This was, tonally, a lot different than I thought it would be, but once I came around to it being very serious and not at all fun it was very readable. I wish there had been a little more linguistic code breaking and a little less outright politicking but otherwise this is fine!

I am ALWAYS looking for reads for my mid-grade readers that are clean, fun, and captivating. This really has got the edge of adventure DOWN. Can't wait to provide a full review on publication day. Well done!

*Book Review: A Language of Dragons*

"A Language of Dragons" interested me because of its innovative blend of Babel-inspired linguistics and dragon-filled fantasy. The fusion of codebreaking and mythical creatures proved irresistible.

*Key Highlights*

- Unique concept combining linguistics, translation, and dragons
- Fast-paced, engaging plot
- Thought-provoking themes of rebellion and corruption

*Recommendation*

If you're drawn to codebreaking, dragons, and immersive storytelling, "A Language of Dragons" is a must-read. With its compelling narrative and intriguing setup, I eagerly anticipate the next installment.

This book is quite excellent.
Dragons. Morally gray (and ridiculously stubborn) FMC. Dark academia type vibes.
The setting is an alternate historical event of code breaking in Bletchley Park. This time it is dragon linguistics.

Viv (the FMC) is a character I wanted to throat punch for half the book. The author's note at the beginning absolutely kept me investing in the story as a whole hoping for character development. She loves her family fiercely and will do anything to protect them. That is what she knows and who she believes she is. She will do anything to keep herself and her family from class 3, the bottom of their socioeconomic classes. Her character development was late, but worth the wait.

Atlas is a well written character that I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. I felt like I was making a friend as the story went along. He's a strong and impressive character.

I did burn through the book as quickly as possible but struggled a bit with the specific details involving language in the middle as well as Vivian's reluctance to see the facts as they are presented as it challenges the world as she sees it. I also could have used a bit more insight into the love interests in this book to support the strong emotions. This is why it's 4 stars for me.

HOWEVER, I will absolutely be reading the next book whenever it comes out. I have high hopes for what I think may be happening in the final lines and cannot wait to see where it goes.

THANK YOU NET GALLEY AND S.F. WILLIAMSON FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS BOOK!

First of all, beautiful cover! Had my intrigued right from the start. Beautiful debut novel with relatable characters, vivid world building, and an addictive pace! Highly recommend to my fellow Fourth Wing fans.

This book was so hard to put down once I started! I am such a dragon fan and love a good fantasy. Guys.... there is a PINK dragon!!!!!

This book is so good, full of political intrigue and a great interpretation of corruption.

The characters are amazing as well!!!

A Language of Dragons is a fantasy dark academia set in 1923 London where dragons can be seen soaring through the skies. The book follows Viv as she works towards getting an internship to study dragon languages. However, due to a series of events, she starts a civil war. When she's offered a mysterious job that could help save all her family from criminal charges, she takes it and soon starts helping the war effort as a codebreaker. This story is filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities and leaves Viv wondering which side she should really be on.

Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.

After hearing this tagline, I was immediately hooked! It's like this book was made for me and had everything I love in a book.

The political strife in this story felt authentic and intricately woven, making it a pleasure to delve deeper into its complexities as the plot unfolded. The high stakes created a palpable sense of suspense, and the exploration of dragon languages was a unique and captivating concept that kept me thoroughly engaged. I’ve always enjoyed dark academia, and this setting certainly lived up to my expectations.

The small cast of characters, each with their own rich backstories and struggles, added depth to the narrative. There was a perfect balance in the number of characters, allowing for fascinating dynamics and interactions across the different societal levels, while still making it easy to keep track of each individual’s journey.

The plot is engaging, filled with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. The stakes are high, and the sense of urgency is palpable as Viv races against time to save both dragons and humans. Williamson expertly balances action with moments of reflection, creating a narrative that is both fast-paced and thoughtful.

