Rating: 3.5

“And in the moments we race, nothing else matters. At this moment we are free.”

🐉 dragon racing
🐉 friends to lovers
🐉 found family
🐉 dragon academy

I want to thank NetGalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

We follow Markus through his story as a first year at Dragild Military Academy. When Markus is unable to break a dragon, he is given a mission in exchange for a riderless dragon.

Look I loved every aspect of this book it was fast paced and I honestly didn’t figure out the criminal until the last 10%! We have dragon racing which was exhilarating and had my heart pumping as if I was watching a scene from fast and furious.

The part that really let this book down was the extent to which the author was inspired by fast and furious, fourth wing and how to train your dragon. I felt as though the author was over inspired and threw a lot of ideas together in sections making it not flow very well.

I also found the world building to be very limited and didn’t realise we were in modern society until past 30% of the book.

Apart from that aspect I honestly loved the book and would recommend to anyone who loves dragons and racing.

Dnf at 50% unfortunately this just wasn’t for me.

I picked this up feeling intrigued by the blurb & I felt like I had a pretty open mind going in but I just found the writing wasn’t my cup of tea & neither was the mmc in general. There were just several things the character would think or say that had me making a face at my screen like saying how he prefers his muscles in his leathers vs shirtless (just felt weird to me for chapter 1 maybe??) or using “lit” as a compliment for the girl he was trying to impress & not even in an enduring trying too hard to be cool way.

I also really struggled with the mentioned inspos feeling less like inspo & making this feel more like fan fiction but add dragons. To be 50% through & to already know the basis of every moment wasn’t enough to keep me invested to see how it ends.

Bummed it wasn’t for me, it definitely could be a great fit for others!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I'm DNFing this, unfortunately

At first, I was curious because of the male POV in a romantic fantasy, which is different. And the writing seemed really quick to read and I liked how the dragons communicated, which was one of the few things I enjoyed in another book and was curious to find it in another story.

However, as much as the male POV was one of the reasons why I picked this up, it was underwhelming because I thought it was tooo realistic maybe? seeing him talking about his attraction to other women. Plus, if Amira is really his love interest, that already shoss they already start with an attraction and thats not interesting to me.
Plus I found the way they bound with the dragons weird.. it doesn't seem like the dragons have a choice, but after they are bound the dragons are ok with it? I feel like it would be better if it wasn't something they seem to be forced to do.
Along with all of this, It didn't seem like the story had anything unique enough to keep my attention until the end to compensate my problems with it.

3 ⭐
3 🌶️

This book is a debut, and I felt it had a lot going for it, but it was missing pieces. The world-building was just not there; I needed some reason why things were how they were. How did we get to this place? Where did the dragons come from? Who fought in all these world wars that are mentioned? Markus' inner dialogue was a bit vapid at times. He talks about really liking Amira, but all he wants to do with her all the time is get her into bed. And Amira is supposedly brilliant, but no one seems to rely on her brilliance--and she seems to just fall into Markus' bed too easily. The potential is there for a great story; however, it needs some beefing up. I did enjoy it, I read it, and I really liked the dragons--especially Loki, who we get to hang out with the most. And we're meeting another dragon at the end, Mamba. Between now and then, I hope the editors and author work to flesh out this idea more and bring the dragon fire with book 2.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ygdrassil Press for the eArc. The opinions are mine.

I really love dragons.

Let me begin with that first, and foremost, because I will pick up and read a book simply because it has dragons in it.

That said, I really struggled with this one.
It has potential, but it feels like it’s one of those books that rides the high of the latest trend because it’s popular rather than a book that was yearning to be told.

It’s tough. I didn’t feel a connection to the story or characters and I feel like this one needed more time, editing, outlining, and character work.

DNF at 35%

I’m so sad about this book, I hoped for some fun story but it seems like a ripoff of all the “inspiration” the blurb mentioned, written rather poorly.

The main character was just a one dimensional stereotype and i didn’t feel it would change. Other characters were just not interesting enough to make it til the end.

Anyway , it’s two stars because it felt kinda camp and I appreciate that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
DNF ~30%

I will caveat this review by saying I think this book is just not for me. I was intrigued by the description and was craving more dragon stories, but think some of the other elements (modern fantasy, male MC, military vibes) are not as much my cup of tea, and the elements I did find interesting were not enough to compensate for this mismatch.

