Elana A. Mugdan

Actual Rating: 4.5

*Thank you to the author for providing me a free review copy! This review is my full and honest opinion.*

In a world where everyone is a magic wielder, Keriya Nameless stands out as the only one who doesn't have any magical powers. She knows she has to prove herself, and when the goddess Shivnath chooses her to save the world's last dragon, Keriya knows she can't mess up.

But of course, that dragon is in high demand and Keriya struggles to keep it safe from everyone who wants to use it for their own gain.

Before she knows it, she's caught in the middle of an ancient war - one that will decide the future of everything Keriya holds dear.

This was definitely an exciting read! I'm normally not into "high fantasy" because the worlds are extremely confusing for me to wrap my head around, but Dragon Speaker was clear and interesting, despite the specialized language and unfamiliar world.

I was a little confused in the beginning, but it did catch on and I was actually really drawn into the story. The writing style was good and engaging - it wasn't particularly mind-blowing or anything, but it was definitely interesting and allowed the story to progress along well.

The plot was definitely twisted and interesting, and props to the author for creating so many complicated unique settings - I felt like a vast part of this story's success was how well thought out the setting was: geography, landscapes, fauna...I felt like everything was very complete and I definitely got an extremely clear picture of the world I was reading about.

The characters in this story was extremely strong as well. There was visible character development throughout the book not only in the main character but in the side characters as well, and I felt as though I was very connected to the characters after accompanying them on the entire journey.

Mugdan accomplished a very powerful dynamic between various characters, which I think is one of the book's strongest aspects; although the story takes place in an imagined, fantasy, world, the characters themselves and their interactions with one another were very realistic, which allowed me to feel not only like they were real people, but also that they belonged and each had their roles to play.

Overall, I'd say that this was definitely worth the read! Great plot, great characters - I'm very excited to read book two!… (més)