This book is The Fast and The Furious but with Dragons 🐉

Dragon Den was very fun and I hope there is a book 2! It definitely followed the storyline of the first Fast and Furious movie. I was very entertained and read it in one sitting! I wish it was longer though with more world building and backgrounds on the characters.

I would totally recommend for a fun quick read is dragons is your thing!

This was a a 2.25 stars. I feel awful rating arcs low but this book was very surface level. It felt like a middle grade retelling of Fourth Wing. More along the lines of How to Train Your Dragon. This book might actually do really well as a middle grade series.

Thank you again for the ARC.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and honestly review an advanced reader’s copy of this book.

This book is very short and that’s… honestly a good thing. I think it’s the only reason I pushed through it. The writing in this needs a *lot* of work.
The characters are wooden, especially the main character. I thought having a male main character in a classic dragon fantasy romance would be interesting. But honestly he just felt so flat and cliche the entire way through. There was no subtlety in his dialogue or thoughts, everything was surface level.

The world building was fine, I thought setting it in our world instead of a fantasy world was interesting. The plot was fine if predictable. It dealt with its subject matter well, despite some of it being quite on the nose. I think this is just really let down by its prose and characterisation.

2⭐️

I really enjoyed this book, the concept was really unique and it created a world I would really love to know more about. I would have enjoyed some more time spent on building the world and development of the characters relationships outside of just the main character. Overall it was a really fun fast paced read with a really original premise and I would love to read more in this world.

Thank you netgalley and Yggdrasil Press for an arc of Dragon Den in exchange for an honest review. The book follows our protagonist, Markus, after he is given a once in a life-time second chance to fufil his dream of being a dragon-rider after his dreams were crushed due to his failed attempt to break a dragon.


Listen, this book wasn't bad. In fact, it was an easy read, and there were moments were I found myself really enjoying it, and I would definitely read a sequel if it is written. However, there were a few things that I found could be done better.

The most prominent thing for me was the lack of world-building, which felt basically non-existent. We were given practically zero information about the world, its history and the history of dragon riders and the tradition to "break" a dragon. I also think we could have been given more information about the clans, and their various dynamics.

Alongside this, I felt like we weren't given enough information about the characters. Most of the side characters seemed extremely one dimensional, and the main character's story felt so abrupt that I didn't totally get his story at first. I am a sucker for a non-linear timeline, for being shoved right into the thick of the action, but I just didn't feel like I could root for a protagonist whose world and motivations I didn't understand.

Which brings me to possibly my least favourite part of the book; the love story. It was implied that Markus had liked Amira for a long time, but for the first 70% of the book, there was absolutely no chemistry between them, and it all felt a little too "insta-love"y for me. However, after Amira and Markus's first date, it seemed to improve.

My last critique is on some of the descriptive language, which felt very repetitive, which made it boring to read. By the third time Amira was described with her "vanilla flavoured lotion," I had had enough.

Anyways, as I said before, there were moments where I thoroughly enjoyed the book...

The dragon racing scene was amazingly written, and my favourite part of the entire book was the dragon fight. It felt unique to the book, less surface-level telling and more descriptive showing then the rest of the book. It also made use of its own story, rather than drawing straight from its inspirations (Fast & Furious and HTTYD)

FINAL THOUGHTS:


This book is an easy read, and I'd never expect a debut novel to be perfect. With some fleshing out, nuance added and perhaps some distance from the inspiration, but rather its own story, this book could have been really good.

I enjoyed the concept of the dragons as pets and the academy, but this book left me feeling like I could have done without. The beginning was promising and the pacing was satisfying. loved the concept of the Ruby dragons and I enjoyed Amira’s character. However, there was no notable development from the characters and they all seemed surface-level. Where are their emotions and intensity and all that comes in between?

2.5/5 stars for me.

first off, thank you to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

a fantasy in a really modern setting throws me off quite a bit to be quite honest.
i think the premise of this book sounded SO GOOD but

unfortunately the execution was not there. i get it being fast paced but it also felt rushed (but also not much happens???). i see the fast and the furious inspiration too but maybe it just didn’t flow well together.

the amount of times the word ‘bud’ was used in reference to his dragon was crazy.

towards the end, maybe the last 10%, there was so much sandwiched in there and too much happens. the writing for me was easy to follow along but the dialogue was odd.

to me, there was no background knowledge given about the dragons or where they came from. no overall knowledge about the college and things like that. also, all the characters are VERY surface level and there was no connection made, for me. i felt like i was grasping to connect with these characters to like the story more.

I really, really wanted to love this book based on the blurb highlighting similarities to the Fast & Furious series. And while I enjoyed it, I had a hard time getting into it. The story and plot was interesting, but the beginning of the book moved so fast I felt like I couldn’t catch up.

I would still recommend this to those who like book dragons.

This was an interesting concept but I felt like the plot wasn’t super engaging and I didn’t really connect much with the characters at all. The dragons were cool, and the story was well written. I just unfortunately did not connect beyond a surface level with any of the characters so I wasn’t rooting for them. The ending was meant to be impactful and probably would have been if I’d cared more about the characters but it just fell short for me The relationship in this felt very quick and I didn’t feel much of the reasoning as to why they liked each other at all. He was in love her from the get go and it felt predictable at times the way he would act.
Overall I think someone will love this book, but for me it wasn’t what I hoped it would be. I still enjoyed it enough to finish and rate 3 stars.

Dragon Den

Urban dragon fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest. Action packed throughout and ends on a mild cliffhanger. Definitely leaves an opening for a continuation.

The military dragon academy theme gives me Fourth Wing vibes. I can definitely see themes from Fast and the Furious. I don’t know that I would have compared this to an adult How to Train Your Dragon since they don’t really train the dragons more like capture and collar them.


MMC is already in lust for the FMC so no build up of tension or real relationship development until the end. There are *TWO* gratuitous spicy scenes. 🌶️ Both from the MMC perspective that as a fantasy and romance reader I can appreciate.

-I wish there was more world building about the dragons. The author solves this by giving us a bit of history and lore surrounding the dragons interspersed through little snippets. But I would have liked more. There were references to several different world wars but I didn’t get how that helped, just felt like okay so maybe we are in the future or an alternate reality but now I have more questions that aren’t really related to our characters or plot.

-I also found myself wishing for more dragon thoughts and communication between the MMC and his dragon. For a book compared to How to Train your Dragon there wasn’t a lot of dragon training or play with them other than racing and just using them for tasks.

The writing style was quite plain and easy to follow I read the book in about 4.5hours throughout the day. There was enough action to keep me moving through.

This book was a solid 3 for me. Credit to the author for bringing a unique take on urban dragon lore and making them race.


Thank you to Yggdrasil Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book and providing me with an ARC. All views expressed are my own.

I really hate rating ARCs low but this one over promised and under delivered.

I want to start this review by simply congratulating the author on writing a whole ass book. That is a feat in itself. Unfortunately, I think this one could have had a lot more editing before it reached publication.

This book is marketed as Fourth Wing meets How to Train your Dragon except we don't really get any of that background... they are at some dragon school (I think?) and have taken classes on how to "break" a dragon but as readers we don't know what that means. Even the conflicts are not well fleshed out so understanding the importance of each event is difficult.

You could say there is some romance in this book but there's next to no build up and it kind of just falls into your lap.

If you're looking for a relatively short book that incorporates dragons in an academic environment, maybe pick this one up and see if it works for you!

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC! ❤️

This was sadly not my cup of tea. I love dragons as much as the next person but this one just didn’t hit the same way. I wasn’t a fan of the dragon racing stuff or any of that. This felt like a weird rip off of FW

If you liked “ how train your dragon” or “ fast and the furious” this book is for you. It shares many similarities to those franchisees. In my opinion this book had too many common attributes and was underwhelmed with the unoriginality of this book. The story is fast and entertaining enough to keep you enjoying it though,

Thank you to NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press for this ARC! First, I would like to mention that this ARC was only 180ish pages and the listing on Barnes and Noble and other websites have it at 310 pages. So, this review is not of the full book, but a pretty good chunk of it.

The book begins in the middle of Markus’ journey - I had no idea what was happening before the first scene. It appears that he (and his other first-year classmates) are to bond with a dragon. When Markus fails to bond with one, he is given the opportunity to stay in the Academy and have a dragon (named Loki) - the only catch is that he has to finish an undercover mission involving a girl who he has a huge crush on, her family, gangs, and stolen goods.

I thought the side characters were kind of interesting, and I found Loki the dragon to be my favorite. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with Markus and the other characters, probably because there was a lot of backstory that I’m hoping was covered in the full book. There was also very little world building, but I thought it was interesting that the setting is in modern day Seattle. I liked the concept of the book - dragons, an undercover mission, and “illegal” dragon racing sounded fun, but the book was just too rushed. I’m hoping that the actual book fleshes out the characters and plot more. I also thought it was different that the main character is a male - a majority of the books I read that are similar have the main character as a female.

