Initially, I was close to dropping this book. I didn't like the FLC and her selfishness. But I continued and was glad that I did. The world-building and political intrigue got me through the story, and I ended up reading it without stopping. I can't wait to check out the second story in the series. 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harpercollins for the opportunity to review A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

A Language of Dragons is set in 1923 London. There, dragons soar through the skies while protests erupt in the streets. Out main character, Vivian, isn't too bothered by it all. Instead, she's focused on getting an internship studying dragon languages to ensure she and her little sister never have to risk growing up in the Third Class. However, nothing about this plan goes as it should. Instead by midnight, Vivien has sparked a civil war. As her world crumbles around her, Vivien is offered a lifeline. She must accept a mysterious job at Bletchley Park, or everyone she loves will be killed. If she succeeds in breaking the dragon code and helping the war effort, she and her family can all go home again. As she plunges deeper into her work in an effort to save her family, she realizes choosing between what is good and what she wants is a more complicated situation than she ever imagined.

I was absolutely blown away by this book. In fact, I read over half of it in a single day. The linguistic aspect of dragon languages and how they tied into society was incredibly interesting. Then, this was tied further into a complicated political struggle and crumbling class system. Add in characters who are motivated to do whatever it takes to save themselves and their families, and you have one amazingly written book. While Viv was a little naive to start, it was so interesting to see her change as a character as she completed her work and realized there was much more to what was asked of her than she originally thought. The book was developed in a way that you got to know each character and were genuinely moved by what happened to them. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, leaving you excited to find out the rest of the story in the sequel.

I've read a lot of books this year. I surpassed 100 just before December, however this book stands at the top of my list as being my favorite read in 2024. I can't wait to read what happens to Vivien next!

4.5 ⭐️

This is the first time I’ve ever read what I would classify as a political fantasy! Set in the 1920s Britain still revolves around a class system and there’s a dragon and human rebellion. It took me some time to get into the book but then I was gripped and needed to know what happened! It was fun going through the story from the FMC who’s truly learning what the world is like, I felt like the writing was very easy to visualise and I loved the concept and the way the book went. Would highly recommend this book plus it has dragons ☺️

The combination of history, politics rebellion and corruption combined with dragons was really well done in my opinion. It was also a nice change to experience a rebellion and politics from an academic standpoint rather than through the strong, and powerful main character. I really enjoyed the focuses on languages in this book and enjoyed a new take on dragon and human alliance.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins and the author for an advanced copy of this book!

just finished reading the ARC of A Language of Dragons, and I have to say, it was such a refreshing take on dragon lore! The way the author crafted an entirely unique perspective on dragons and their magical abilities—expressed through a language all their own—was both creative and captivating.

The characters were another highlight for me. Their diversity brought richness to the story, and each one felt distinct and purposeful in their role.

While the pacing was a bit slow in the beginning and middle, around the 70% mark, the story truly came alive. From that point on, it was nearly impossible to put down.

I’m really hoping for another installment because there’s so much more I’d love to explore in this world. If you’re a fan of dragons, magic, and intricate world-building, this book is definitely worth a read!

3.5/5 politely rounded up.

An intriguing debut with an interestingly flawed main character and some cool worldbuilding surrounding dragons and language. That being said, the main character took a little too long to make character development progress on some of her flaws (to the point I started to lose interest in her journey) and I felt like the plot got increasingly messy in the last 25%. This book is also a classic example of a book that is "very YA," with impulsive characters, fast but sometimes uneven pacing, and defiantly rebelling against authority. If you're not enjoying YA books any more, I don't think you should try this one. But for the right audience, I think this will be a big hit, and I am definitely interested enough that I'll be keeping an eye out for the next book.

Update/full review 12/28/24

“Bletchley Park with dragons” is a quite a tagline to live up to.
It’s been a few months since I read this book, but I’ll do my best to finally put my thoughts in order.

I felt that this book was an intriguing start to a series, but it had some typical YA and debut pitfalls that put me off a bit. Now that I've had a few months to mull on it in my mind, I don't know that I'll continue on with this series personally.

Let’s go over the main points. Our main character is Vivian, a talented linguist who has been raised to do whatever it takes to advance in a society rigidly separated by a class system (including sacrificing her own morality/principles if that’s what it takes). When her parents are arrested for sedition, she takes desperate action - but Britain is on the brink of civil war, and her actions unintentionally push things over the edge. She’s offered a chance at redemption working with other teenage criminals/rebels/etc at Bletchley Park to help the government gain an advantage against dragons in the war.

