The fault wasn't with this book, but my choosing of it. I should've realised that the though I enjoy kids books, the audience skewed slightly younger than what I can actually enjoy, but from a technical perspective Dragon Mountain was well crafted fun and as it has proven to be, a hit amongst those it's aimed at.

I adore a book with a dragon and this action-packed fantasy adventure did not disappoint! I liked the idea of the camp, and the unlikely bunch of friends being thrust together to do the bidding of Old Gold, despite being extremely cynical. The discovery of the dragons was exciting, and I loved the different strengths and personalities of the dragons, I think my favourite was buttons. A great message for young readers, would certainly keep a class enthralled, will definitely be moving on to Dragon REalm!

A perfect read for middle grade fiction - myth, adventure and friendship through strong characters. It's a real page turner!

A fab mg adventure, with dragons, a fight with a tiger (my favourite animal!) friendship and magic. The characters bond and learn a lot about empathy and courage whilst undertaking an exciting quest The twist at the end was unexpected and I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series .

This was SO MUCH fun! I had such a blast reading this one. We follow Billy who gets sent to a camp in China. The camp is in the middle of nowhere, but we also have the legend of Dragon Mountain there. Billy makes friends with three kids at the camp where they discover four legendary dragons. They then have to save the world from the Dragon of Death.

This is the first in a series so there are a lot of questions left to be answered. I enjoyed the characters and their differing personalities a lot, as well as the Dragons and their personalities. There was a twist at the end I didn't really see coming so I found that exciting!

A wonderful adventure featuring a diverse cast that teaches the importance and power of friendship. I really liked how all the kids felt so different from one another, something I think some middle grade books struggle to get right and everyone just blends into one another but in this one, everyone feels properly defined, the same goes for the dragons, who for me were a real highlight. I cannot wait to read on and see what happens next in the series!

Great adventure story featuring a cast of diverse children saving the world together. I like how the traditional is mixed with the modern in different ways - using traditional fantasy tropes (like a child off to spend the summer in somewhere unknown without their parental figures) and how each child in the group is given a power - but these have been played with so it's a female character who gets strength. Definitely a good one to recommend for my students who are not sure what they like.

1. Because, dragons.

2. I wanted to know how the creators of Sam Wu would tackle fantasy

3. The Tsangs are totally adorable on social media (and Kevin is dreamy).

So. Billy is heading to China for a Chinese Language summer camp. He’s not thrilled to be on a remote mountain when he’d rather be surfing - but there you are.

He’s grouped with the laid back Dylan, the intense Charlotte and a gentle natured Ling-Fei. Soon, supernatural things start - Disappearing tigers, earthquakes only they feel and lightning INSIDE one of the cabins. What!?!?

Much more than this would be spoiling the kid’s wild ride but there are dragons, super powers and other realms. We see an ancient evil, time travel and sentient caves.

The world created here is wildly inventive with so many elements there’s much fuel for a rich ongoing series. The characters, while initially familiar tropes to help kids know their heroes, quickly show depth & empathy for each other. The dragons are well realised and, I totally need to get bonded with a dragon now. Buttons must be protected at all costs.

The story is engaging, the writing style is clear and visual so children will be able to lose them selves beautifully. I can totally see an animated Netflix show of this!

My only criticism is the speed of the narrative, there are so many ideas the novel burns through story. On occasion there is exposition I would have loved to see expanded and be shown and not told.

It’s purely selfish on my part as I was enjoying the quest at the end, and their journey and final battle could have been expanded so much. You get to the final few chapters thinking ‘how can this resolve’. They do, wonderfully, but It’s a testament to the authors that I feel this could have been two books!

Then..Holy Cliffhanger Batman!

Thanks for the opportunity to read this one. I found it quite hard to get into this but wish the publishers and the authors the very best.

An exciting and thrilling adventure with surprise twists and extraordinary powers! I can't wait to see what the gang do next!

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was so much fun!!! I wanted a little more backstory, but that aside I loved everything about it. And I need my own dragon please and thank you. 🐉

The story revolves around Billy who is visiting China for a language camp, and the three friends he meets there. They quickly form a bond and then realise that something more is going on! The friends are lovely - I loved that Charlotte was strong and confident (if a tad obnoxious at times!! 😂) and that Dylan was scared but still brave. I didn’t get as strong as sense of Ling-Fei, but she’s still lovely. And Billy is a good lead - we see his empathy, and his love for his family and his dragon.

