Dragon Thief

Title: Dragon Thief
Author: Katy Haye
Series: The Princess Witch #1
Publisher: Plumshine Books
Publication Date: 18 January 2019
Source: Author
Format: eBook
Pages: 242
Rating: 3.25
Reading Timeline: 17 January 2019 - 20 January 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

A powerless princess. A kingdom on the brink of war. A forbidden magic. 

Princess Jurelle of Muirland tries to be the obedient daughter her father demands.Even when he commands her to marry the brutal king of neighbouring Surran, she doesn’t protest – at least on the surface.But she will not tamely accept her fate. 

Using magic that would earn the death penalty if discovered, Jurelle steals her father’s pet dragonette. Her aim is to sneak the creature out of the country with help from Lyo, a refugee seeking the downfall of the Surran king.What Jurelle doesn’t know is that the deal they strike to gain revenge on two kings will have a lasting impact on both their lives, and repercussions that will change the fate of three kingdoms. 

Book Review:

Pre-reading Thoughts:

When I was contacted about this book, I was excited to see what would happen in this book. I really enjoy the themes of an oppressive state that ends up getting crushed by someone who they thought was docile.

Thank you so much to the author, Katy Haye, for providing me with a copy of this book. Just a small disclaimer for those reading this review, I have received this book for free. Please note that this does not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own. 

Writing Thoughts:

The writing does a great job of pulling you into the novel in the beginning. However, I found that towards the end of the book, the writing lost quite a bit of its momentum. Despite this, I quite enjoyed the dialogue between the characters as it flowed naturally and did a good job of creating tension between characters. I liked the fact that the novel is written from a dual perspective and whilst it did work for this book, I am intrigued to see what the author does with it in the next book.

Plot Thoughts:

The plot was slow burning despite the fact that this was a relatively short book. A lot seemed to happen at the beginning of the book but towards the end, things seemed to slow down. I think that this book does a great job of setting up the rest of the series. It shows us a small part of this world that we are jumping into. I am definitely curious to see how the author continues to develop not only the plot but the world as well. 

Character Thoughts:

The characters in this book lacked something in the beginning but as the book developed so did the characters. The main character went through the most development in this novel as we see her go from a meek character who never disobeys her father to someone who stands up for what is right, at least to a small extent. I am intrigued to see how much Jurelle continues to grow in the next book. Lyo is an interesting character, whilst it becomes clear that he will be the love interest, the tension between him and Jurelle is slow burning. I am curious to see what both the author and Lyo have up their sleeves.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this was a good start to a new series. It ticked all of the boxes for a first book including ending in a somewhat open manner. The book does an excellent job of introducing us to the characters of the world and as readers, we also see some character development. The writing pulls you in at the beginning of the novel but loses a bit of moment at the end which puts more pressure on the plot to keep the reader interested. The ending of the novel does a great job of making the reader want to read the next instalment. I am definitely intrigued to see what happens next in this series. Thank you so much to the author, Katy Haye, for providing me with a copy of this book.

Yours in Reading,

Melleny