I found myself staying up late to finish this book, compelled to discover what would happen next. I was on the edge of my seat, filled with tension, and there were even tears along the way. This story delivered everything I had hoped for, and I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for this early copy to review.

wow well done. pleanty of tension and growth of the heroine as she moves through the story. lots of action. very readable. I would live to see others by this author

This book is a wild, electric ride through a 1923 London that’s all teeth and fire. Vivien Featherswallow’s journey isn’t some dainty adventure; it’s a gut punch of courage, family, and sheer rebellion. Watching her stumble from rule follower to rule breaker, you feel every nerve-wracking moment as she unravels the fragile threads holding dragons and humans together. It’s intense, it’s fierce, and it makes you believe in the power of a single voice daring to defy a world built on lies.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an eARC of A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic debut from S.F. Williamson, sure to be everyone’s next dragon book obsession!

I highly recommend this book. I think this is a great book for those that have been on a dragon kick, and haven’t quite found something that satisfies them after reading the breakout hit Fourth Wing and the like. And while it is not a romantasy, as the romance is very much slow-burn sub-plot, the book truly does not need it, as it has so much fantastic content without needing a romance to help it stand on its own.

I wasn't able to open the book to read so this is getting a 3 star review for neutral cause what else am I supposed to do.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC.

“Forgiveness is suffering redeemed.”

This book was a 6 star read, I started it and couldn’t put it down (literally I read it in one sitting). Which has left me very upset because I already NEED the next book and the first one hasn’t even actually released yet. It was an amazing example of dark academia meets historical urban fantasy. The author has written characters you feel the realness in because the ‘evil’ isn’t some nameless boogie man but rather people thinking they are doing what is right regardless of the consequences or who it may hurt. The main character Viv could be any of us who have lived a privileged life unaware of the suffering around us. Her growth and set backs are a struggle anyone can relate to. This is a YA book but it is written in a way that even adults can enjoy and really sink into the story which can sometimes be hard when you are 20 years older than the characters. I will stay away from spoilers but if the premise sounds like you would enjoy the book and you want to read something that is heart wrenchingly authentic then pick this book up.

I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this book. There are a lot of storylines that aren't all fully fleshed out by the end of book - which I'm not going to judge yet since this is a series and many of the plots could be building for later payoff.

The characters were fairly two dimensional but enjoyable - except for the FMC, Viv, who is insufferable for quite a bit of the book. I know she's young and that's truly the only reason I didn't DNF. But her insistence on everything being black & white despite being straight up told from first hand accounts that it is not just got old.

Viv is also supposedly this master at languages yet she seemed to get thrown by seemingly simple linguistic things? Most of it was for the plot but it seemed odd that she can master so many languages but can't seem to grasp something like dialects.

The romance is very much a subplot and honestly could have been left out, I don't feel like it really added a lot to the story and seemed to be pointless by the end.

There are also quite a few religious mentions and while that likely won't bother most people - I wasn't a fan. It felt shoehorned in and really unnecessary and didn't add anything to the overall story.

The book is quite political and has the potential to be very cool in that aspect but honestly a lot of it didn't really make sense to me - the dragons and the humans seemed to be fighting for basically no reason? But then throw in a class system for the humans that you can move up and down if you're...smart? I don't know. I'm hoping that book two may answer a lot of the questions I have and/or flesh out the world a bit better.

I see a lot of comparisons to Fourth Wing and I'm not sure I understand why. The friend group is reminiscent of the friends in Fourth Wing and there are dragons and corrupt government officials - but anything beyond the surface level is completely different.

While I did have a lot of complaints about the book I did enjoy it enough to continue on with book 2 to give the series a fair shot at fleshing out the story some more

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

I tend to strongly dislike early 1900s period books and historical fiction... but add dragons and I'm going to have to give it a try.

The world is pretty normal 1920s London- but dragons are around and always have been. Humans and dragons are suppose to be living peacefully side by side BUT we are on the brink of war.
Ah yes, delectable political intrigue.

Our main character, Vivian, is not a perfect chosen one- she is realistically flawed and willing to do just about anything for her family (AKA a bit morally gray)
Did I mention a slow burn enemies to lovers (subplot) where our MMC is just as realistic?

A YA fast paced political intrigue/rebellion story with a romantic subplot, dragons, and a sprinkle of dark academia.
Give me book 2 and more dragons (please).

With a premise made just for me (Babel meets Dragons!) I went into this with the highest of hopes. With the caveat that this is for a YA audience, A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS did indeed give me some fun discussions of language and dragons that spoke and had zinger personalities. But packed tightly around these core elements were some narrative tropes and decisions that felt overly generic, to the point they almost didn’t seem to work with the plot at hand (the choice of male love interest, for example). I do think the book will appeal to YA readers (the target audience) at the intersection of DIVINE RIVALS and ERAGON. Would make a great high school book club selection.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an eARC of A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson in exchange for an honest review.

A fantastic debut from S.F. Williamson, sure to be everyone’s next dragon book obsession!

After a series of events lands our FMC, Vivian, as the Firestarter for a civil war across Britannia, Viv is given the opportunity to be punished for her war crimes, or work as a codebreaker in the war efforts. Though language is something she loves, she is put on a dangerous timeline to help the government win the war.

Now I haven’t read Babel by R.F. Kuang, but I’m going to blindly agree that this is Babel meets Dragons. The core of this book focuses on linguistics and code breaking dragon communication, which is such a unique and intriguing plot. Thankfully, it was also well executed. But the book is also so much more than that. It has politics, war, strong family bonds, secrets, lies, friendship, a sprinkle of romance, and a morally gray (but conflicted) FMC.

It was incredibly easy to get swept away by this book. You can really feel the authors love for linguistics (as they themselves are a linguist). There is also fantastic political intrigue that keeps you on your toes.

I do agree with some of the early critiques, such as the FMC being a bit unsufferable, but I also think she is a teenager that has been forced into some impossible situations. She is morally gray but she also looks introspectively at herself and wants to know if she is a good or bad person. I think it was very realistic for a teen that is experiencing the things that she goes through, so it barely bothered me. If anything, it was nice to have an FMC that isn’t perfect and always doing the right thing. I want to see more main characters be conflicted and make mistakes and question themselves.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. I think this is a great book for those that have been on a dragon kick over the last year, and haven’t quite found something that satisfies them after reading the breakout hit Fourth Wing. And while it is not a romantasy, as the romance is very much slow-burn sub-plot, the book truly does not need it, as it has so much fantastic content without needing a romance to help it stand on its own.

A Language of Dragons takes a super interesting take on linguistics and translation and incorporates all the best parts of political intrigue, corrupt governments, and rebellions and combines them in such a unique way. I also enjoyed the historical London setting, but wish it were incorporated a little more into the story.

What I really enjoyed was how flawed our main character is. Viv will do anything to protect her family, even at the cost of others. While some saw this as insufferable, I would imagine a lot of us would act the same if put in the same position. I also really enjoyed the corrupt government and political intrigue. Williamson also does a great job with the world-building. I was fully immersed in the world and was expected with each new piece that was introduced.

The reason this wasn't a 5 star read for me was there was a bit of a lull in the middle of the book when there was a heavy focus on linguistics. I think that's fine, it is important to the story, but it did take me a longer to get through that section. I also wish we could have seen more from the different side characters and the work they were assigned. I realize it was supposed to be secret, but I think it would have added to the story. I also wish we could have seen more interactions between the FMC and the love interest but their notes back and forth were really cute.

I really enjoyed this book was surprised to see it was a debut! I think it was a wonderful start to the series and can't wait for the next installment. S.F. Williamson is going to to be The author S.F. one to watch!

Despite this being marketed as YA, I definitely think adult audiences will enjoy this novel.

Thank you NetGalley and HaperCollins for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A riveting premise, with all the tropes that I love in a story. My only gripes are that the main character wasn't very compelling, and that the writing felt rather simplistic and leaned too heavy into the telling rather than showing. But I can definitely see other readers loving this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this ARC and give my honest review!

With the surge of romantasy on BookTok and with my middle school readers I have been on the hunt for these books that are appropriate for their age group. This book hits on everything I was looking for! It has the intrigue of dystopian novels with the romantasy of Fourth Wing! We need more books like this for the middle school and high school students in our lives.

I loved A Language of Dragons and read it compulsively. It was a different take on dragons, incorporating them into a version of our ordinary world, and I enjoyed reading about the different kinds of dragons and Viv's efforts to understand their language. Vivid characterization, great description and page-turning action.