This book had interesting concepts, but the delivery was disjointed. The world building was unique and I appreciated a fresh take on dragons. There was a decent amount of character growth as well which I think is important in YA novels, however I had an incredibly hard time liking Marise, the main character.

Unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations. I am a fan of fantasy and dragons, but this story wasn’t exciting for me to read, and I found that the story didn’t flow very well. I did not like the addition of text messages in the story and felt this also disrupted the flow of the story. This book is currently listed as a YA book, but I feel that this book is too juvenile to be YA. I think that this book would be better suited for Middle grade with some editing. The cover and book description sounded very promising, but sadly this book didn’t meet my expectations.

Thank you to SparkPress and NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

This was an enjoyable read full of dragons, mystery and Wicca but is suited for a middle grade of early YA audience.
I did pick this book up because of the dragons and the pretty cover and I've got to say it was pretty good! I thought it was very original and loved the unique take on dragons.

These dragons have spheres at the end of their tails and these spheres can emit light, enable humans to communicate with dragons and let them sphere-travel.
Our MC Marise found one of these spheres (not attached to a dragon obviously) and unknowingly traveled to the mysterious land filled with dragons, some that want to kill her and others that help.

At first Marise was a bit annoying but soon was developed into such an amazing MC, also she bonded with a dragon Javeer. And this dragon was so FUN and cute! AS Marise spends more time in the world searching for ways to get home she discovers that the dragons are suffering from a sickness, the Stagger.

Then Marise can finally go home, except she doesn't want to. Because she wants to help the dragons discover the origin of the Stagger. So begins her big quest of discovery! The mystery of this was woven so well into the story and I loved the slow reveal of it!

Of course this book had such an amazing concept, characters and world! The only thing that let it down for me was some of the writing. I don't know if it was just the formatting of the book on my kindle but some of it was very jumpy from one scene to the next and it disoriented me a little. The dialogue was also kind of weird. It did suit the dragons well but sometimes again was a little choppy.

However, I still really enjoyed this read and just know that as the author develops as a writer her books will be absolutely amazing!


Thanks to Netgalley and Sparkpress for a copy of this book to review, this did not impact my review and all thoughts are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC. Unfortunately I am dnf’ing at about 100 pages in. This is a fun cute story, but the plot is a little young for me, so I wasn’t invested enough to keep reading.

This is well written but this book fell short with plot and character motivations in said plot. I thought this was going to be a certain type of fantasy middle grade novel and it sadly did not meet or surpass expectations.

Sadly I was quite disappointed with this book dispute being very excited about the concept. For me the writing just really fell short. It felt almost childish despite being only YA. On top the this the text messages through out really annoyed me. I almost wonder if it could be adjusted for middle grades. On top of that I also found the writing to be very confusing and difficult to follow especially during action sequences. I often felt like I had no real idea of where the characters where or what they where doing which made it very difficult to get into the plot of the book.