Overall, I think the idea is unique - modern world setting but with dragons, and some heist/espionage/action vibes. The writing style didn't really sit well with me - it felt a little too tell not show, and the language was simple and repetitive. I also didn't love the misogyny (how many times do we need the MMC to describe the female characters by their height and how well their clothes hug their curves), particularly as it felt like those details weren't really needed to get the point across that the MMC is a bit of a womanizer. The book is fast paced, but if also felt like the premise in the beginning was too rushed. While I get that this world is supposed to basically be real life + dragons, I could have used a little more world building set up to understand why this military academy exists, why they are trying to harness and ride dragons, and how that fits in with the broader landscape of society.

Thank you, NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press, for the chance to read and review Dragon Den by Kriss Dean.

Dragons are in vogue these days, or at least, post-Fourth Wing; I'm starting to see them more and more often, which could just be because of the algorithms involved.

Dragon Den is How to Train Your Dragon meets Fast and Furious, although sometimes I wonder if How To Train Your Dragon is just thrown into these things to help trick the algorithm into marketing the book for you. What it does have in common with HTTYD is that the characters are young, learning about dragons, and the main character is a dumb dude, trying to make his dad proud, and in love with a high-achieving woman.

But that last similarity might also be the book's downfall.

Fourth Wing worked because it was told from a female POV. The book itself wasn't well written; it was a fast read that you had to avoid reading too closely (the same way one watches a trashy TV show), and it had good smut told from the female POV. Regarding writing quality, Dragon Den may be in the same place, but by making the main character a dude who tells the smut from his perspective, you make it weird for female readers who are, let's face it, the primary audience for this book. You really have to force yourself to read the first few chapters; as a NetGalley reviewer, I might do that, but most people will give it up. He's also such a dumb dude. So dumb.

That being said, the plot itself is interesting, especially how it progresses at the end. There are plot holes, like how the adults are that dumb and how quickly the dude gets his dragon, but I'm willing to overlook that, given that this does seem to be the author's first book.

So this was described as “A fast-paced, action-packed romantic urban fantasy inspired by The Fast and the Furious, perfect for adult fans of How to Train Your Dragon.”

I enjoyed Fast and the Furious and I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon, always been a big dragon fan.

But the issue I had was that it felt much more than inspired by, the general story felt pretty much the same, with some sections, scenarios and conversations that were scene for scene, or word for word. Now I accept these may have been intended as nods to the Movie or as a tribute almost, but for me they were just a bit awkward. Instead of a nod, it was like a headbutt.

Now that I’ve finished being horrible, I did still enjoy the read, it was an easy read once I got past the issues I mentioned above. And there were enough little details that I really liked for their uniqueness.

Really enjoyed the relationship built between our main and his dragon, really liked the concept behind how interaction with Dragons has happened throughout the history of this world.

Plus Dragons, takes a lot for me to be mad about a book with Dragons.

I enjoyed this book. It’s probably the first time I’ve read a book completely from the male perspective but it doesn’t bother me. I appreciate the commentary on modern issues through a fantasy lens. 10/10 recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Kriss Dean for the opprotunity to read the eARC of Dragon Den.

To those reading this review... These are my honest thoughts and feelings regarding this book, I want it to fall into the hands of readers who will enjoy it as much as I did.

The Review:
I had seen this book around on TikTok and when I saw it on NetGalley I figured why not shoot my shot and apply for the ARC. I am honestly very happy I did. It took me a couple attempts to get started on the book because the formatting on Kindle was not kind, but I ended up getting it to read smoothly and wasn't instantly hooked, but eventually got there.

I feel like most romantasy books these days are from the female perspective which makes since for fem authors. Kriss changed it up by having the whole book from the male perspective. This was a change that I didnt know I needed. The book is about a young man who is trying to make his way in a dragon rider academy. It is very Fourth Wing, but also very different. As I dont want to spoil any of the story, I wont be going any more in depth about that. There is loss, love, heartache, friends to lovers, and redemption in this book and they all move seamlessly through out. Honestly the most props to Kriss Dean for the story and the nuances that are all throughout this book.

There were things that I would have liked more on like world building and character development. It was hard to come into this world with a lot left out at the beginning because we are coming into this world near the end of their first year of the academy. The relationships between characters have already been started and it feels like there is a lot left off the page which would help the reader understand the dynamic a little more.

I recommend reading it if you like dragons, dragon riders, loved Fourth Wing or Iron Flame, want a little spice to go with your plot, friends to lovers, found family, redemption arc, and many many more tropes.

