Talon (Talon, book 1) by Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal Young Adult (Romance)
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Hardback | Kindle
Goodreads: Talon (1)
Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.
Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.
Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.
Review:
Up front. Talon is a title I have been beyond eager to get my hands on. Normally I don't to “pre-reviews” let alone ones with gifs. But I did, my Cookie Monster burning his cookie/meth on his spoon mouthing “come on, come on” is exactly how I felt about a new Julie Kagawa book. I was jonesing for this book hard! Kagawa took fairies and rocked it! She took vampires tossed them into a futuristic dystopain causing my mind to: BOOM!
So imagine my surprise when I wasn't won over. The romance was handled well, and it was pretty intelligent for a love triangle even if all the pieces had to be shoved together in the first book. Though I was annoyed by the insta-attraction between Ember and Riley. Because their dragons have an instinct for each other. It was just more romance than I had expected. Don’t get me wrong I did enjoy the romance, swooned and liked that both Ember and Garret told the story. Giving me sooooo many swoon moments. Then Riley came in to tell his parts towards the end, letting readers no the triangle is not going to be set in stone. Fabulous job.
What detracted from Talon was that the world wasn't fully developed, and some of it was too contrived. Kagawa can deliver on amazing worlds, and that was what I was most excited about. How she would weave a world of dragons. Don't get me wrong I gave Firelight a pretty high rating, but I knew going in it was all about romance and very little world building up front. Dear Kagawa has forced me to raise my standards where she is concerned.
The world outside of Ember and Garret's star-crossed romance felt . . . choppy and lacking at best. The brainwashing aspects of Talon weren't explored enough. Dante and Ember as twins felt hallow. Plus, that mentioned brainwashing is supposed to really kick into affect when Ember gets her “training” and eventual placement in the Talon organization. (Her placement was sadly obvious, but beyond laughable. No she couldn't.) St. George, the dragon slayer organization, had so much potential and some world building could have been used! Nothing beyond that beautiful romance was fleshed out. Which soon brought down my enjoyment of the romance and it took me more then two days to devour a Kagawa book! What?
In the end I expected more from Kagawa. My anticipation of the amazing world she would build out weighed my interest in the romance. Too many missed opportunities! Which is what ended up dampening my enjoyment of Talon. Though that cliffhanger really was amazing. And as a side note I was surprised how many grammar errors there were. Hmmmm. Talon is a lot better then a number of YA titles out there. However, Kagawa set the bar. I have expectations now. I'll keep my faith alive for the next book.
Sexual Content: Making out, kissing, sexual humor, and such. Overall pretty clean.
3/5- Adored it, just a few minor details held it back.
| Previous book(s) in series: | ||
| Reviewed on BW: | Amazon: | Goodreads: |
| Talon (1) Rogue (2) Untitled (3) Untitled (4) Untitled (5) | Talon (1) Rogue (2) Untitled (3) Untitled (4) Untitled (5) | |
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