I loved the heroine Sorrowlynn and thought her prince was perfect for her. The story included plenty of adventure, prophecy, and romance. I had no preconceived notions when I recieved the book and I'm glad for that--the author built a unique world here and gave our imperfect princess some mighty big odds to surmount...that aren't completely "surmounted" by the book's ending.

Can't wait for Book 2!

Filled with plenty of action and a romance that will make your heart swoon, The Dragon's Price is an excellent start to the new Transference series. It's an epic fantasy following a sheltered princess who makes a choice that will change everything. With gorgeous world building, the two kingdoms are distinct and with detail. The dragons!! The story is fast-paced with a few great twists. There is a very sweet romance, but the book doesn't fail to bring the battle and fight scenes. The cliffhanger is just evil, though! I'll be sitting here awaiting book two. I highly recommend to readers of YA fantasy.

One bad thing about reviewing a book before it comes out is that I have to wait EVEN LONGER for the sequels. Sigh.

This book was great. It did have a bit of insta-love going on, which normally I hate, but this time it worked for me.

It was very fast paced, which will probably appeal to people who aren't as practiced in the fantasy field (for some reason, people who read a lot of fantasy are more used to things taking longer. I blame it on amazing authors like Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson who are experts at drawing out the tension). So, if you read a lot of fantasy, the pacing on this might feel a little rushed to you. There's a lot going on, and there's pretty constant action, which is perfect for people who like their fantasy to move along. At times I found myself vacillating between wanting things to slow down for a bit and wanting them to push forward so I would find out what happens next.

I noticed a few errors in my copy, that I'm guessing/hoping they'll fix before it's actually printed. For example, she has a revelation about how killing a dragon transfers over a certain ability, and then later, she's shocked by the same revelation. There were other errors as well with formatting, so that's one of the hazards of reading a pre-pub.

I did really like the characters, especially Golmarr, who is very kind and galant. I liked watching Sorrowlyn grow into a capable young woman.

Over all, it was a fun read that I won't mind rereading to prepare for the future books in the trilogy.

The Dragon’s Price was an impulse request on Netgalley. Cynthia brought it to my attention on a recent podcast and I was in the mood for some generic Fantasy. Plus, who doesn’t love a good dragon story? I didn’t have high expectations going in, and I am glad I didn’t. If I had been really looking forward to this novel, I might have had a much harder time reading it.

I was hoping this book would be a girl power filled fantasy romp. After all, the blurb suggested that instead of pledging herself to an arranged marriage, Sorrowlyn chooses to face a dragon. I also found the idea of a matriarchal society to be promising. Sadly, while the crown passes from mother to daughter, the Queen’s Husband rules in her stead. It was clear quite early on that this novel was not going to appease my appetite for powerful female characters. In fact, she doesn’t even truly choose the dragon. She makes the claim initially, but when Golmarr, the youngest son of the Horse King, steps forward and offers to marry her, she instantly accepts. And, of course, when she is informed that her first choice stands and she is to be fed to the dragon, Golmarr goes into the abyss with her. She is a damsel in distress, after all. Princes can’t resist that.

Don’t worry. She doesn’t remain a damsel forever, but her development is extremely sudden. One moment she is the lonely girl who has sacrificed herself to a dragon and the next she is a warrior. There is a plot line that explains it. So, it isn’t completely out of place. That said, I would have preferred to see it progress slower throughout the novel. As it stands the character’s growth plateau’s less than half way through the book, and since the novel is in first person the characters around her suffer a similar fate.

Golmarr is your average knight in shining armor disguised as a Dothraki. If you are unfamiliar with The Song of Ice and Fire series or Game of Thrones, the Dothraki are known to be fierce warriors who breed strong horses and their men measure their prowess by the length of their hair. All of the above applies to the Antharian Prince. The Dothraki are, however, far more brutal than the Horse Clan featured here. While Golmarr fits the description on the outside, he is your typical fairy tale prince on the inside. He offers to marry a girl he has had two conversations with because he feels sorry for her and then when that falls through and she is lowered into a pit as dragon food, he follows her. Again, out of pity. Oh, and then when they manage to survive the dragon fight, which he was unconscious for a significant part of, he takes all the credit.