Vivian was an interesting but often frustrating protagonist. I don’t need every main character to be likable, but there are still things that will get on my nerves. Vivian is someone who is very resistant to change and risk. She wants to protect her family, and she thinks sticking to the status quo is the best way to do that, even if the status quo kind of sucks for most people. It takes her a LONG time to finally begin to shift her viewpoint and understand that maybe the government she’s helping…is bad and she shouldn’t help them. Points for eventually getting there, but I would have liked for her to be a bit less thick-headed about it.

As for the supporting characters, the only ones I really remember are the Bulgarian dragon (who was cool), Vivian’s estranged best friend, and…there was a love interest, too, I think. He seemed fine. The romance clearly was not incredibly memorable but that doesn’t mean it was bad.
I would have liked a bit more focus and development on the relationship between Vivian and her former best friend whom she betrayed. I would have actually been fine with there being less romance in order for that to happen, because I was really curious to see the fallout of Vivian’s betrayal, and it didn’t necessarily hit the way I hoped it would.

As for the worldbuilding…I know the whole pitch for this book is “Bletchley Park with dragons” but I wonder if it would have been better served by being a secondary world fantasy? The war happening in this book is different enough from either of the world wars that I don’t know that this book benefits that much from being an alternate history instead of a second-world story. But that could also be personal preference. I don’t feel INCREDIBLY strong either way.

Anyways, this book is definitely worth picking up if you like YA and think a book about codebreaking dragon languages sounds cool. As previously mentioned, if you find that you don’t enjoy YA much anymore, I don’t think this book will be for you, because it does have a lot of that YA feel to it (not a dig! Just an observation).

4.25⭐️s This was not one I could read quickly. It had a fair amount of world building that I wanted to take my time with. I enjoyed that dragons were characters in the story. I do wish there was more about those dragon characters. But I do feel like this was more about world building and understanding the depth of dragon language. The development of Viv discovering more about the secret dragon language felt intricate. I’m looking forward to book 2. If chapter 30 was real, I’m not going to stop crying. 😭

Synopsis:
Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.

Thank you to @netgalley @harpercollinschin and @sfwilliamsonauthor for the advanced reader copy. #alanguageofdragons #netgalley #advancedreader #arcreader #dragons #fantasy #youngadultbooks

Thanks very much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. A Language of Dragons was a really interesting idea and generally engaging. I want to see where the story goes and, I enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on language and how the Dragons communicated. I had a hard time liking the main character, and had trouble believing some of the characters (especially the Prime Minister) would make the decisions that they made.

Thank you Harper Collins Children’s Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC of the book.

This book takes place in an alternate London in 1923, where people are divided in three classes and there is a truce between dragons and humans. Vivien belongs to a second class, she has dreams and plans on working with dragon languages but everything changes when her parents were arrested as traitors.

While reading this book I had a feeling that someone picked everything I like, mixed it up and made a story out of it. I enjoyed how the truth about the world was unraveling as Vivien was meeting people and hearing different stories, how characters were showing themselves as situations were getting dangerous. I loved how dragons were presented in this book, their history, linguistics and characters. The linguistics and some details on anatomy of dragons was a nice add-on to the whole picture.

The beginning of this book had me so lost and confused on the world but once it got going I was hooked. Read the entire thing in one sitting. Loved how flawed the main character was, along with the discussions of privilege; especially for a white author. For an author of faith, I was pleasantly surprised at how nuanced the depiction of religion was in this book.

Overall, this was very fun and made me want to immediately read more dragon fantasy.

Still unsure about the tropes this book was marketed as but perhaps that's something explored more in future books, of which I will most likely read!

Thank you to NetGalley as always for the ARC!

"A Language of Dragons" is set in London in 1923, in a world where people are forced into classes, protests erupt in the streets, and dragons soar through the skies. Vivian Featherswallow plans to follow the rules, secure an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her sister never has to risk growing up third class. However, by midnight, she has inadvertently started a civil war. With her parents arrested and now her sister missing, everything is collapsing around Viv. She receives a lifeline in the form of job offer, she seizes it. Living at Bletchley Park, she soon discovers that she is recruited as a codebreaker aiding in the war effort. If she succeeds, her family goes home; if she fails, they die. Initially, she believes that uncovering the hidden dragon language is achievable, but the more she learns, the more she realizes nothing is as it seems. The safety she thought she had was merely an illusion. This enemies-too lovers, academia fantasy is a must-read with its twists, turns, and betrayals at every corner. You won't want to it down.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Language of Dragons is a coming of age hero's journey set in an alternate history fantasy where dragons coexist in the world with humans. Political intrigue and rebellion stir the plot, and our main characters consist of teenagers looking to redeem themselves and save their broken society through long hours working at Bletchley Park. This story has rich backstory, highly interesting plot, and complex characters full of redemption arcs. This is a great teen fantasy/historical fiction blend, which though unusual works extremely well. School libraries should absolutely purchase this wholesome story about making mistakes and second chances.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this advance reader's copy!

I was immediately drawn to the premise of this book, even though I've been chronically disappointed by the actual linguistic aspect of similar books. I let myself have fun with it, but always want more, to see how linguistic structure actually affects the themes of the world. I say this knowing I come from a very specific angle, having a doctorate in linguistics. To that end, A Language in Dragons was the first on that actually gave me what I wanted.

Viv's actions are directed by what she knows of her mother's anthropological research, in determining whether dragons have dialects among their languages, to see how 'human-like' the development of dragon language is (and if it developed on its own at all, or was simply a byproduct of human language evolution). From the beginning, this book echoes the way indigenous languages have been used against its speakers - considering these languages less legitimate for the absence of features present in dominant western languages, insisting some vulgarity in the mathematical consequence of that language. And Williamson does an expert job of breaking down those assumptions in this world and using dragon languages as a metaphor for the struggles under colonialism, classism, how the people in power demonize what they don't understand or can't take for themselves, and weaponize what they can. She goes into the mapping between sound and meaning and how these mappings vary from dragon to dragon, in a way that tickles my brain. There's one line about 'twenty Arctic Indigenous dragon languages that have almost three hundred different words for cold', which almost certainly feels like a jab at the 'Inuit languages have 40 words for snow' oversimplification that's commonly words in 101 courses to explain the complexities of the Sapir-Worf hypothesis. She even has a mathematician working on the same problem, which I never see in fiction - in fact, most of what I see stresses how little language is like math. As someone trained in computational and mathematical linguistics, the idea makes my peers and I laugh, so it was so refreshing to see someone navigate this area with skill.

As for Viv herself, she is complex and struggles deeply with the privilege of assimilation. Her arc is about sacrifice in competition with solidarity. Her mother escaped political tensions in Bulgaria and raised her in the comfort of a middle class that uses the upper class as a goal and the lower class as motivation to excel, without questioning why the lower class needs to suffer. You find out quickly that her mother was actively working against this system, unbeknownst to Viv. Viv then works herself in knots defending the system she benefits from, running from her own actions, the people that she has betrayed in the name of class mobility. This is highlighted by the others she works with at Bletchley, what they standto lose, and their desperation to keep it. This isn't the Imitation Game, where the codebreakers' biggest obstacle is time and personality clashes - the recruits are pitted against one another and expected to become enemies to drive another forward, even when we, from the finish line, see that they could never have succeeded without collaboration.

I found the story well-paced, but it does ramp up quickly at the end - I didn't find it overly hard to follow, but some reveals could have come more easily with the time to breath. I'm also unsure how satisfied I was at the hand-wave to the interplay between race and class - acknowledging both Serena and Atlas face discrimination based on race, but given Serena is high class and Atlas is lower, it affects them in very different ways. With how Atlas' arc ends here, it's hard to say the theme has been fully explored. The marketing can also be misleading, as there is no 'enemies to lovers' romance - Atlas sees Viv's denial of her circumstance and regularly pushes her to do better, but there is no real rivalry or dislike. Instead of Fourth Wing, I would find Blood over Bright Haven, To Shape a Dragon's Breathe, and Firebourne more suitable comparisons, for the tone of political stratification in their worlds.

All to say, I think this was an extremely strong debut, with some wrinkles that will need to be addressed in the sequel. I'm eagerly awaiting the physical release and sequel, since this has been one of my favorite reads of the year.

This young adult book is interesting and unique. While there is a sprinkling of a sweet no spice romantic plotline, this is a primarily fantasy focused book, which was refreshing. The World War backdrop with the added codebreaking layer was engaging, and the way dragons are portrayed made this book unique. I am looking forward to future books in this series.

This book features political intrigue and rebellion with a 1920s/30s World War backdrop and takes place in Britain but with dragons and a shady prime minister. I found the linguistic side of the codebreaking refreshing.

Content: s*xual favors in exchange for tutoring services, class system, misogyny, people in power abusing their power, language, guard breaking someone's arm simply because they can, dragon and human violence of war, dragon head removed from body by other dragon, girl unalived during protest, light religious undertones

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review is voluntarily written and the thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

A Language of Dragons is an intriguing debut set in an alternate 1920s England where dragons and humans coexist uneasily within a rigid class system. The story follows Vivian Featherswallow, a second-class student turned dragon translator, as she navigates betrayal, corruption, and rebellion after her family is arrested.

I loved the blend of historical fantasy, dark academia, and detailed dragon lore, along with the thought-provoking exploration of class divides and the power of language. While the pacing felt uneven at times, and Vivian’s flaws could be frustrating, her growth felt realistic, and the ending left me eager for the sequel. This was a unique and thought-provoking read, highly recommend!

I'm a big fan of books featuring dragons, so wanting to read A Language of Dragons was a no brainer for me. Of course I enjoyed all of the parts dedicated to the different types of dragons and knowledge about them. It also helps that this is a dark academia book, which is another genre I enjoy reading. The author did a good job of building the world and the political system, which was good but it also affected the pacing at times. This book also had a lot of betrayal happening which added to the story and it kept it intriguing. Vivian as a main character was well developed (at times annoying as well), but I did like that she was flawed in ways instead of perfect as some authors tend to do with female main characters.

The blurb for this book had me so intrigued, and the concept overall is really interesting. It’s a good background start, but the book never seems to really get off and into the air for me. There’s a fair bit of minutiae, and I couldn't really get transported into this fantasy world. Because of that it just didn’t feel emotional or powerful. It felt more like a type of history book where things are described, versus really feeling IN the story of that makes sense. Still enjoyed reading it and would read more from the author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

What a fantastic debut! I'm not usually into dragons but I'm so glad I didn't let that stop me from reading this. I thought the worldbuilding was excellent—loved the alternate 1920s England where humans and dragons coexist. I loved the discussions of language and translation and class and power all wrapped up in a wonderfully paced and plotted story. I did find the romance underdeveloped—I would have LOVED to see more of Viv and Atlas on the page together—but I think it was also good enough for the age group and genre. I'm very much looking forward to the second book and the resolution of the story!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the E-ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A historical fantasy with Dark academia x Dragons. This was everything and more I needed in a book. It had a blend of action, political intrigue, and betrayals that were engaging and well thought out. I loved the fact that Vivian was a flawed main character and as the book progressed she was forced to confront her beliefs. She was insufferable at times as a Type A person, but a compelling main character in my opinion. If an author can make you feel that way about a character I say its a good job. The story touched on class divide and the impacts of wealth inequality. Along with the impact of translation and why the act of it is important but also dangerous if taken away or goes into the wrong hands. Language is a means of control both socially and culturally. I loved the segments and articles on dragons, the types of dragons, their hatching grounds, and how they used a language for different means than the humans. The cliff hanger at the end had me so hyped. I absolutely had a blast! Cannot wait to see where the rebellion and Vivian Featherswallow goes next. This is a must read book for 2025.

My favorite quotes were "Every act of translation requires sacrifice" & “To control languages, to control words, is to control what people know.”

A Language of Dragons is a fantastic historical fantasy full of dragons and mysteries.

It’s 1923 in London, and Second-Class student Vivien Featherswallow is hoping to secure an internship at the academy to study dragon languages. A polyglot who speaks several human and dragon languages, Viv is the perfect candidate. But when her family is arrested on suspicion of coordinating with the rebels against the government, Viv risks everything to save them. The Prime Minister recognizes her potential, and agrees not to execute her and her family for treason, but only if Viv agrees to work for the government at Bletchley Park as a dragon translator and code breaker. But the more Viv learns about the work she’s involved in, the more she begins to suspect that the government is corrupt and the Prime Minister is at the heart of it all. Will Viv do what’s right, even if it means siding with the rebels, or will she do as the Prime Minister wishes, even if it means the downfall of dragonkind?

This was a really intriguing and exciting young adult novel. Vivien is young and naïve, and has been brought up among the second class and all the rules meant to keep order in Britain. While she dreams of a different life without the class structures and the peace agreement between humans and dragons that restrict the dragons lives, the way things are is all she’s known. Viv goes through a lot of growth in this story, but it takes some really difficult circumstances for her to understand the choices that she needs to make, and how simply upholding the existing order can actually be harmful. Even as a second class citizen she’s lived a privileged life and it takes a great deal of learning from others to really see what it’s like living under the corrupt peace agreement. The supporting characters were also great, and I love the setting of Bletchley Park in an alternate reality with dragons. There are some difficult themes in this book, including dealing with a corrupt government during war time. I initially thought this was a standalone, but at the ending of this book it seems that more is coming, and I look forward to following Viv future installments in the series.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

You had me at dragons! I love the fantasy and dark academia setting. I loved the buildup and the characters growth. They had their flaws but that’s what makes you fall in love with them and their story even more. I did feel like some of the scenes fell a little flat and the cliffhanger sucks if this is a standalone. Please let there be a second book