Review: Talon

Talon by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I came here for dragons. Was not disappointed.

Summary: Ember and Dante are dragons disguised as humans. They are learning to act human by making friends with humans and doing fun human things, while doing secret dragon training on the side. Garret is a dragon-hunting human, whose latest mission involves pretending to be a normal human. He does this by making friends with humans and doing fun human things.

I liked these characters. Ember is so feisty and I loved that inner fire (haha) that made her so headstrong and determined to do things her own way. I liked that, even though she wasn't allowed to dragon-up, she still wasn't afraid to kick boys in the balls when they were jerks.

Garret was a little bit too mopey and rigid but I liked when he got sassy. That little glimpse of cheekiness was FUN. Plus - here's a new one for me - I liked that he had 'gunmetal eyes'?? Such a ridiculous thing but I was so very attached to this description. Not that I've ever seen anyone with grey eyes in my entire life. Is this actually a real thing?

Anyhoo. Their whole relationship is entirely predictable and full of inevitable drama, but I enjoyed it with lots of heavy sighs. They were just CUTE.

Dante ... oh, how he disappointed me. I wanted more of him, and I wanted him to be less straight-laced. I wanted to read about him having his own fun, and being an annoying older brother, and doing stupid things ... his part in this book was incredibly underwhelming. Overall, he turned out to be a pretty dull character.

You know who was fun though? RILEY/COBALT. Oh, hey, look - I'm keen on the bad boy again. *dramatic sigh* He was also not in it quite as much as I'd have liked, and I appreciated his edginess so he was less fun when his edges were softened, but he was fairly entertaining. I do wish he'd been a little more badass, though. More rebel, more fierce, more sassy. Oh well. I'll take what I can get.

I enjoyed the fun human things, and was surprised at myself enjoying all that bloody surfing. I mean, it's just surfing. I don't get it. But they were fun interactions so okay then! I liked the group of friends, too, though I never became particularly attached. Was secretly hoping at least one of them would turn out to be a dragon.

The book is divided into two main chunks, and the second part is where we get the most fun dragon action with teeth and claws and scales and, like I said, I came here for dragons. That amped things up and made it all much more fun and entertaining. The first part is mostly boy/girl drama, which is fun but less dragon-y. I liked the action, and there was much more to be had in the second part of the book, which gives me abundant hope for the next book.

Beyond the original idea of dragons shapeshifting into humans to fit in, there's nothing terribly unique in this book. It's very Romeo and Juliet with its forbidden romance, even if neither of our loved-up puppies realises; it's quite obvious that it's all a disaster waiting to happen. The characters are familiar enough, as are the events, and even the training. The rebelling against a structured society. The rebels who are actually the good guys. The oblivious friends. Not a lot that I haven't read before. But I still really enjoyed it, and I'm so glad there was still vicious dragon action because that was the 4th star for me. Without the dragon action, this is a pretty average, 3-star read.

It's not exactly a work of genius but it is a fun story with likable characters and plenty of drama. I'm looking forward to reading the next book. Hopefully there'll be even more dragons.


View all my reviews