Their romance is essentially insta-love. The author attempts to combat this by stating that Golmarr only offers himself as Sorrow’s betrothed because he pities her. It is quite clear that he does not love her. But, once they are alone with the dragon that is forgotten. He moons over her, she drools over him, and they are committed to each other before they leave the Dragon’s lair. Having known each other for just a few days at this point, the entire relationship feels forced. And since the majority of the novel (including the extremely predictable plot twist at the end) focuses on their love, I found myself losing interest around the halfway mark.

What drove me to finish the novel (aside from the fact that I hate to leave books unfinished) was the interesting concept of the Dragon’s Treasure. Now, we have all heard the stories of dragons and their hoards. In this tale, the treasure passes immediately from the dragon to the person who slayed it. Standard, right? Wrong. Dragons in this world don’t hoard gold and jewels. Their treasure is less tangible and can be anything. I was intrigued by the concept, but the portrayal of the dragons got in the way. I wanted them to be terrifying. Instead they were about as scary as the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk. You know they want to eat you because they told you so a million times… in the cheesiest way possible.

If you are looking for a quick and easy read on a Saturday afternoon and do not mind that the characters aren’t believable or that the dialogue is cringe-worthy, then this might be for you. Unfortunately, it really didn’t do anything for me.

The Dragon’s Price is the absolutely sensational latest release by Bethany Wiggins and is an incredibly addictive romantic adventure that will steal your heart from the opening chapter and not let it go! This story will leave you breathless!

Princess Sorrowlyn has just turned sixteen and in her in family that means making a choice; offering herself in marriage to the heir of a neighbouring kingdom or offering herself as sacrifice to a fire breathing dragon instead. Centuries before, Sorrowlyn’s ancestor and the Antharian King united to stop a deadly enemy that was attacking both their lands with the warring Kings vowing to marry their heirs in order to keep the dragon imprisoned. Generations later, this tradition that continued with the offer being made on the day of every Faodarian princess’s sixteenth birthday. Until sheltered princess Sorrowlyn shocks everyone by choosing death by the dragon over a forced marriage to a barbarian prince. Lowered down into the dragons cave, Sorrowlyn prepares for death until the young prince she spurned chooses to join her instead, beginning a journey neither Sorrowlyn nor prince Golmarr could have ever predicted…..

I absolutely adored The Dragon’s Price. Adored it! I honestly can’t say it enough. Bethany Wiggins has always thrilled me in the past and The Dragon’s Price is no exception with this fantastic tale capturing my total attention and imagination as soon as I begun reading it. The Dragon’s Price really does have it all--dragons, magic, battles, adventure, dashing, swoon worthy romance….there’s nothing this story doesn’t have!

Well written and in the vein of The Princess Bride, The Dragon’s Price is such a thrilling read. Featuring a heroine who starts out sheltered and innocent, a product of having spent her life hidden away, The Dragon’s Price features a wonderful character dynamic, especially the blossoming relationship between main character Sorrowlyn and her love interest Golmarr.

Sorrowlyn is a lovely young woman who, as a princess, is used to having people waiting on her. She’s been taught a woman’s place is to be seen not heard, and certain actions and desires are not proper, but there’s a fire (no pun intended) inside Sorrow that makes it evident that she is stronger than her station has made her feel, something Wiggins explores beautifully throughout the novel. Personally, I really loved Sorrowlyn. She was a sweetheart who was actually very strong and brave. She made choices and took chances in The Dragon’s Price that paid off. She grows a lot it only one instalment and brought a smile to my face repeatedly as she struggled to reconcile what she’d been taught with what she was coming to feel and believe. I loved the changes in her and can only imagine where Bethany Wiggins plans to take her still!