This book started out with such a good idea and I was excited about it but it kind of didn’t do it for me. I feel like it wasn’t a horrible read and there was a lot of similarities between the referenced books and this story which happens all the time with books. I just feel like I saw a lot of too similar things where it was easy to know what wa coming because it wasn’t a huge change in story for the compared books. That made it hard to get into as much. I think this book had its moments. I love the dragons and again the idea of the plot but it just didn’t live up to what I expected when compared to these other books. It wasn’t a hard read and I finished it pretty fast and didn’t DNF it but it’s a 2 maybe 3 ⭐️ out of five for me. I think the author has a great mind for it he ideas for the book but just needs some extra details inside and to make the story it’s own.

When i read the discription of this book i was immediatly intrigued, sad to say that this did not deliver. It all felt like pieces that did not fit together. The plot was rushed, characters felt uninspiring. The world felt a weird mix of modern and medieval like. Dragons exits in the same world as helicopters and guns? Too weird for me. The dragon names like tiger and loki, felt more like a five year old naming their first pet, than dragon riders naming their dragons. Anyway really tried to like this but i really can´t.

3 stars. The premise of this book is really interesting and hooked me right in, it’s just the execution that drags it down unfortunately. The writing feels a bit flat in paces and pacing feels a bit off. However the combination of the modern setting incorporating dragons did have a charm to it. Slightly disappointing but has heaps of potential, would happily read a sequel!

Sigh. I love dragon books, and the dedication for this one really was meant for me - I mean, yes, I have always dreamed of dragons being real!! But this book REALLY failed for me. It was simultaneously so heavy on worldbuilding and yet the worldbuilding was SO underdeveloped it physically hurt. In the first bit I read -- before DNFing -- it already had a couple moments of me going "what?" and "this wasn't.. oh that's inconsistent, okay".
Sad that this is a debut and I can't give it a higher rating, or a better chance, but I just can't get through it. DNF @ 37%

I was so excited to receive this book, it was one of my most anticipated reads as it reminded me of Fourth Wing. The cover is perfect, and the premise was so enticing. I was unable to connect with both the male and female main characters, I felt as though the character development was just not there. It had great potential, it just seemed like it could have been so much more. Thank you to NetGalley and to Yggdrasil Press for giving me the opportunity to read an eARC of Dragon Den by Kriss Dean.

"I like it when you call me Obi," Amira whispers into our shared silence.
I kiss her cheek and settle back in. "Yeah?"
"In Igbo, one of the languages spoken in Southeastern Nigeria, it means heart." Appropriate, since this girl stole mine.

They say it’s perfect for fans of Fast and Furious and How to train a Dragon … and that’s exactly what it was. Intriguing, action packed, magics and dragon full fantasy book with a plot that leaves you almost breathless and a romance that is spicier than I thought it would be. I won’t complain though. I liked it. I think the dragons scenes were some of my favourite but I also found some very interesting kinda found family tropes that I’m more than willing to explore and read more about in the future. Really high potential for a fantasy series and the cliffhanger at the end … that last sentence had quite the desired effect!!! I want more !!

I really wanted to like this one...but just didn't. I think I needed more. More depth, More character development. More plot that was not contrived (as some things were direct copies of other works). This one had a lot of potential but, for me, it just didn't hit the mark.

No public review as this was less than 3 stars for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This felt like if you hopped into Fourth Wing at the time of them getting their dragons and then were thrust into a secret mission filled with a good amount of Fast and the Furious “family.” And it was quite a fun ride.

For a debut book it was pretty good. I wish we had more story of Markus and Amira during their first year of school and the build up to why they were friends, rather than being thrust into things in media res, but that did allow for a faster read and I did enjoy the pacing of the story.

There were small bits of worldbuilding happening, but I really wanted more of that and if there is a follow up would love to see the world expanded and talked about more. Loki, Markus’s Gray Dragon was one of the best parts of the book along with Amira being a pretty strong and independent woman in the story. I also loved the social commentary strewn throughout the story.

A Fast and Furious retelling with the dragons, death, and romance of Fourth Wing. If that is your very particular cup of tea, then this will be a fun, quick read. I’m unfortunately lukewarm on both of those properties and couldn’t help a long lolololol when the familiar plot beats of the first FF movie began to appear. Despite my distraction from the strong parallel, I appreciated the quick pace and the straightforward attitude of the main character.

**Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC**