She Dreamed of Dragons by Elizabeth J. M. Walker Published by Musa Publishing on August 29, 2014
Genres: Dragons, Unicorns & Mythical, Fantasy & Magic, Middle Grade
Source: ecopy from Publisher
Trina is more likely to set the palace on fire with her powers than be a princess – could a dragon mage be the next ruler of the magical kingdom of Dorlith?
Trina is a fifteen-year-old dragon mage in a kingdom ruled by witches and wizards – the same people who have brought dragons and other magical creatures near extinction. Trina can barely control her fire powers and is desperate for an apprenticeship, but finding a fellow dragon mage to be her teacher is proving more difficult than coming across an actual dragon.
Then there’s the Royal Tourney – a competition presented by the Queen to find a successor to the throne. Trina heads to the competition in the hopes of sparking some interest in the mage society and earning herself an apprenticeship.
She never intended to be a frontrunner in the competition.
She never meant to catch the attention of the evil witch trying to take over the throne.
She never expected to fall for a wizard.
Now Trina must face tough decisions about who she is and who she could become. Trina must ask herself: Can she really win the Royal Tourney?
She Dreamed of Dragons is a young adult book, although I think it would be better in the middle grade market, that creates a lovely new world of witches and mages. I liked the tension between the wiches and the mags because it added to the history behind them. Because they were in a constant feud, we actually learned a lot more about each of the races. There are all different kinds of mages, and one of the rarest of all is the dragon mage. I personally think the mages are more interesting than the witches. They have the power of various creatures living within them.
She Dreamed of Dragons has a main character, but this is more of a book with a cast of characters. I liked the main girl, Trina and a few of the other characters, but for the most part the characters were kind of lackluster. And that was my main problem in this book. No one had any real depth, which is part of the reason that I think this book would work a lot better as a middle grade read. It was more simplistic and the plot was kind of one dimensional. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t overly complex or overly interesting. I liked the idea behind the story a lot and that kept me interested enough to want to finish the book, but it was kind of boring for me throughout.
It felt too young and everything felt too overly happy. There was not enough conflict added into the story to make it appeal to older readers. But I think it would be a hit with readers looking for a younger feeling book. It was age appropriate and fantastical to hold young readers attention. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it would be older feeling and maybe even a bit darker with the mages and even a curse going around. I can see other people really enjoying this fantasy book, but it wasn’t what I was expecting and it fell a bit short for me.
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kindlemom1
Sometimes these type of reads work and sometimes they don’t, sadly this sounds like one of those times were it just didn’t work. I hope your next read is fabulous.
Michelle @ Book Briefs
Oh it was, I read the collectors society by heather lyons and I loved it so much!
Christy
Well that’s too bad. I totally know what you mean about the simplicity of it though.
Michelle @ Book Briefs
I think if I went into it expecting a middle grade book, I would have thought about it differently. But as a young adult book it just felt lacking something.
danielle hammelef
I understand the disappointment when a book is too light and doesn’t dig deep enough into either the characters or action. Thanks for the review.