There were a lot of fantastic moments between Sorrowlyn and Golmarr. I mean, can I just say that Golmarr may be the perfect man? Fierce prince, but kind-hearted individual with a cheeky nature and protective and nurturing side where Sorrowlyn is concerned. I love the closeness that developed between Sorrowlyn and Golmarr over time. The innocent touches for comfort and the easy way they began to lean on and support the other was so sweet. Oh, and I loved the passionate moments and cheeky way Golmarr would interact with Sorrowlyn too—it was the perfect balance of cocky teasing with a purpose that didn’t come on sleazy in any way.

One of my favourite books of 2017 so far, A Dragon’s Price features an amazing storyline and a wonderful romance. Don’t let the deceptive cover fool you—it doesn’t do the story justice with an incredible gem inside it. I highly recommend The Dragon’s Price and am dying to get my hands on the next book in this brand new series from Bethany Wiggins that couldn’t have been any more perfect!

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I started this book as one of those books just to read before bed one night until I fell asleep, except that I fell completely under its spell from the very beginning and read straight through the night until I finished it after 3AM. I couldn't stop swiping the pages on my kindle, even when my blinks turned into three-minute-long catnaps. I don't normally give up my sleep for anything, so you know this book had to be something special.

Packed with plenty of heart-pounding action and swoon, this first installment of the Transference series held me mesmerized. Bethany Wiggins definitely has piqued my interest, and I'm certainly looking forward to more of what she has to offer with these books.

♥ Review: I really loved the characters. Our heroine is headstrong, yet naive. Her demeanor made her very likable, and I truly enjoyed the growth of her character. As for our hero, Golmarr, oh sweet sparkly pandas did this boy charm the hell out of me. He was funny and feisty, so damn strong and charismatic. I love a guy that can make me laugh, and he had me smothering my cackles in my pillow so I didn't wake up my husband. Together, these two fell hard and fast for one another, but considering the dire circumstances they were under, I don't feel like it was too insta-lovish. Mostly, these two together were hella adorable and I swooned my freaking face off. Aside from them, there were some really great secondary characters, particularly Golmarr's family. Honestly, I get a little giddy every time I think about getting more of them in the next installment.

Together this duo battles some pretty formidable foes, and yes, I'm talking about dragons. DRAGONS, people! It made for interesting plot developments with some unique aspects that I've never heard of before, especially the whole transference element. That was very intriguing. The ending was a bit frustrating in a way that totally seemed necessary, and it also insured that I'll absolutely be on the hunt for the sequel! Gimme, and gimme as soon as freaking possible, please and thank you!

If I had a tiny little gripe, it would be that some of the pacing felt a little wonky in spots, particularly when it transitioned from the action scenes to what would be considered down time. It isn't anything that messed with the overall flow of the story though, so I didn't find it to be too much of an issue.

♥ Teaser Quote: I had so much highlighted text on my kindle, especially dialogue exchanges between Sorrow and Golmarr.
He cups the side of my face in his hand and runs his callused thumb over my bottom lip. My breath catches in my throat as I stare into his eyes. Taking my hand, he places it against his chest, in the space where his shirt hangs open, so my palm is flat against his warm skin. I can feel his heart beating slow and steady. "I want you to feel what you do to my heart when I kiss you, Sorrowlynn." With those words, my blood begins pumping so fast that my head starts to spin.
He puts both of his strong hands on my hips, and I can feel them there, warm and firm through the lightweight fabric of my skirt. Moving his face down to meet mine, he pauses and looks into my eyes, his lips hovering above my own. "You're going to want to hold on," he whispers.
– quote taken from the eARC of The Dragon's Price at 68%


♥ Rec It? Abso-freaking-lutely! I'm going to need everyone to read this book! But I'm calling dibs on Golmarr (and probably the rest of his family, too!). Give me more because I certainly haven't had my fill of these characters or this world yet!

I love it when a book captures my attention from the first page. The writing was gripping and the characters were compelling. There was action from the beginning and I just flew through it. The premise sounded right up my alley with a princess sacrificing herself to a dragon instead of being forced into marriage. Little did she know a Prince would follow her into the dragon cave to help her escape. I love dragon stories and this book didnt disapoint.

I was also living for that cute romance. It wasnt insta love which I really appreciated. Golmarr has made onto my small list of book boyfriends which is saying something because Im really picky. He was just so caring and the furthest thing from controlling. He would let her take charge. He was protective but encouraged her to be independent. Simply perfect. I dont remember the last time I totally fangirled like this. I also really loved getting to know his family.

Despite being mistreated by her parents her whole life, Princess Sorrowlyn was brave and headstrong. If sacrificing yourself to a dragon isnt brave I dont know what is. She has been shunned by her family and her people as Suicide Sorrow since birth because she was prophecized to die by her own hand. I loved her spirit and her urge to rebel against how shes been taught to behave. I loved reading from her perspective because I connected with her easily.

I love all the other characters as well, especially Enzio. I even felt bad for the dragons but I thought those visions and all that knowledge was exciting. I dont think theres any part of this book that I didnt like. Where has this book been all my life. I was completely immersed in the story while reading. I felt like I was there in the dark cave and beautiful glass forest. I was shocked in the best possible way with some of the twist and turns. I think I might spontaneously combust if I have to wait a year for the sequel.

Let's look at the cover.. *looks at it* ... or rather lets not!
It's - well kindly put- not exactly going to draw all the cover sluts out there.
BUT please simply ignore it. Because the book is much better than the cover leads to believe (a cover slut like me anyway)
I can proudly and rather smugly say, that I chose this book, due to the summary.
I've never read anything by Wiggins so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The entire book is told from Sorrowlynn's POV in first person. And at the beginning I wasn't sure if I am going to enjoy it, because I wasn't quite sure about the writing style. But very soon I was pulled in by the story and totally captivated. I am not quite sure how I feel about the writing style. I can't say I adore it but neither do I dislike it. I am however not able to put my finger on what exactly doesn't quite work for me. I am admittedly fussy about writing style, so I am guess in it is a case of it wasn't you, it's me...
But this is the only thing, I can say that isn't quite fantastic!

Because the storyline is great. It's fast paced, has quite a few nice twists and is surprising, in that it strays from the usual usual, when you least expect it. The romance as example. I thought- yet here we go, a full on insta-everything coming our way... But that doesn't happen. Rather, from attraction comes companionship, friendship and love. I couldn't wait for the first kiss!!

The character building absolutely shines. I think I love this books so much because of it. In my mind it is completely character driven. Yet in fact it really isn't. We get to know the two MCs pretty well. And I changed my mind about them both - at first in fact I was not a fan of Sorrow to say the least. But somehow, she endeared herself to me. In fact I very quickly sympathised with her. I like Golmarr way better from the beginning, but I didn't expect the depth of his characters we got to see so fast.
I am totally in love with both of them and I am desperate to see what happens for them next.
But my biggest surprise was the dragons and their character building. It's so brilliant. They feel like alien beings and yet I get them! So well done.
I feel like I understand and know the support cast, which is extensive.

Which brings me to the world building. I simply adore it! It's brilliant. I love the different kingdom's, how we discover their histories. I love their different cultures and enjoyed the different realms.
As the story unfolds we get to discover past reasons, the truth about dragons and more. It's so well done. I ended putting the book aside for a day before reading the last chapters. I simply didn't want it to end.
The idea of the transference is simply genius. Add all the little details Wiggins carefully constructed and we have this amazing and intriguing world! Just brilliant

So for me this is a MUST read fantasy. A good storyline, great character building and fabulous world building make this a wonderful start of the series
Can't wait for the next book

This book was really hard to follow. I just couldn't get into this book. I will try to give it another try though.

