ARC, 413 pagesRelease Date: October 28, 2014Published by: Harlequin TeenTalon, #1Source: ATWTFor fans of: Fantasy, Romance, Shape-Shifters, Dragons, YA
Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Let me start by saying this is my first Kagawa book. I know, I know, she is an author that is huge in the YA community, but I was always put off by fairies and vampires which are the other things she's written about. But now after reading this, I can say, I have completely been turned into a fan girl and I want to read ALL THE THINGS BY HER.
I was completely won over by Kagawa's writing style. It was easy to follow and kept me interested the entire time. I was hanging on to every page and didn't want to put it down. By the end, I wanted to call in to work just to finish it. It was that good you guys. The other thing about the writing style that I loved were the steamy scenes. Let me tell you, she can definitely write those. I swooned so hard so many times. I can't wait for the world to meet Garret! He's such a sweetheart with so many secrets."Geez, that's twice now you've shown up to rescue me. Are you some sort of knight in training or something?'."
pg. 113
"'Dragons are never prey. Dragons are hunters."
pg. 128
Also, the plot flowed really well. With it being filled with twists and turns like that, I'm amazed to see how she could make it flow so easily. And when I say twists and turns, I mean it. I didn't know who to trust the entire book. I had all these feelings swirling in my head, but I couldn't figure out how to put two and two together. I wanted to trust everyone and no one at the same time. In the end, all those secrets are what got to me. There's a bit of a cliff hanger in the actual story and an even bigger one in the Epilogue. I can't wait to see where this story goes next.
"'Forget the mission. Forget the Order, and the war, and my objective."
pg. 159
This brings me to the characters. For awhile I really didn't like Ember. She was stubborn and she didn't have any regard for authority or anyone else for that matter. It kind of grated on my nerves because that never ends well. But as the book went on and secrets were unveiled, I was starting to agree with her. In the end she turned out to be a strong character that I really felt I got to know. Don't get me wrong, she's still impulsive, but I can understand her reasoning better now. As for Garret, he's about the exact same way. He is just as impulsive but I understood why he made the decision he made.
"'I didn't know what I was missing until I met you."
pg. 276
Buttttt, then there's still some things I didn't like... Like the love triangle. Did it really have to be there? I felt like it was more than that because Garret, Garret, secret, Riley, Riley's secret, and Ember all seem to have their own thing going on. It was just too much and I don't think it HAD to be there. They had an animal attraction yes, but it wasn't the real thing. Well I don't think so.
"'Give him a hooker and he'd use her for target practice"
pg. 327
I don't normally care for fantasy, but I really liked this one. Maybe because there weren't any high fantasy elements besides the dragons, but for whatever reason I really liked this one. If I can find more fantasies like this one to help me ease more into the genre I will read them. Thank you for opening my world to another genre Kagawa! From the plot to the characters, this was one fantasy book I was glad I did not miss!
Overall, I give this