Rating: 4/5
I received an ARC audio for my honest opinion.

This book was very interesting, I had a lot going for it and I really enjoyed the plot even though I was a little confused on some parts and others I was dying to know more about their world/ like a little more background. I felt as though I was missing information, and I would find myself going back and rereading the pages to see if I missed something. I did love the plot, and I can see where it will be going now, and it was nice getting to know the characters more.

I thought the world building was done well, like I said I do wish that we could have gotten a little bit of the history first, but I loved that it has dragons, secrets, politics, mystery, spies and so much more. I did think that the book started off a little bit slow but no worries it does pick up, the pace of the book was a good mix of fast and slow in all the right places. I was able to get the audio book, and I loved that we had different narrators for each POV of the character. It helped me a lot with being able to know whose POV it was. I liked that it followed three main characters, but you will find some great side characters throughout the book as well. Oh, and one really sassy dragon that I loved, I do wish that we could have met some more dragons but hopefully in the next book.

There are spicy scenes in the book, and I won’t lie it just felt out of place. Like it was added in but not in the right place at all but maybe later one it will talk about why it was placed there… I don’t know. I know that she is just a horny character and thinks about sex all the time or sexy thoughts all the time. I liked Naili's story, but I felt that is really all I knew about her character at the start, but the more the story went I got to see a different side to her. I loved Tesha’s character the most. You will see the tension of the situation that she got herself into and all the scenes that had you wanting to scream at her to be careful was a lot of fun. Ashadi is a character that I didn’t really like at first, but the more that he would pop up in the book he started to grow on me.

I liked the ending but at the same time I have so many questions and I hope that they will be answered in book two.

I want to thank NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the opportunity to review this book.

3.5-4 ⭐️ range

This is a ride. It took me a few chapters to get into it – I think I even asked another reader who was a bit ahead of me what was going on at one point. Three storylines that don’t feel related happen independently until they converge – this is intentional. Once I started to catch on, I was so happy I stuck with it. I loved the political aspects of this story. I also genuinely liked the MCs, Naili and Tesha more than Ash simply because we got more time with them. I’m looking forward to see where Madson takes this with book 2.

I’m grateful to the audiobook for having 3 narrators. I don’t think I would have successfully kept the POVs straight if one narrator had tackled this. The narration was good considering how heavy the world building is for book 1 from an epic fantasy author. Book 1s of fantasy series are hard to get readers to hold on simply because they usually take a LOT of brain power to sort through. This book is a good example of that.

Thank you to NetGalley, Devin Madson, Hachette Audio, and Orbit books for arc copies of this epic fantasy read.

FLEW through this excellent, incredible book. Tightly written, earnest, laugh-out-loud funny at several parts—one of the best fantasy books I've read in ages with incredible ans fun characters.

Book Review
Between dragons and their Wrath by Devin Madsen
Audiobook: Narrators: Lauren Fortgang, Ron Butler, Soneela Nankani

Firstly, I must acknowledge I was provided this audiobook in exchange for an honest review – thankyou Hachette.
Devin Madsen has a well deserved, stellar reputation as a writer of high fantasy, so I was very keen to review this audiobook. Unfortunately, whilst the book had many wonderful aspects, there were elements to the storytelling that frustrated me and made this book not entirely to my liking.
The story is told with three first person narrators. Tesha - a glassblower’s apprentice, Nalli - a laundry girl for an alchemist, and Ashadi - a Lord who serves as a dragon rider protecting the country. Listening to the novel, the first time the story switched between the female narrators, I was a little lost, but quickly realised what was going on and subsequent switches between narrators wasn’t a problem. This would not be an issue reading the book as each section is labelled with their names.
Madsen has created an original and interesting world where dragons have toughened glass scales and which abounds in detailed and intriguing back story and politics—all the makings of a great high fantasy.
However, each narrator has their own love interest. Now, this doesn’t sound like a bad thing; a lot of readers want some spice in their fantasy and there is good representation of the LGBTQ+ community. Yet the characters make unbelievable decisions, risking themselves for the sake of their libido, which makes the sex scenes (and there are MANY) often seem gratuitous. This is particularly true for the character of Nalli, who when we were first introduced to her seems attracted to virtually everybody she sees, and this drew my annoyance as being unrealistic. The number of sex scenes in the novel means that I’m not sure whether Madsen is trying to genre hop and produce something that is a mix of high fantasy and not quite romantasy and not quite erotica. Many readers are actually going to love this, but for me this slowed the pacing of the novel dramatically and as I read I kept wishing that the narrative would get back to the main political/scheming/the country is endangered plotline.
Listening to the book, there were times when certain phrases were repeated too often, which made me think that this was not the editor was not paying enough attention. Also, the relationship angst that each character went through became repetitive. Basically, for me, the love interest parts of the plot were too much too often.
The narration is superb –Soneela Nankani is one of my favourite narrators and I equally enjoyed the narration from Lauren Fortgang and Ron Butler.
Will I come back for round two in the next novel? Probably because I really enjoyed the other aspects of the novel a great deal. I loved the notion of dragons with toughened glass scales and the world history that was being fed gradually into the narrative was excellent.

3.5 stars

*** Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn't finish this book. The audiobook production was done well; however, I can't honestly recommend reading this book solely as an audiobook. The book was narrated with a very dramatic tone. I don't own the physical version, but I wouldn't be surprised if the dialogue was filled with italicized words punctuated with nothing but exclamation points.

I probably could've pushed through despite the narrator's chosen tone, but the culture and politics of the world were difficult for me to picture. I'm not sure whether it was that I was only listening to the story or if it was the writing style, but I could not wrap my mind around it.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

DNF’d the audiobook

All I will say is that I think it was just the case of my not connecting with the narrators.

I will, however, give the actual physical book a shot.

Ok first of all this ends in a cliffhanger so as I was finally getting into the book the narration ended and I was in my car going what??! No!
I think the next book in these series may be a little easier to get into now that all the characters have been differentiated.
This book does have a lot going on. Politics, dragons, poison, oppression, insult brides………
Go into it knowing it will probably take until the halfway point to get your attention and figure out what is happening.
Not a bad book at all, just very heavy, long and with multiple POVS.
I received a ALC from NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Orbit has a sensational success on their hands with Between Dragons and Their Wrath. Tesha, Naili, and Ashati are easy to cheer for and well-balanced with realistic vulnerabilities and flaws. The three main characters never meet in this first installment, but their plots are excellently interwoven. Madson delivers exemplary political intrigue that keeps readers on their toes and gradually raises the protagonists' stakes higher and higher. With strong world-building, delicious secrets being unearthed, and discrimination presented in way that deeply resonates with contemporary, real-world issues, this series is sure to be as treasured as Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Plus a dash of steam and slow burn romance ;)

I was excited when I read the title and premise of this book, especially because dragons have slowly but progressively made their way into one of my favorite, almost all the time auto by, plots. This book has a decent amount of characters and dragons, but I felt characters lacked a little more depth. For a bit I was having a hard time distinguishing them but was able to pull through. It was a decently paced story and Im hopeful it will continue, especially with how it ended. The audio of the book was well done and made me a new fan of one of the narrators.

4⭐️ for overall story / 4⭐️ for overall audiobook performance

Overall, I really enjoyed this story, but I will say, I don't think the title of this book matched the content of what was actually in here. Based on how the story ended and what we're being led to, it seems like this title might have been better as the book 2 title ? But again, I liked it. We just didn't get nearly the amount of dragon action I would have expected, considering the title. But we did get some decent action in other ways, some bits of magic, a good bit of world politics...this book definitely laid some good framework for the future.

I found myself wanting more world-building in this, but what we got was decent. I did feel like the descriptions of things in this was a little lacking, especially with the type of content we were getting. For example, I felt like I couldn't really picture what different people looked like (aside from the tattoos on certain people) or what Ashadi's dragon, Shuala, looked like or even how big she was compared to him. I also felt like this story had a somewhat slow start, but that's kind of to be expected with a new series, so I don't consider that a negative necessarily. Now I will say, I was only reading the audiobook format and quite often, things are lost to me if I'm not tandem reading with the physical/ebook, so this world-building/description lacking opinion could partially be due to me just missing some of it.

After reading this I felt like a lot of Tesha's background was missing and I wanted more. I did like her character, I thought she was smart and cunning, but I also didn't like the fact that she kept denying herself of true happiness (felt like). Naili's character seemed to be a giant horn-dog and also a little dense. It always seemed like she just had no clue what was going on. I also wanted more background on her. The scene with the alchemist seemed awkward and unnecessarily placed, in my opinion. I love a good spicy scene, but that one just seemed plopped in for no real reason. Ash was my fave; Ash and Mana's dynamic was GIVING and I wanted so much more of them! I'm very excited to see where and how things go for them. It also felt like Ash and Mana's portion of the story was more fleshed out and more complete, if that makes sense. Obviously their story is just getting started, but I didn't feel as confused by their background or what was happening in their immediate future as with the other 2 characters.

The audiobook performance for this was really good, though I thought the FNs did a little better at character accent/tonal changes better than the MN. I was already familiar with Soneela Nankani (Naili), but I believe Lauren Fortgang (Tesha) and Ron Butler (Ashadi) were new-to-me narrators. All did a good job, though and made the listening experience a great one. I'd definitely recommend the audio and look forward to the next book.

Recommendation:
So overall I would recommend this book, especially the audiobook. I'm giving the caveat though that this is NOT a dragon book. The story might become that eventually, but this first book in the series is definitely not that. Dragons are a tiny sliver of this, but not to the extent that the title implies. So just know that going into it. I do hope certain aspects of the story and pieces of the plot start to pick up a little more in the next book. Enjoy and happy reading friends! 🤙🏼💕

Thank you to Hachette Audio and NetGalley for an early copy of this audiobook. This review is my honest feedback and given voluntarily.