Dragon Den by Kriss Dean 2⭐️

I was extremely intrigued by the premise of this book which is described as a mix of HTTYD, Fourth Wing and Fast and Furious but I was pretty disappointed with the actual book. I feel, as a whole, the book was underdeveloped. The writing and storyline were not flushed out to the best of their ability. I couldn’t understand why the characters were making the choices they were because we were thrown into the story halfway through. I didn’t have any connection to the main character Markus and his relationship with Amira felt forced and completely random. I think the character deaths that happened were there purely for shock value and didn’t add anything to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press for the ARC as always but I will not be continuing the story.

This is another book that takes off from page one, and it was a fast paced easy read. The inspiration from fourth wing was fairly clear, but just didn’t feel as gripping of a tale.

I really wanted to love this book. With references to Fast and Furious, HTTYD and Fourth Wing…i requested it right away.

However it just didn’t hit the mark. And I’m gutted. Some thoughts are needed regarding the MMC whose personality is so questionable.

It just didn’t go into any depth story wise and it didn’t seem to really go anywhere. There was no character progression.

Disappointing 2/5 stars for me.

2.5⭐
1🌶️

Dragon Den kicks off with a premise that's as tantalizing as it is ambitious—a dragon rider academy with the high-octane thrills of Fast and Furious. Sadly, the execution does not live up to its exhilarating concept. The narrative thrusts us mid-action, a technique that can electrify a story when done right, but here, it flounders, leaving readers disoriented and perpetually catching up.

One of the chief disappointments of this book is its skeletal character development. The protagonist, Markus, and his interactions with others—including his dragon, Loki—are frustratingly superficial. It's like being given a tour of a scenic route at warp speed; you know there's something beautiful there, but you can't appreciate it. The romance between Markus and Amira is similarly rushed and feels more like a plot requirement than a natural progression of their relationship.

Moreover, the book borrows heavily from well-loved franchises such as How to Train Your Dragon and Fast and Furious but lacks original reinterpretation. The dialogue at times is a near-carbon copy from these inspirations, which, rather than paying homage, comes off as lazy writing.

The pacing is another casualty of the book's style. It's too fast, hurtling through plot points without giving them the space to develop or resonate. A hundred more pages devoted to slowing down and fleshing out the world and its inhabitants could have done wonders.

Even the world-building is scant. We’re dropped into the dragon den with little to no explanation of how this society that integrates dragon racing came to be or how its mechanics work. This lack of depth strips the setting of the richness it needs to truly captivate.

Despite these critiques, the book's core idea still has undeniable allure. The dragon racing scenes manage to capture some of the thrill and drama that one would hope for. However, the lack of connection to the characters and the world makes it a hollow experience. The book ends on a cliffhanger, hinting at more to come. While I’m skeptical, there's a part of me that hopes the sequel will rectify these missteps.

In essence, Dragon Den could have been a blockbuster but ended up feeling like an unfinished draft rushed to publication. It's a lesson that even the most dazzling of premises can falter without the backbone of solid writing and character development. Will I read the next book? Probably. But more out of curiosity than attachment.

This book is portrayed as being similar to Fourth Wing and How to Train Your Dragon, and I’m here to tell you all, it’s absolutely nothing like it.
Frankly, the MMC is a loser. Literally, a loser. Every single competition he participates in, every assignment he receives, he fails it. Every time I felt myself getting excited for him, in the races and discovering new information about his assignment I was eagerly awaiting his victory, but no. This book is just full of him failing, and being given second chances. At first, I just found the MMC bland, but as the story progressed I became increasingly frustrated with his bumbling idiocy and the fact that everything seemed to just fall into his lap—second chances and romantic interested alike. What does she see in him anyways?

The world building was meh, the characters were flat, the dialogue was cringey, it really reads more like a YA novel with unnecessary spice.

The only positive feedback I have as someone who lives in Washington state is that with the infrequent world building we were given, it did accurately describe the areas of western Washington, eastern Washington and northern Oregon. I really wish there had been more though, especially the lovely coastal mist, moss covered rocks, nurse logs bursting with mushrooms.

This book really had a lot of potential, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

I ended up dnfing this book, which is so tragic because i requested the arc due to the comparisons of how to train your dragons. while by all means it had aspects, i found myself lacking the ability to get into this novel. I did not like the main character and preferred the side characters and after about 53% of the book i just could not force myself to read the rest of it. I AM SURE this book has its audience but sadly it is not me. thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc