Dragons Walk Among Us

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Dragons Walk Among Us is a debut novel by Dan Rice is a coming-of-age story about a teen girl named Allison and her ability to see dragons after a horrific attack. I love books about dragons so I automatically picked this book up. Although I enjoyed the characters and concept, I felt as though it was lacking some sustenance.

A devastating attack, an experimental eye surgery, throws Allison Lee's life in turmoil as she starts seeing dragons walking among us. All Allison wants is to survive high school and avoid the tormenting of her bully. She escapes the pain through photography and has a real talent for it, even receiving praise from judges at a photo contest. She visits her friend in a homeless shelter and through an attack is rendered blind. Despair sets in as Allison has nothing to live for, that is until an experimental surgery promises to restore her sight. Sure, there are side effects, but she's willing to risk it if she can see again. Only what she sees throws her life in peril. Dragons walking among the living as she walks down the street? Is she imagining it or did the surgery reveal the true world?

Dragons Walk Among Us is a compelling young adult fantasy I read in one sitting. From the first page, the reader is thrown into Allison's world where she is inundated with cruel bullying. While I give credit for Dan Rice's descriptive narration, my stomach turned on several occasions as I read scene after scene of intense bullying. I connected with Allison right away and my heart broke as she lost her sight. The emotional narration is very real and pulled the reader into the story. The fantasy sub-plot with the dragons was so imaginative, I whipped through the pages just to find out what happened next. The plot moves at a great pace with plenty of twists and turns to entertain the reader. This is Dan Rice's debut novel, and I was honestly surprised as his writing is impeccable and sophisticated. I look forward to reading more from Dan Rice. If you love fantasy adventure, you'll want to read Dragons Walk Among Us. If you're an epic fantasy reader with a love for dragons, you need to read Dragons Walk Among Us. Highly recommend!

My Rating: 5 stars

Dragons Walk Among Us is Dan Rice’s debut young adult fantasy novel. It’s a high-energy fantasy and young adult story. Mr. Rice has embedded multiple messages and current issues that many high schoolers face.

Allison Lee is talented but shy. She faces bullying at school, presumably due to her race, but just as likely to be a result of jealousy by the campus “queen bee”. The start of the book is a good but somewhat mundane set up to a standard young adult story. However, the plot abruptly ramps to high speed when Allison is attacked on a dark and stormy night. From her sci-fi recovery to the discovery of a secret power, the pedestrian young adult story quickly becomes a creature-filled fantasy.

Allison and her friends are thrown into an incredible adventure with golems, dragons, and humans. They face incredible dangers on their quest, and along the way they grow as a makeshift family of friends. While I’m not a huge fan of the fantasy genre, I enjoyed Dragons Walk Among Us. It’s a good book for middle schoolers and older readers that clearly illuminates the perils of being a teen whether you're a mere mortal or have fantastical powers.

I loved the premise and the story in this fantasy novel - the concept of dragons living among us is one every fantasy reader loves and finding out they are there in our world makes for a great concept. There are a few issues that don't really work well with the novel, though. While the book needs to move along, there is too much of a rush in Allison getting her prosthetic eyes - it is way over simplified and doesn't ring true. There is nothing wrong with leaving time between chapters to make it feel more real. As a teacher, I am with teenagers all day every day and none of them talk and/or interact the way they are depicted in the book. In a lot of places, it just feels really awkward. (Yes, it gave me red pen fever.) Definitely more research/observation of teen behavior and language is needed here. Despite that, it is a fun story, and if you are a fan of dragons, you will love the ideas in here.