I got this as an audiobook arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. It took me a while to get into this but when I did it I got INVESTED. The queer bits are queering, the intrigue is intriguing, please just give me the next book. If you struggle with auditory processing like me, you might struggle a bit more with the male narrator, but otherwise the narrators keep the excitement alive.

This was an intriguing fantasy book with all the elements that will make for an excellent series. There are a fair number of characters and points of view to keep track of which was made much easier in the audiobook thanks to the incredible audio narration skills of Soneela Nankani, Lauren Fortgang & Ron Butler.

Any book with dragons will catch my interest but this one kept my interest throughout even when we weren’t with the dragon or her rider.

With this book you will get alchemical magic gone awry (or did it?), complex political intrigue, angsty forbidden romance subplots with a world balanced on the edge of a glass shard about to tip into all out chaos.

Devin Madsen, seemingly effortlessly, builds a complex and beautiful world with intriguing characters and a complex plot. The relationships between the characters are well written with subtlety and care.

I’m waiting on the edge of my seat for book two already!

Thank you NetGalley & Hatchette Audio for the audio ARC.

Longer Review to follow.

Disjointed and hard to follow through the multiple POVs.
Characters deep and real, story interesting.
Too few Dragons

I have had Devin Marden on my TBR for a while now, so was excited to get a chance to read this audiobook. The narration really worked for me.

I found this a big book in terms of complexity for a high fantasy series, there is a wide range of cast and a big set up. There are noble houses, political tensions, and mysterious circumstances. The book swaps between perspectives of several major characters. Tesha is a glassblower who ends up in a political marriage trying to bring down an oppressive government from within, Naili is a laundress for an alchemist who ends up under strange magic, along with her coworkers, and she is desperate for a solution for herself and her friends, and Ashadi is a dragon rider who discovers something he’s not supposed to know about in the desert.

On a personal level, I would have liked the pacing to be slightly quicker, but I recognise that the foundations needed to be in place for the depth of the story to really come across, and the individual people were all intriguing and I wanted to spend more time with them. I will definitely be looking forward to the rest of the series.

This is NOT how lesbians behave. They are not predatory.

The storyline was a mess. I couldn’t relate to the characters. The writing was okay however, the book ended abruptly.

The narrator did do a good job!

On the verge of war, nothing is as it seems. Caught in a game of intrigue Tesha finds herself married to the brother of the highest royal. Ash and his dragon are shot down and he finds himself trying to learn who is keeping a big secret before his reputation is ruined. Naili finds herself beholden to radicals. As all three characters lives intertwine can they learn the truth and avert war? Interesting story with good narration.

The worldbuilding is rich and lively. The mystery around the dragons is intriguing and I'm looking forward to there being more dragon lore in the next book. Each narrator handled their MC's and subsequent side characters with natural ease. They each were a joy to listen to.

Between Dragons and wrath is a new epic fantasy told from multiple POV. Each character is from different status and roles in life. As with most high fantasy books there is political strife between countries and monsters that must be defeated. We have Tesha, a glassblower who becomes a tribute bride placing her in court to be able to sabotage them. Then there is Naili, a laundress who is awakening to new powers that could potentially change the world. And last there is Ash a dragon rider who fights monsters and has to protect his own dragon from the new dragon hunters.

I received an ARC for the audiobook version of this book. It was very nice that each character was a different actor. That made it easy to go between the different POVs. Each actor did really well and brought each character to life. I did want a little more from Ash's story since he does deal with the dragon's but his story fell a little flat to me no fault to the actor though. The actors kept my attention for the whole book so I didn't feel lost at all.

The story is a little slow in getting started but once it does, it is an exciting ride.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC for the audiobook Between Dragon and wrath.

I really struggled with this one because I really wanted to love it because I loved the idea of it but ultimately I was really having a hard time keeping up with who was who and what was happening. The tone switched a lot and there were so many moving parts it became really hard to distinguish between characters. I think the world was really interesting and held a lot of promise and that’s why I’m not rating it lower.

For fans of:
- The Sky on Fire

I highly recommend this book to all lovers of dragons, magical mysteries, and/or complex politics.

This book includes:
- dragons, dragons, dragons
- 3 distinct POVs, each with their own story
- arranged marriage
- class disparity/class consciousness
- LGBT representation
- twins

"Between Dragons and Their Wrath" took me completely by surprise. What a fantastic journey, full of complex characters and political scheming. I really enjoyed following three very distinct characters (with very different personalities and goals) through their separate journeys while trying to puzzle out how it would all come together. There are so many satisfying twists to this plot line and EVERYONE has secrets/schemes. I also enjoyed the themes of class disparity, racism, exploitation of vulnerable identities, and ethnic cleansing. Often I see books with "rebel" plotlines ignore this aspect of political corruption, but the author does not shy away from these topics. This book manages to subtly force readers to reflect on these topics, while still being entertaining and engaging.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, Orbit, and Devin Madson for the opportunity to review this book. This review is also available on my GoodReads - check out my profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863