I've previously reviewed books by Bethany Wiggins, STUNG and it's sequel CURED. I was pretty excited to pick up this new series.
AND, if there's one genre, story element I'm truly obsessed with, it's dragons. I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading stories about dragons.
Anyways, an amazon summary, where I omitted the rave reviews from other people (you can get the full deal by clicking the link below), "When two warring kingdoms unified against a deadly dragon 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. Now, centuries later, everyone expects Princess Sorrowlynn to choose the barbarian prince over the fire-breathing beast—but she 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 Prince Golmarr follows her with the hopes of being her hero and slaying the dragon. But the beast has a different plan. . . ." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Soooooo, that amazon summary is kind of eh. The one inside the book flap is better as it starts with, "For centuries, an age-old binding spell protecting two kingdoms from a powerful fire dragon has required a sacrifice to renew its power." Let's use that to talk about the book summary.
Princess Sorrowlynn grew up in a very strict palace life, where she wasn't really able to make decisions for herself despite her best efforts. To make sure she attends the ceremony with the neighboring kingdom, her father sends a group of guards to escort her there.
The ceremony begins, and Princess Sorrowlynn chooses the dragon. She enters the mountain, and a short while later, the Prince Golmarr also chooses the dragon. Here comes the tricky part, whoever lives, wins. So if the princess and prince manage to slay the dragon, they live and get the dragon's treasure.
If the dragon kills the princess and prince, it is released from the mountain.
But what is a dragon's treasure?
So the book is PRETTY FREAKING AMAZING, exceptttttt, a lot of times the relationship between the princess and prince seems really halting and kind of false. There are moments where it feels gut wrenchingly authentic, and other times where you just kind of stare at the page, reread it, and then go, "Really?"
I did like a lot of the cultural background, world building, and haphazard sibling relationships. I also liked how each country had their own, very distinct culture. Kingdom versus Queendom kind of deal, but much more fascinating than that simplistic presentation.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book, but there were too many moments that felt like a hallmark card for me to make this a recommended book.
Happy reading!
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