I am not gonna lie. Seeing previous low ratings really had me nervous going into this book.
The description of “a mix of How to Train Your Own Dragon, Fast and the Furious, and Fourth Wing” really intrigued me but seeing reviews that it was literally a direct pull from Fast and the Furious, I wasn’t keeping my hopes high.

Now there were quite a few instances that really reminded me of the movie but she really made it her own story. I loved this book.

I’m fairly certain there is going to be a second book or there BETTER be and I can’t wait to see how this story progresses.

"Dragon Den" by Kriss Dean offers an intriguing concept with an urban setting and a dragon-riding school. The idea of dragons coexisting with humans is fascinating, but the execution leaves much to be desired. The world-building is sparse, leaving readers with many unanswered questions about the origins of dragons and the mechanics of the dragon colleges.

Character development is another weak point. Markus, the main character, comes across as both self-absorbed and underdeveloped, making it hard to connect with him or his relationships. The romance between Markus and Amira feels forced, lacking the depth needed to make it believable. Despite the promise of an exciting adventure, "Dragon Den" struggles to differentiate itself from its inspirations, resulting in a story that feels derivative and incomplete. While the dragons themselves are a highlight, the overall narrative needs more fleshing out to truly capture the reader's imagination.

I was sent a copy of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.....for a full review please see my Amazon and Goodreads accounts

I loved the overall concept and I think it's so smart to write a dragon book on the heels of the popularity of Fourth Wing, etc. I hate to say I didn't love this book. The characters were too one-dimensional and hard to keep track of. The magic rules and world building was confusing.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fast and furious, but with dragons? I don't know if that's crazy or crazy genius.

Dragon Den by Kriss Dean is a fantasy novel that is supposed to be to the likes of Fast and Furious, but instead of cars, there's dragons. Markus Fredriksen, the First of His Name, more titles to come, always dreamed of breaking a Black Clubtail and becoming a dragon rider. He fails to break any dragon at all, marking the end of his tenure at Dragild Military Academy. The commandant unexpectedly offers him a broken dragon, but with a caveat: Markus must infiltrate the clan running the Dragon Den, suspected of hijacking semi-trucks carrying precious obsidian. He jumps at the opportunity to salvage his dreams. He has no idea what he’s in for, but the clan leader’s daughter is about to become his biggest distraction.

...............I regret everything. Just give this book a hard pass.

Unfortunately this was a dnf for me I couldn't connect with the characters. It was unfortunate because I love dragon and dragon stories, however it wasn't emotionally connecting with me.

I'm DNF'ing this at 42% sadly. While the concept was good, there was so much at craft level that just didn't work I can't be rouse the energy to finish this. I'm giving what I read two stars cause I really liked Loki, and the dragon races were. Other then that, this really needed more editing.

First of all, the book really lacked a proper introduction to the characters - we're just dropped into the plot, and almost halfway through the book the only thing I knew about the main character Markus was which female characters he found hot (all of them), and that his name is Norwegian, and that's it! He just came across as a very shallow and thoughtless person, only focused on himself, and I didn't get the impression this was going to change.

The writing is very flat and lacks emotion. Markus barely reacts to failing breaking a dragon, and he barely reacts when a friend and classmate dies. On the sentence level the writing is good, but that is not enough to make a reader emotionally invested in the characters and the story.

The world building made very little sense. Why do so many characters have Norwegian names? Why is world war 4 and 5 just randomly mentioned and never expanded upon? Why is this world so similar to ours? How have the dragons made so few changes in how this version of the US works???

I think there is potential here, but the story needs more work and editing first. Sadly this did not hit the mark for me.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it captivated me from the very first chapter. My fondness for Fourth Wing made it effortless to become engrossed. Yet, this book distinguishes itself in a unique manner—I was unable to foresee the upcoming events. Although I would have appreciated deeper story and character development, I would still suggest it to others.

This book was described as being A fast-paced, action-packed romantic urban fantasy inspired by The Fast and the Furious, perfect for adult fans of How to Train Your Dragon
Unfortunately having seen both those I felt it fell pretty flat. I feel the story in itself has some good bones and structure but felt that it lacked a fair bit of depth to both the characters and the world building. I feel it would benefit from a little rework and some extra background thrown in, especially when it talks of wars and then leaves it at that. I need more explanation of the divides too. I needed to know more about the Dragon school as well.
I did enjoy learning about how the riders bond with the Dragons and how they have a mind link between them. I’d love to have learnt a little more of this and known if there were limits. I liked knowing there were different types of dragons and which ones were most sought after.
Overall this was a pretty quick read and a little predictable in places.

Thank you to the Publisher, Author and Netgalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I stopped reading at about 39% of the way through my digital copy.
I wanted to like this. I really did. It had so many of the elements I crave and that could have made it such a success. And yet…
The writing was really just not there. As another reviewer noted, there were so many nearly verbatim quotes from The Fast and the Furious throughout the novella, that it almost felt as though the only real difference became that they were racing dragons instead of cars. There was not much in the way of world building, so readers were just thrown into the world with little regard for how they would find their footing. With monumental action happening at every turn, there’s no conceptualization of who the characters are or how they move through their world. I had issues with the semantics, the narration, and the relationships that, as a reader, I was expected to root for. This one way just not what I wanted it to be. I had such high hopes for it, but feel that it would have benefitted greatly from a generous round of editing.

