Lovely little fantasy read. Didn’t know what to expect from this author going into this but will be picking more up in the future. Didn’t exceed my expectations majorly but can’t go wrong with anything to do with dragons.

I want to live in this universe. Seriously, that's all I want. This was so good! I want much more Lynne Shaner in the future

I really liked the sound of the premise of this book, and I thought the writing itself was good quality. Sadly, what lets down this book is its pacing. For a short book (circa 200 pages), it seems mad that almost nothing of consequence happens for the first 90 pages! The pacing means that the second half of the story, where all the action happens, feels very rushed and isn't satsifying to read. It also means that any character introduced in the second half doesn't have a chance for any development, as the plot moves at breakneck speed to reeach the end.

The resolution to the climax felt simultaneoulsy ingenious (what can I say, I love a mushroom), and also contrived. What seemed almost insurmountable was suddenly manageable, and completed. The final pages offer no real closure, apart from what feels like quite a stitled reunion of father and daughtre.

Overall, a cool concept sadly let down by its execution.

ARC Copy...hate to give an indie read a poor rating but...although the fantasy ideas promising at the start it felt messy and weak "narrative meat wise" as the story went.

I feel like this book has some potential. but it just didn't deliver. In a world where we have a huge discrepancy regarding how are mages perceived, the story of Jemma, a fairy-fae-dragon mix seems quite boring, until she is requested to go urgently to Everland Bay. And then the book takes a turn for the worst in my opinion.

The main idea of the story is interesting, and the characters are not too bad, but the way the book is written and how it jumps from action to action makes is hard to follow sometimes. The pacing is all over the place, and there is a lot of saying instead of doing. Some actions can not be explained (and while the characters are giving some for of explanations, for me it doesn't make sense).

*SPOILER*
If you manage to get past that, you get a pretty story where the MC and her friends save the day and the ending is trying to give some redemption for her father (but he'll need to prove more imo)

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion

I want to thank Netgalley, Black Rose Writing, and Lynne Shaner for this early release copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I had hopes for this book, and wanted to finish it, but sadly only made it to 25% before I had to stop.
Things I liked:
- The setup for the world makes sense. I like a story where there’s old magic in a modern world, and I think with work this story has a lot of potential.
- I like the concept of mixed magical races, and also the family closeness (particularly the passing down from grandmother to mother to daughter) themes.

Things I didn’t like / reasons I didn’t finish.
- this book did so much telling and so little showing. I read 25% of it and it’s almost entirely conversation based. Long paragraphs with little breaking it up. It felt too much as through the author was trying to write how people talk. The “likes” and casual language threw me off and felt unnatural.
- Grammatically the writing was stiff, a lot of run on sentences, missing commas, and missed context cues in conversations.
- By 25% I don’t feel connected to the characters at all. In fact because the dialogue is so clunky and hard to follow I often forget who the main character even is. The conflict set up is predictable- the loss of magic - but I can’t even tell what the real threat is other than vague hints of magical discrimination.
- An example of some of the clunky writing, a character talking about how her family looks different than other non magical folk: “No problem in the magical lands and used to be not a problem in the woven lands and, like, just ordinary or maybe quirky-but-okay even in some of the savvier parts of the Verandalands.”

I think this story idea has a lot of potential, and I’m even curious what would have happened, but I just wasn’t interested enough to stick with it.

I received a free copy in place of a review via NetGalley.

I try to give books 30-50% before I DNF. I struggled to get to 34% before deciding to DNF, I wanted to read more and be a good ARC reader, but just could not.

Why did I DNF? This book needs more editing, focused on grammar and conventions to a small extent. In addition, the flow was off and would jump around way too much with no smooth transitions - it was so significant that I was getting frustrated. As a result, more beta or early readers with more critiquing skills should have been used. Finally, I love urban fantasy and dragons, etc, so the premise was interesting but within that 34% I was not connected to any if the characters and was not really caring.

Thank you Lynne Shaner, Netgalley, and Black Rose Writing, for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

What I liked: The dragon part had some fun whimsy. The character of Agni had nuance, when many would have written him as a one-dimensional villain.

What I didn’t like: There was far too much showing and not telling, which is the biggest problem with a lot of novels in recent years.

The book also suffered from repetitive rehashing. It seemed as if the author wanted to pad the page count, or thinks that people have poor memories in general, and need reminding. It’s condescending towards the reader, and also boring.

An example of telling instead of showing, in a way that’s unnatural for people to speak:
”This ceremony, which was violently interrupted as you know, is just the routine, final ceremony that acknowledges the new Director.”

More unnatural dialogue:
”We are, and Overland Bay is, in great danger, as I know you know.”

People don’t talk like that. Why bother saying something when you know the other person already knows it? In an emergency situation, where time is of the essence, no less. A natural way to speak would be to update the other person with information they don’t have on the situation, and discuss solutions.

This un-compelling writing style made it difficult to pay attention, to the point where I got 46% in and realized I was barely even able to pay attention to what was happening, so I quit.

A lack of contractions leads to stiff dialog, and a frequent absence of the past perfect tense makes for temporal whiplash. And then we get the worn-out and, if you think about it much at all, unlikely trope of "magic is (about to be) forbidden," and this was a DNF for me quite early on.

I received a pre-publication version via Netgalley for review.

Jemma Avalon is the daughter of a gentle part elf-fae mother and a father with fiery dragon blood, an unusual combination even in the magical world. Ten years after her mother's sudden death, Jemma is working at a major museum in DC, where magic is all but outlawed. Her father wants her to assimilate and live without magic, but Jemma is determined to fully embrace her heritage. She longs to return to Everland Bay, the enchanting world where her Grandmother Annalyn lives, and find a way to join the renowned magical research institute there, like the women in her family before her. An ordinary day at the museum takes an extraordinary turn, rocketing Jemma to an Everland Bay Institute under violent siege, where dark-arts mages threaten everything important to her. She and her companions work feverishly to overturn their foes, knowing that it may already be too late.

This is a fun engaging fantasy story with all the familiar tropes. Dragons, fae, magics, politics and war. Lots to like here if you are a fantasy nerd like me:)