If I could give half stars I would give Emberclaw 4 and a half stars. I enjoyed this even more than the first.
Continuing the adventures of Arcady, Everen, Sorin and Cassia, Emberclaw is the fantastic conclusion to this duology.
Perfect for fans of yearning and fated mates, the love story of Arcady and Everen is one for the ages.
Beautifully written with a unique magic system, Emberclaw ramps up the stakes of Dragonfall and triumphs. Emberclaw also features a much loved trope of trials, which serves to show Arcady’s growth across the duology.
Emberclaw continues a conversation about gender binaries and femininity/masculinity in a unique and interesting way.

Firstly, a massive thank you to L.R. Lam, Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this eARC of Emberclaw.

Emberclaw follows on immediately after Dragonfall and contains the same brilliant world building which I loved in the first book. I actually enjoyed Emberclaw more, as I felt it was faster paced. I thought that Arcady’s time learning magic wove in a really cool academic setting with lots of magic (serious Hogwarts vibes!!)

Everen is still my favourite character and his POV was again my favourite. He has a unique way of narrating and describing things which I really enjoyed.

I still struggle with the changing person between different POVs which was an issue for me in Dragonfall, which is one of the main reasons for my 4 star rating as I just struggle to stay immersed in the story. At time there is also lots of information to process and I would have preferred this to be more subtly woven into the writing.

Overall a great fantasy read with dragons and magic, and a satisfying conclusion to the duology!

I should probably start by saying that I have been a big fan of L. R Lam’s books for a very long time, so I was expecting this to be good. But DAMN this was good. I loved Dragonfall and Emberclaw is a fantastic sequel, full of character, tension, plot, a fascinating world and some really breathtaking moments. The story rattles along at a great pace but still deftly weaves in time for side characters to really develop, and there’s still plenty of moments of captivating tension between Arcady and Everen. One of the best books I’ve read in absolute ages, don’t sleep on this!

On the Feast of Flowers, Arcady severed their bond and killed Everen. Back where she started, with little money and a false name, Arcady forges ahead with her mission to clear her grandsire’s name. With only just enough money for the first year of university, time is not her friend.
Everen is not dead. Instead he has been thrust back home to Vere Celene and imprisoned for his own protection. But the dragons’ are running out of time and he still may be their only hope. Fate tells him he must heal the dreamer so it does not wake. Fate tells him he must return to Arcady. Against all expectations, a glimmer of their bond still exists. Can Everen and Arcady learn to trust each other again and rebuild their bond in time to save both the human and dragon worlds from an enemy that should have died a long time ago?
In some ways the plot of this book reads a bit-like a second chance for the characters, but they are different people than the first time around and the stakes are even higher. Their shared history makes it both easier and more difficult; they understand each other now, but trust is hard to come by when you’ve been burnt by that person before. However, what really adds depth to this second chance is Sorrin. She plays a much greater role than in the first book and begins to use her own agency rather than acting merely as a pawn on someone else’s board. Overall, it is the growth of all three characters that dictates their chances of success.
Arcady’s growth is more apparent near the end of the book, when she finally gets the answers to her questions about the Plaguebringer. She has been working towards this for almost two whole books, but in the end the achievement of this goal seems more like a footnote in her story. I think that this ability to move on from the past and embrace a new future will be essential in the final book of the trilogy.
Many writers would have ended the series here, with their characters having accomplished their mission and with their future an open door of possibilities. I like that L.R. Lam is making this a trilogy and giving us a chance to see what happens next for the characters we have grown to love.

4⭐️s!

Fantastically executed second book!! This book was incredibly good. An incredible follow up to Dragonfall and it was SO easy to fall back into this wonderfully complicated world (which really surprised me!!). Lam’s writing in this series can take some getting used to, but this time round it was still so familiar and gripping despite it being over a year since I read book one.

This book is a love letter to magical schools and trials and destiny and grand purposes and it is WONDERFUL. From start to finish, the plot stays on track and the twists are detailed and shocking in some cases, without them being incredibly far fetched. I loved getting different POVs, all of them so distinctive from the others and each served a clear purpose but were also entertaining. I loved loved loved Everens POVs, they were one of my favourite things. The language used, the way that lam let us inside his head was incredible - I could feel how much he loved Arcady!

The setting of the university for this book was brilliant, I loved seeing Arcady mix with other characters from different backgrounds and learning more about the magic system while they were training. My only tiny complaint on this front is that I felt we could have had a little more detail overall about the little things while Arcady was there - we skipped a lot of time here and there and sometimes I wished I’d seen Arcady do some of the stuff written on page. Sometimes it threw me out of the book but nothing too drastic - I just want more because I love this world ok sorry.

Arcady and Everen were nothing short of fantastic in this book. Incredibly strong leads when they were apart and beautifully integrated when together. When they reunited I had little tears!!! I loved seeing their relationship grow and strengthen even when it looked like it was impossible (but they just needed to find how one would do it…) 🥹 Everen will probably be one of my most favourite characters for the rest of my life, I love that little dragon boy very much. Sorin was actually so much more interesting in this book than the last, and I enjoyed reading her POVs and seeing her and Arcady kinda become friends. All of the other side characters what were introduced were good, Willem specifically stood out to me and I would love to see him and Arcady become better friends in a future book!!

This book closed the series on a really nice note. I would absolutely love more from this world and these characters, but if nothing else is made then I am very content with the ending we got. What a wonderful world!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eArc and thank you to L. R. Lam for writing a wonderful ending to characters I cherish.

I loved Dragonfall, so I was super excited to start this one!
LR Lam has taken a very unique take on dragons, which I enjoyed a lot.
I always find her writing style enjoyable and well executed. Love the characters and the world building. Great book!

Emberclaw by L.R. Lam is such a good book. Loved every single second of this lovely book!!! So so good. I loved every single detail in this story. So so good.