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***

The Dragon's Price by Bethany Wiggins
Book One of the Transference series
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 21, 2017
Rating: 4 stars
Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Fans of Julie Kagawa’s Talon and Renee Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn will devour this action-packed fantasy adventure about a girl who chooses to surrender herself to a deadly dragon rather than marry an enemy prince.

When two warring kingdoms unified against a deadly menace laying waste to both their lands, they had to make a choice: vow to marry their heirs to one another, or forfeit their lives to the dragon.

Centuries later, everyone expects the sheltered princess Sorrowlynn to choose the barbarian prince over the fire-breathing beast—everyone, that is, except Sorrow, who is determined to control her own destiny or die trying.

As she is lowered into the dragon’s chamber, she assumes her life is over until Golmarr, the young prince she just spurned, follows her with the hopes of being her hero and slaying the dragon. But the dragon has a different plan. . . .

If the dragon wins, it will be freed from the spell that has bound it to the cave for centuries. If Sorrow or Golmarr vanquish the dragon, the victor will gain its treasure and escape the cave beneath the mountain. But what exactly is the dragon hiding?

There are no safe havens for Sorrow or Golmarr—not even with each other—and the stakes couldn’t be higher as they risk everything to protect their kingdom.

What I Liked:

The Dragon's Price is the first novel by Bethany Wiggins that I've read. I've seen her other Young Adult novels but they never caught my eye like this book. I'm a huge fan of YA fantasy, especially any fantasy dealing with dragons. "Good" dragons, "bad" dragons, I don't care. This novel is the first of a trilogy, and it follows the story of Princess Sorrowlynn.

Princess Sorrowlynn is the fourth and last daughter of the king and queen of Faodara. The Faodaran princesses are required to sacrifice themselves to keep an ancient spell at bay. The spell holds the fire dragon in the mountain; the sacrifice is to marry the heir of the throne of Anthar, or be fed to the dragon. On the day of the Mountain Binding, Sorrowlynn shocks everyone and chooses to be fed to the fire dragon, rather than marry the 42-year-old heir of the Antharian throne. But everyone is even more shocked when Prince Golmarr, the youngest prince of Anthar and the Antharian that has made her feel most comfortable since they arrived at her home, follows her down into the mountain. Golmarr is not a barbaric Antharian like Faodarans are taught to believe - in fact, he is kind and noble. Sorrowlynn and Golmarr must face the fire dragon, or die trying.

One of the things that sticks out the most to me is Sorrowlynn's character development, from start to finish. In the beginning, she is a scared, soft, weak girl (sorry!). She is terrified of the Mountain Binding, and she doesn't know how to stand up for herself. Her parents hate her, because her fate is to die by her owns hands. She doesn't want to marry the heir of Anthar, but she also doesn't want to be fed to the dragon. And she certainly doesn't want to be trapped in a lonely, miserable, sheltered life with her parents, who abhor her.

But after she is lowered into the cave of the mountain, things start to change. She and Golmarr fight to stay alive, and Sorrowlynn, while still a weak, soft girl, slowly becomes stronger. She is no longer a pampered, scared princess - she shows more assertion and backbone, and she stops cowering in fear when her and Golmarr's lives are in danger. By the end of the book, she is so much stronger (both mentally and physically), and she is ready to take on all the dragons in the world to find what she is looking for (not going to spoil that!).


While this book is written exclusively in Sorrowlynn's first-person POV, Golmarr is easily as important to the story as Sorrowlynn. Golmarr and Sorrowlynn interact a little bit before the Mountain Binding, and there is mutual affection. Golmarr goes after her in the mountain to protect her and slay the dragon for her. Golmarr is such a sweetie! He is honorable and completely selfless - such a gentleman. He is incredibly courageous and would have done almost anything to protect Sorrowlynn. To me, Golmarr steals the show, and he is the character that the story most benefited from having. I liked Sorrowlynn, but I adored Golmarr. He is a warrior, a horse lord, a prince, and an honorable man.


The fantasy world is nothing really new, but the author does a good job of creating and describing all of the parts and pieces to the setting, the history, and the magic. At first I was a little confused about why the Mountain Binding was necessary, but the history of the spell and the fire dragon was explained in detail within the story. There are six (I think six?) kingdoms that are all at odds (you know the deal), and there are different dragons that are not at peace with humans. The fire dragon is contained by the mountain and a spell shared by the Faodaran and Antharian people, but there is also the glass dragon, in the Glass Forest - this dragon becomes important.

On that note, we do get to understand why the series is called the Transference series! That's really important in the story. I don't want to say why though! The dragons are NOT human-friendly dragons, and that is important too.

I don't want to get into too much detail in terms of the plot, because things will get spoiler-y in a hurry. BUT I will say that Golmarr and Sorrowlynn are not trapped in the mountain with the fire dragon for the entire book. In fact, they're there for about half of the book. The second half of the book is more interesting to me, though there is a lot of important development (character, plot, romance) while under the mountain.

There is romance, and it's sweet! Golmarr is a sweetheart and Sorrowlynn is a kitten with claws. Their personalities mesh well together - Sorrowlynn clearly is no docile girl (despite seeming weak), and Golmarr is a fierce yet kind warrior prince. The romance develops pretty quickly, but the physical side of things is very slow-burn. There were a lot of swoony moments in the second half of the book! I like how honest and open with each other the pair was. Also: no love triangle! (Something I like mention in all of my reviews, if there is a love triangle or not.)

The climax is something that you see coming, and there was a little bit of dread mixed into my anticipation of the climax. The ending is a bit cruel but also hopeful at the same time. This book is part of a trilogy, so I understand why the book ended the way it did. It isn't a permanently cruel ending, so I'm (mostly) fine with it. It could have been worse.

Overall, I liked the book! There were some things that I didn't love, which I'll discuss below.

What I Did Not Like:

One of the first things I noticed was that there is some seriously cheesy dialogue in this book. It wasn't all of the dialogue, all of the time, but you notice it when you see it and it's cringe-worthy. I was a little surprised by how much cheesy dialogue there was! This is the author's fourth book, but the writing felt like that of a debut author (though, that's not quite fair of me to say, because some debut authors have BEAUTIFUL writing. Stephanie Garber, for example!).

I also didn't love the ending, as I mentioned above. I'm not going to fuss over it because I know it's not permanent, but still, it was a little bittersweet. You can't see me but I'm pouting right now. If the author messes up ____... I'm going to be very upset. Ugh, trilogies!

Would I Recommend It:

Yes and no - I have a love/hate relationship with YA trilogies. YA trilogies are the worst because there are cliffhangers and messy plots and sometimes even messy romances, and everything drags out over three books, which could be three or more years or waiting.

In this book's case, I do highly recommend this book. This series though? I might wait to binge-read the books when they all publish. This one ends on a cliffhanger, and I imagine book two will as well. I really do not like YA trilogies anymore!

But like I said, I do recommend this book. It was great, and it felt fairly short so it was a quick read. Plus, evil dragons? We find a lot of "good" dragons in YA literature, but not necessarily bad ones. I thought that was a cool aspect!

Rating:

4 stars. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from this series! In book two, I would like to see more evil dragons, more history on the dragon's magic, and a looooot more kissing between Golmarr and Sorrowlynn.

3 stars!

This is one of those rare moments where I wanted to rate the book with 3.5 stars. And I don't do half stars. I was between 3 and 4 stars but I went for 3 in the end.

First of all the book needed someone to cut all the info dump. There are several scenes in which the characters just stand there reciting history and facts. If there was a prologue with a brief history description, it would have been a clever way for the story to be presented and not have the characters pointlessly talking to each other like they're doing their history homework.

But anyway.

The story starts with Sorrowlynn meeting her future husband as part of an ancient magical biding between her country and his. The details of that deal were not perfectly clear or served a purpose, it was more like a punishment/blackmail thing than anything.

The wedding stuff reminded me of Game of Thrones to be honest. The princess that is forced to marry a barbarian who arrives on a horse and has a approve of her, dragons and magical realms. It had a lot of plot holes and it felt unevenly paced at times but the action part, the dragon killing and the transition process was legit. It kept me reading till I finished it and that was a plus.

The romance part got better the second half, the heroine basically almost died because she can't tell when someone is being sarcastic or is messing with her. I mean, really? And then there was a love triangle wanting to happen but thankfully didn't develop into anything.

What I hated was the overly used prophecy trope and the bad parenting.

Overall I enjoyed it and it kept me hooked till the end, still, it needs a final read through to reach its full potential.

3.5 stars. This was a pretty great dragon book! Lots of fun, tons of action. I thought the pacing was a little uneven- it starts off on an exciting note and keeps the setting moving, but that means lots of walking/exploring/camping scenes, which get old after awhile for me. It also read slowly for some reason; I felt like I was making so much progress and not much % would have changed. I will say that around 30% in, I had no idea where the story was going, in a good way! The dragon mythology felt fresh and interesting to me and I enjoyed the characters a lot. It's all a little fast (8 days!) and a little instalovey but Sorrowlynn and Golmarr had great chemistry and really suit each other. He also appreciates her for all the right reasons, which is a relief. The dialogue was stilted at times but I really enjoyed the second half of the book especially and need to know what happens in the sequel. It leaves you wanting more without being an awful cliffhanger.

I will admit to being completely wary about this book. It was only until a friend pushed it on me by sending me photos of the swoony dialogue that made me request it.

And man, she was right.

Love love love Sorrowlynn. Sure, she starts out as a pampered princess, but that quickly changes. I truly loved that she took control of her destiny when it came time. As for Golmarr, I don't even know where to start. He's swoony af, but more importantly, he trusts Sorrowlynn completely. He doesn't try to save her, he treats her as an equal and just adores her. I couldn't get enough of them.

The fantasy plot line isn't hard to follow. There aren't eleventy billion characters or countries. Plus there are dragons. I was captivated from the first page and seriously started dragging my feet when the ending was coming.

I know it'll be a book I reread often and I can't wait for the next book.

**Huge thanks to Crown Books and NetGalley for providing the arc free of charge**

I was most graciously given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really having a hard time with this one, you see, I really wanted to love this book, but instead I just ended up kind of liking it. While the author takes a new spin on the Dragon Fantasy Tale, there isn't much more that is original about this book. The characters are a little bit too predictable, and unfortunately while the beginning half of the book was action-packed and almost a little dark, the second half of the book was frighteningly dull and somewhat choppy. We ended up with characters who acted completely opposite of how they started. Overall, it was a good attempt, but it just wasn't something I fell in love with.

Can I say how much I love this book? We get romance, adventure, a handsome horse clan prince and DRAGONS! It really sucks how Sorrow's parents treated her but about almost halfway through the book you find out why they treated her like that. Not that it excuses why they did so. Golmarr was so sweet but also a bad ass prince. I really enjoyed the unique aspect of the transference of power after she gets rid of the fire dragon. This book is definitely worth picking up once it has been released. I'm ready for book two now please.

Rating: 4½ stars out of 5

Sorrowlynn has been destined to die at her own hand. So when presented with the choice of either marrying a barbarian prince or being fed to a fire-breathing dragon – she chooses the dragon. Only the barbarian prince she was hoping to escape follows her into the cave. Golmarr, sees Sorrowlynn and instantly loves her. He will do anything to protect her, even vanquish a dragon.

