Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an e-are of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. It sucked me in from the beginning and I couldn’t put it down. It had The Hunger Games vibes, but with dragons and set in England in the past right after WWI. The world created in this book was so interesting and different from anything I’ve read before.

The main character Viv was definitely a flawed character, but that was the point. She was meant to be naive and sheltered. As a member of the second class she had no reason to know how bad things were for the third class. She definitely made some choices that were horrible, but with how their world is, she felt like she didn’t have any other choice.

I think that seeing her growth throughout the story was one of my favorite parts. She took a while to figure it out, but in the end she did. I loved the friendships/romances that were formed between the recruits. This book had me laughing at times and crying at other times.

This book reminded me of the dystopian YA books I used to love reading when I was in high school and college. There haven’t been many solid YA dystopian books out in the last few years so this book made me really happy!

I highly recommend this book!

I picked this book since it combined two genres I love fantasy and historical fiction. I couldn't put it down and the ending is a cliffhanger so hopefully there is a sequel in the works. It has social issues, romance, dragons, and adventure. I'm still trying to decide on 4.5 or 5 ⭐️ rating since there was a little bit of drag in the beginning.

A Language of Dragons felt like Babel had a baby with a classic YA dragon fantasy in the best possible way. “Every act of translation requires sacrifice” hit me right at the beginning and really set the tone.

I could really tell this author had a passion for languages and a really deep understanding of how they work and the process of translating and learning languages. I’m glad I read the author’s note about Viv being an unlikable FMC, but I still wanted her to come to her conclusions faster.

I absolutely ADORED Atlas and Marquis and only wish there had been more interactions with dragons! This was a really great start to a new series and I’m excited to read the sequel when it comes out.

Thank you @harpercollins @harpercollinsch for the advance copy!

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson is a gripping young adult fantasy set in 1923 London, where class divisions and dragon-human tensions simmer beneath the surface. Vivien Featherswallow, determined to protect her younger sister from the harsh realities of third-class life, hopes to keep her head down and secure an internship studying dragon languages. However, her seemingly simple plans unravel when she inadvertently sparks a civil war.

With her family arrested and her sister missing, Vivien accepts a dangerous job at Bletchley Park as a codebreaker. Her task: decipher a hidden dragon language to aid in the war effort. Success could reunite her family; failure could mean their deaths. But as Vivien delves deeper into the mysterious language and the secrets of the fragile peace treaty, she discovers that the safety she believed in was an illusion, and the cost of survival may be far greater than she imagined.

Packed with twists, betrayals, and an enemies-to-lovers romance, this academically charged fantasy explores themes of rebellion, propaganda, and moral sacrifice, making it an unputdownable read for fans of intricate world-building and emotional stakes.

A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson

This novel digs into class relations and political rights of different classes and dragons. It reminded me of the political elements in Wicked. This is an intriguing story that follows Vivian as she works to secure a future for her family during unrest. I read this without reading too much of the summary and I don’t want to spoil too much.

I really enjoyed this one set in an early 1900s England where dragons are citizens like humans are to a certain point. There is a lot of character development and themes of how to find redemption in oneself. Williamson does a great job building a world and characters that draw you in. It is a longer read but not that one that feels like it which I had encounter in some reads.

For fans of other popular dragon centered novels with political themes this one is a great counterpart. Even if you aren’t a fan of those series this one isn’t just another dragon book, it is so much more.

S.F. Williamson’s A Language of Dragons transports readers to an alternate 1920s London where dragons and humans coexist amidst social upheaval, political intrigue, and the secretive halls of Bletchley Park. With its Dark Academia vibes, a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an exciting story of rebellion and espionage, this debut novel is a exciting start to what I hope is a series.

Vivian Featherswallow, the protagonist, was a character I struggled with at first. Her initial decisions were frustrating, but as the story progressed, I came to appreciate her complexity and determination. Her growth felt authentic, and by the end, I was rooting for her success. Atlas, on the other hand, was a standout from the start—his courage and compassion made him my favorite character. I was also fascinated by the backstory of several secondary characters.

One of the novel’s highlights was Chumana, the dragon, whose relationship with the humans around her added a unique and emotional layer to the story. Her dynamic with Viv and others was a delightful surprise and one I hope is explored further in future books.

The world-building is impressive, seamlessly weaving together dragons, rebellion, and the art of codebreaking. Williamson’s ability to balance tension and intrigue kept me turning the pages, and the twists and betrayals kept me guessing. While the ending tied up the main plot, it left tantalizing threads that suggest more stories in this universe—something I am hoping for.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, Viv’s initial infuriating moments held me back from giving it five stars. However, the blend of action, mystery, and character-driven storytelling makes this a must-read for fans of historical fantasy and dragon lore.

A Language of Dragons is a strong debut, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys intricate plots, layered characters, and, of course, dragons.

I liked the concept of this book more than the execution. It started off pretty strong, and I liked the dragon translator plot, but once they got the park it all kind of fell apart. The romance was rushed and unbelievable. I feel like the author wanted to capitalize on the Fourth Wing romantasy wave going on, and threw in a romantic storyline on top of the finished story. It was unnecessary, and actually reduced my enjoyment of the book because it wasn’t fleshed out enough to be believable.

I really enjoyed this book!! It's a unique YA fantasy and a great debut 🩷 It took a bit to get into, but once Vivien arrived at Bletchly, I was hooked! The plot was really unique too; can't say I've ever read a book centered around dragon linguistics before this one 🤷🏼‍♀️

Only reason it wasn't a full five starts for me was Viv's romantic relationship. It didn't seem deep enough on page for the events that happen throughout the novel. Her relationships with her friends and family were well done though!! 🩷

I'm very excited to see where the next book takes Viv! Big thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for my copy 🩷

I absolutely loved this book by S.F. Williamson. A Language of Dragons was a beautiful book about dragons, family, history, standing up even when everyone else is sitting down and finding the courage within your own self when the time comes. I absolutely loved the writing style from S.F. Williamson.

To start with, the comp titles are a bit weird; the only thing fourth wing-y about this is that dragons exist. I’d honestly call this a less sophisticated version of blood over bright haven, more than anything else. The Babel comparison is fair ish.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I liked the political struggle and watching the characters grow class consciousness and become radicalized by witnessing the evils. The discussions of language, translation, and power were interesting to read and made the story richer. I also enjoyed the dragon-human relations and all the complexity there.

I think the politics of this book were a bit underdeveloped or overly simplistic. Some of the characters were a bit too cartoonishly evil. I also found myself a bit annoyed with our main character, due to how slowly she developed. I can tolerate a selfish and ignorant MC, but she took so long to accept the new reality. Her backstory and betrayal of her friend were also hard to get over as a reader, so I didn’t empathize as much with as I like to in a YA book. The romance was also wholly unnecessary.

Still, this book was worth reading and opened up an interesting political fantasy world. I’d like to see more development from Viv in the next book, though I am worried her arc got sped up in the last few chapters (would have preferred leaving her a bit flawed).

“To control languages, to control words, is to control what people know.”

A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Age rating:13+
Spice:none

Thank you Netgalley and S. F. Williamson for this arc! This book was incredible. The plot was so interesting and I haven’t read many books like it. The way language was worked into it was so beautiful and I loved every bit of it. The setting was great and it felt like I was there the whole time. Also the DRAGONS!!! They were so cool and fun to learn about. And I loved how they had personalities and could talk. It was so fun. The characters were fascinating to reading about, especially the main character Vivian. At times I found myself wanting to slap her and other times I just wanted to give her a hug. I loved how complex she was and that she struggled with making very bad decisions. Her journey of forgiving herself was really well done. I really grew to love these characters and felt very connected to them. I felt every emotion they felt. At one point as I was reading I was curled up under my blankets with tears streaming down my face. They just felt so real. The romance we got in this book was so great. While there wasn’t a lot of it I ate up every second of it. The twists throughout the book were so well done and I found myself gasping so many times. The ending was amazing and had my complete attention. I literally zoned in and plowed through the last few chapters. I can’t wait to see where the series goes and will definitely be picking the next one up. I’d you’re looking for a ya fantasy with some dragons you should pick this up!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the E-Arc

"A Language of Dragons" was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but it ended up being a bit of an underwhelming experience. This book didn't present anything I haven't already read in other fantasy books. I don't think it's a bad book and in fact, I believe it's a solid one that will find a receptive audience in the Young Adult market.

But I find myself very distanced from this read. I did not care about any of the characters, I could appreciate the main character's growth throughout the book, but at no point did I find myself rooting for her.

I liked the academic aspect of the language of dragons, the linguistics, and the whole process behind dragon communication and reproduction.

This is a very political book with themes of social classes, limited social mobility, corruption, and rebellion, so if you're looking for a YA fantasy with academia, politics, and dragons, this might be right up your alley.

A Language of Dragons is an absolute masterpiece! It has magic and dragons, while also relating back to our own world history and our political/societal struggles. I really liked the steampunk aspect to the story, and the fantastical take on code breakers. It’s a complex story with a very heavy topics. I can honestly, say I feel a little wrecked after finishing the book, and I still loved it.
The line between “you are what society forces you to be” and “you are responsible for your choices” is such a thin one, and it is a crucial topic in A Language of Dragons. Vivian is definitely a flawed heroine and - for me at least - she was not very likable character for 95% of the story. She is a product of her society and the pressures it puts on children to excel on the test, no matter the cost. She’s done horrible things for the sake of her ambition as a result . However, I feel like she uses her “rottenness” as an excuse to continue being selfish, rather than doing what is right. She gets there in the end but she sure did cut it close to the wire.
All in all, I highly recommend ALOD to everyone but caution the reader to know it is HEAVY and you don’t necessarily get a happy ending. Definitely read this if you are a fan of books like Bright Over Moon Haven

A huge thank you to SF Williamson and NetGalley for the arc opportunity!🫶🏻

Reading the world and atmosphere of dragons and experiencing them through the characters Williamson created was so much fun to just be invested in. I found myself curious on all the twists and turns that kept being revealed. I loved the politics and scientific devices that were created, as well as how the story flowed.

I would definitely recommend this book to dragon fans who are fans of Hunger Games and Fourth Wing!

I love when authors blend genres together effortlessly. In A Language of Dragons, S.F. Williamson has written a historical fiction and also a fantasy; my favorites. The backdrop is Bletchley Park, and the magical part is dragons.

I enjoyed A Language of Dragons and the world that was built. This is a great young adult novel with a morally gray FMC. There is a romantic subplot that could have been developed a little more. But overall I enjoyed this!

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson surprised me. I enjoyed the post-WWI 1 setting with dragons and the academic setting. I also enjoyed Viv as a flawed main character.
The world is relatively modern with all the states and governments in place that are in the real world. This captures some of the post-World War paranoia that was happening in the world in the 1920s'. This story also deals with racism and classism throughout. I also liked the idea of kids working on espionage for the government and was intrigued by it.
Viv as a character is competitive to a flaw. She betrays her best friend and ruins her life to further her academic career. She spent a lot of time dealing with the guilt, it got a little repetitive, This was realistic for anyone with a conscience. She'd probably feel guilty over her actions toward Sofie for the rest of her life. Viv is also fiercely protective of her family, which is to be admired but makes her desperate and reckless and leads to the story's main conflict.. I appreciate how Viv uses her wits and knowledge of languages to get around the villains of the story.
The only thing that got me is the dragons seem much stronger than the people. Why would they even put up humans? admittedly some of them don't. Why would humans even think they would stand a chance fighting them? i just felt like they could just burn up and eat everybody and be done with it.
The romance is light and appropriate for the YA genre. There is a lot of action and violence which would up the rating to pg. I think this would be appropriate for my twelve year old who likes action-adventure stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollin's Children's books for this lovely arc. All opinions expressed are my own

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I like the idea of our main character who has to work to nt only unravel the lies she's been old by a system she believed in but also learn to work through the internal biases and privileges that she has. Her ambition has no bounds going as far as betray her best friend. This book explore so many themes including such a morally grey character.

3.5 rounding up because this is an ambitious debut that mostly pulls off what it's trying to do. The setup using dragons and dragon linguistics as a background for the political system and its collapse leads to a lot of really tense and interesting conversations and scenes, even if at times you're almost violently reminded this is YA by how cartoonishly evil the antagonists get.

Many readers may end up hating Viv because she clings idealistically almost to the end to a system we can see is broken and unequal, but imo she's an excellent representation of a teenager who has been indoctrinated into a system and trained to think of her own small circle before being able to think about the wider implications. As many of those in the world are. And while it's easy to dislike Viv for this, I think it speaks well to a sort of head-in-the-sand complacency of buying into a system you think will one day reward you if you play within its bounds, because that's easier than thinking you can tear it all down. That "maybe it will all be okay if things change slowly" being stronger than the "this is the right thing to do but will destroy my life as I know it". This does get a lot more strained when the "maybe" side is, as mentioned, cartoonishly evil, breaking bones and killing people out of nowhere.

There are some comparisons that I don't particularly like - pulling in Bletchley and the enigma machine comparisons but not actually tying it to anything, so the greenhouse could have been anywhere, aside from the easy connection between Bletchley and codebreaking, and the "enemies to lovers" is....not at all? The romance isn't even close to enemies, or even rivals, but okay.

At the end of the day, though, I was drawn more and more into the story, and while as it got towards the end, it started to feel more YA in aligning its characters, I'm still invested enough to keep an eye out for the sequel.

This has been really hyped up and I was really excited to start this. I think this was definitely original, even though dragons seem to be the new Fae. This reminded me a lot of early 2010 YA novels that I feel have been missing in recent years. The ending definitely had me surprised, and I'll be eagerly awaiting the sequel. I think a lot of people will love this one!