I did see the twist coming, but not the ending! What a place to stop! I need book two right now. 😱😱😱

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It sounded like it had a great premise, boy goes to a summer camp in China to study Mandarin and ends up discovering dragons. I was hoping for a Percy Jackson type story but with Chinese mythology and culture. Unfortunately, it just fell really flat for me.

The best part of the book was definitely the beginning when Billy arrives at the camp. He'd much rather be back in Califonia spending his summer surfing. Instead, his family have packed him off to China so he can improve his Mandarin and gain a wider knowledge about his Chinese heritage. This, along with thoughts about how perfect his older brother Eddie is, introduces an interesting dynamic that was never really explored. I also liked meeting Billy's fellow campers and following their inital activities. We get some history about the Chinese Zodiac and the task set for the campers involves solving a riddle. This was the sort of content that I was looking forward to. However, soon after this the story goes in a different direction and I just found it wasn't holding my attention.

The main thing that didn't work for me in this story was the characters.
1)Each member of the team feels like a caricature. They have one feature of their personality that is introduced early on and that is all that they are with little noticeable development.

2)There was no banter between members of the team to make you feel that their relationships are building and they are coming to care for each other. They go from total strangers, quite happy to exist alongside each other with no interaction, to best friends willing to die for each other in the space of a few days and no-one cracks a joke or makes a funny comment to ease the tension.

3) In almost every situation, every character gets to make a comment. This may not sound like a problem, but once other important characters are introduced, you end up with scenes where 8 characters all say essentially the same thing one after the other because everyone has to have their time to talk.

4) They are far too willing to believe everything that is told to them without any real doubts, hesistations or questions. Also, there is a lot of times when the characters, out of nowhere, just suddenly know what to do to solve a problem even though its something they've never done before, seen done or been told about and amazingly it works.

I think this book would be suitable for readers aged 8+ and it is particularly suited to readers aged 8-10.

"Dragon Mountain" is a new series by authors of the fabulous Sam Wu series, Katie and Kevin Tsang. It is aimed at sightly older readers, and it is clearly the first in the series, as it finishes with a cliffhanger! It's a story of four children on a language camp in China, who discover that the nearby mountain hides amazing secrets. It's a book with exciting and daring adventures, and it catches the attention of its readers from the start. It's rooted in Chinese mythology and like in the previous Tsangs' stories it concentrates on themes of friendship, teamwork and doing what's right. Cannot wait for the second installment.

This was a really fun book about friendship and saving the world, but it was a little bit rushed in places. It tells the story of Billy, a 12 year old surfer who has been sent to China for the summer to attend a Language and Culture Camp. While there, he meets Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei and together, the four go an adventure to open Dragon Mountain and discover the wonderful world beyond. I really enjoyed the friendship aspect of this story and thought that our four characters were all really well drawn. The combination of their respective skills works well to create a cohesive team and I thought that the conversations between them all felt realistic. I also enjoyed the setting and thought that the authors had captured the beauty and mystery of China fantastically. Where the story fell down a little was in the pacing. For me, the narrative just felt incredibly rushed, jumping from one thing to the next with little time in between. I would have preferred it had the authors taken a little bit more time with things, particularly since this is the first in a series. Overall, I thought this was an enjoyable read and would definitely recommend it for middle grade readers.
I received a free copy of this book from the publishers in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I read this book because it was due to be our book of the month at work, and boy am I glad I did!

Dragon Mountain follows the story of four teenagers who are spending the summer at a camp in china to practice their mandarin. At least, thats the plan. They end being the only four who can free a group of dragons who have been trapped under a mountain for a hundred years, and bring balance back to the Human world and the Dragon Realm.

I'm a huge fan of Katie and Kevin's other books, the Sam Wu series, so this one aimed at slightly older kids was right up my street. Theres dragons, magic, adventure, dragons, stupid jokes, dragons, friendships, did I mention the dragons? This is a fantastic one for anyone who wants a fun, exciting adventure.

Plus, THAT TWIST AT THE END?! WHAT?!

I was interested in this book after loving my introduction to the Sam Wu series by the same authors.
This story was full of fantasy and adventure as Billy Chan headed from the coast of the US to Chinese summer camp and learned about the existence of Dragons. I'm excited to read the future titles in the series after the cliff hanger we were left on!

As soon as I saw the cover of this book I knew I had to read it and that it was likely to be a great addition to my library: I was not wrong!

This is a book that is full of adventure and excitement with many twists and turns along the way to keep you hooked and guessing.

It is a story about a group of children who are sent to summer camp to improve their language skills. They are all different and I love the fact they they each feel like outsiders and come from a range of different cultures to emphasize their 'aloneness' in the beginning. The children are put into teams to learn to work together, and in doing this, the authors are able to quickly establish bonds between the characters who grow to know each other and soon realise that their greatest strength comes from relying upon each other.

The first challenge is the one that sets the scene for the visit to Dragon Mountain and when the books evolves into a fantasy adventure. We are told right at the beginning the 'Mountains always have secrets' and the children soon hear the legend that surrounds the mountain from Old Gold, their teacher. This is a great backstory for the adventure that is about to come. Dylan, Billy, Charlotte and Ling-Fei encounter more than they could have ever bargained for when they visit the mountain to solve their first challenge. From disappearing tigers, to dragons and fabulous magical powers, this is a story that never stops giving.

I loved how the characters developed to trust one another, offering support and encouragement at every new challenge. The ending seemed quite abrupt but is definitely primed for a follow up title and I cannot wait for it!

A group of children who've never met discovering dragons and saving the world is certainly an exciting premise, and as someone who lived dragon stories growing up, I was keen to read this.

Unfortunately, it didn't quite do it for me personally. I felt that while it was an exciting idea, and while the story and many of its events, characters and features felt imaginative and original, the writing itself didn't quite deliver for me. It felt like a solid middle-grade fantasy adventure, but the writing style didn't lift it above others in the genre.

That said, there was still lots to enjoy and it is definitely still a book I'll recommend to younger readers. The different types of dragons, with equally differing temperaments and personalities were great and I know each reader will have their own favourites.

Likewise, the different characters and their various powers will no doubt capture children's imaginations too, as they see themselves in their shoes or imagine what their power/dragon would be. It was nice to see a real range here too from physical strength yo charm and kindness, an affinity with nature to physical agility and speed.

Overall, while this wasn't one for me personally, with dragons, super powers, a quest to save the world and a dramatic twist at the end, I did feel it was a great start to an imaginative and exciting new series with broad appeal.

I really enjoyed this book, it reminded me a little bit of Eragon, Dragon Rider, and so many other great fantasy series for younger readers.

It was a very interesting idea of dragons needing to be bonded to humans to become stronger, that there is an evil dragon that wants to destroy the world and that loyalty, bravery and friendship are the most important things, not magic and power.

I can't wait to see where this series goes but I would like to see a bit more of Chinese myths or culture through the stories.

Lose yourself in the legend and magic of Dragon Mountain. For years, the mountain stood quiet, almost as if it were asleep, guarding its secrets and waiting… Waiting for those with pure hearts to come and reawaken the dragons within. When Billy Chan arrives in China for a language culture summer camp, he has no idea about the incredible adventure ahead of him.

It is an unusual summer camp. In its inaugural year, there are only twelve specially selected children – the best and brightest with potential to learn a great deal about Mandarin and Chinese heritage. Billy soon makes new friends and is fascinated by the stories Old Gold, their teacher, has to tell them: tales of mystical dragons, mighty battles between good and evil, and the Dragon’s Heart. However, when strange things start to happen, Billy and his friends wonder if there is more to these stories than just legend.

The story continues with the most amazing dragons. Each has its own strength, personality and allure. Beautifully described with stunning colours, deadly features and incredible powers, they live in hope of the fulfilment of a prophecy – that four humans will open the mountain and break the curse. They want nothing more than to find their human kindred spirits and defeat the evil dragons who have taken over the Dragon Realm. Billy, Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei find they have the most amazing connections with these dragons and are enveloped in a heart-stopping adventure full of danger and suspense. Will they make it back alive or even in one piece? They will certainly never be the same again.

Readers will be carried away in this perilous story of fire, ice, magical powers and magnificent dragons. The characters soon become friends and it feels as if we are part of the thrilling adventure, experiencing every spine-tingling moment first hand. As the Human Realm and Dragon Realm collide, the battle to defeat evil is immense. Non-stop action and astonishingly treacherous moments will leave readers breathless until they reach the final page!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children’s UK and NetGalley for this amazing book!