Verdict: This YA read is the beginning of a new trilogy by Bethany Wiggins. So to be absolutely honest, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I loved the premise, and for the most part loved the plot despite being predictable. For some reason I’m a sucker for a book with a heroine who chooses to face danger than just going with the status quo. I also have a thing for barbarian princes. Something about them just screams ‘he man’. I just wish the penmanship and the character development was done better. The way this was written made it read mostly like a middle grade book with YA situations. As for character development, it just seemed like everything instantly happened making Sorrowlynn and Golmarr a bit one dimensional.

I seriously loved this book so much! I cannot wait for more.

Faodarian princess Sorrowlynn has reached the age of sixteen and must take part in the Mountain Binding which preserves the peace and keeps the Fire Dragon bound inside the mountain. She has a choice, sort of. She will be offered to the Antharian heir to the throne. She can choose him or be fed to the dragon. If the heir refuses her, a lamb will be given to the dragon and she will be able to return home. It sounds like a simple choice but it isn't for Sorrowlynn.

Returning home means returning to her isolated room where she is beaten on her legs to the point of scarring by the man she knows as her father for any perceived infraction of his rules. If the Antharian heir accepts her, it means marrying a man she doesn't know and into a culture that she has been told is brutal and violent. The dragon seems like the best option to her. She chooses to be fed to the dragon.

The Antharian king's youngest son Golmarr chases after her when she runs away on one of the Antharians fast and well bred horses despite having only ridden on placid Faodarian horses previously. He admires her courage and her determination. He offers to become her betrothed at the ceremony. When she still chooses the dragon and is lowered into its cave, he follows her. This begins a great adventure.

They have to find their way out of the cave without being eaten by the dragon or any of the other creatures who inhabit the cave. They are without food and water. Having to defeat the dragon before they can escape is not an easy task for a young woman who has no self-defense or weapons training. And defeating the dragon brings on its own set of problems instead of being the end of the story.

I liked the setting of this story. I liked Sorrowlynn who developed unexpectedly throughout this book. I also liked the way the relationship with Golmarr progressed as they fell in love. I will be eagerly waiting for the next book in this series.

I had this book on Netgalley against an honest review and I must say that the cover seems a bit "cheap" but the content of the book is pretty good.

We are in a world where dragons exist (I love dragons <3) and for 300 years, in a goal to keep a dragon enclosed in a mountain, two kingdoms have been perpetuated a tradition which consists of the princess from one kingdom to be proposed in marriage to the prince of the other kingdom. This year Sorrow, our princess, refuses and decides to be eaten by the dragon, but the prince decides to follow her and here is the beginning of the book. Frankly, I rather enjoyed the universe, even if, from the moment there are dragons I am conquered, but there is also magic, and although it remains classic, I found it very pleasant.

The strong point of the book is Sorrow, she is strong, rash, independent, she represents what I love in main female characters. She has been extremely incubated all her life from the outside world, nobody has ever seen her and we discover throughout the book why and see that her life is nothing like the fairy tale we could believe, which explains her choice towards the Dragon. She prefers this alternative to being married by force to a stranger. For the enemy prince, it is also pleasant, we discover him with the prejudices of Sorrow and little by little, we realize that he is a gentleman, full of compassion and the romance between the two is very cute. The two heroes are rather endearing.

As for the plot, I must say that I quickly dived into the book, the plot starts off pretty quickly and I was afraid of feeling some lengths, but the author manages to surprise me and change her story to give us a second part that lays the foundations of the trilogy. I must say that it inserts small touches of mythology and I am curious to discover more in the sequel.

For those who like fantasy, I'm sure this book will please you, because there are plenty of good elements.

This is a lovely, straightforward fantasy story that middle grade or beginning young adult readers will love. Who doesn't enjoy dragons, adventure, and a little romance? The best things in this story are the simplest: a heroine you can root for, a hero who protects but does not overshadow, and a bit of humor to help lift all our spirits during the adventure.