I was very unfortunately disappointed with this book. It felt like parts had literally been taken from other books like fourth wing and how to train your dragon. I also really didn't like the idea of "breaking" a dragon, just seemed a bit cruel. I struggled to get through the book as I thought it sounded great but it unfortunately didn't deliver for me.

This book made all my dragon fantasies come true. Just saying. If you're the least bit interested in fantasy stories centering around dragons, this story is a must!

I really enjoyed this book but the title just wasn’t for me personally, it was fast paced and there was spice!

I loved the system, the dragons and the bond between the rider and them.

I had a hard time with the fact that it was almost a copy of the first Fast and Furious but in another environment without cars but dragons.

Loved the twist at the end.

I'm curious to see where it will go, so I'll probably read book two.

I liked the plot and storyline, but it seemed that the book was not executed properly. The main characters were unlikable, which makes it hard to read the rest of a story. However, I really enjoyed the world building of the book, which made up for the character issue. Thank you Yggdrasil Press for sending me this book.

This was way too modern of a setting for me to get into. The dragons flying around big modern cities and skyscrapers and trains just kept making me bounce out of the story. This doesn't fit the urban fantasy to me, in theory it does because of the fantasy elements and obviously urban setting. One chapter would be like me reading a high fantasy with no modernity at all and then suddenly next chapter I'm thrown into the modern world. It was disorienting. I could very well not be the right audience for this. For me it didn't work but for maybe someone like my husband who loves Fast and the Furious and dragons, like the synopsis of this claims to be would enjoy it. I like urban fantasy but maybe if the flow was better to where I didn't feel like I was getting whiplash I would have enjoyed this better. The fantasy elements I enjoyed but the setting jumps and the urban elements did this book an injustice.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending an e-ARC of Dragon Den.

This little novella sounded so cool! Fast & Furious meets Fourth Wing. Unfortunately, Dragon Den fell very flat for me. I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters and I wasn't finding myself interested in any of the plot points and I felt as if I was being dumped into different locations; the plot points didn't flow into one another. I feel like the idea was amazing, but the execution was subpar.

I really enjoyed this book. It was so unique mixing current times with dragons. And the racing scenes gave me anxiety! fell in love with Loki and have so many questions about Amira and Tobias’s mom. There is still so much to find out, There needs to be a second book!

I feel REALLY bad for this rating so let's call it a 2.5???

The thing is, it's a good idea and it's a good start. But it's better off as a rough draft that needs a lot of editing before it should be released. It sounds harsh, but the How to Train Your Dragon/Fourth Wing vibes are much more than vibes, with very little world-building and stagnant characters.

I'm so confused by the worldbuilding and the whole "dragon" aspect. Dragons are common in Washington, I guess, and people are used to seeing them and their riders flying above their cities- but are there other dragons/dragon nests? Where did the dragons come from? When were they discovered? (It was mentioned there was a World War VII so I'm guessing this book comes from the future?)

It also doesn't vibe well with me that the dragon riders are basically enslaving dragons and forcing them away from their natural instinct to bond with them? I get that it can't be the same thing as Fourth Wing but it's hard to feel good with the main character bonding with a dragon that's been "broken". It didn’t help that other than the dragon being funny sometimes, there wasn’t all that much bonding happening either. Also, why do the dragons with male riders have to be named after gods while the dragons with female riders have to be named after animals? So much so that some dead guy was still being mocked even in death bc he called his dragon “Stallion”????

I didn't like the characters. The main lead was both insecure and ridiculously full of himself, which was an interesting combination, but it got on my nerves more than once. He'd be all over the girl he's into and somehow saying she's the only one he wants but also last month he was *with* the girl in the bedroom NEXT DOOR-

And the love interest was close to being an interesting character, but then she'd have a scene where it's clear she's only there for the lead to lust over/get with/etc. and the other characters were there just to move the plot along.

The writing style was also hard to read, as it wound up feeling more like “telling” than “showing”. Since it didn’t go into much detail or describe the character’s emotions, it was easier to read too fast, and I kept having to stop and pace myself. Especially in this one scene in the beginning that’s filled with emotions, it sort of read like the author listed bullet points of what she wanted to happen and then forgot to add more depth.

Closer to the end, it got better. But the first half was ROUGH, and the only thing that got better was the plot. I am thinking I'll keep reading if a sequel comes out because I really want to know if the "breaking of dragons" system gets demolished.

thank you Netgalley for the arc

This was an exciting ride or a book and it kept going. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but i'll say i was thoroughly surprised. And say dragons and you've got me. The pacing was very good, lots of action, loved the banter and romance; the academy part of it pulled me in and i honestly wanted more. Some parts of the plot mirrored things i've seen before almost to the tea and slowed things down including my excitement as i felt it was on the nose (i'm not going to spoil what i'm referring to, but iykyk). Anyways, didn't change too much for me as i loved baby boo Marcus and his Amira. A lovely vacation read with some wine as your adrenaline is sure to pump on this one. Thanks NetGalley.