fireborne

4 stars 

A fantastic first book in an exciting new YA Fantasy series. 

WOW. What a ride! I haven’t been this engrossed in a book in awhile. It has everything you could want in a YA Fantasy book. Revolution, class warfare, people overcoming obstacles, orphans, family troubles, inner struggles and turmoil, love triangles and best of all – dragons! It’s a great start to what I hope will be a very good YA fantasy series.

The main characters, Annie and Lee, were children when a successful revolution changed life for everyone in their country. Before the revolution, three families ruled over the country, headed by Dragonlords. The rulers were arrogant and harsh, with little care or respect for the poor. Annie’s family were farmers and Lee was a member of an aristocrat dragonlord family. Both children were forced to watch their families slaughtered. Annie’s family were killed when a dragonlord had his dragon burn them alive. Lee’s family were killed during the revolution. Both ended up in the same orphanage and clung to each other to survive. Despite how close Annie and Lee became, however, Lee never told her his secret. The secret that would cost him his life if revealed.

After the revolution, anyone could test to become a dragonrider. Years after the revolution, Annie and Lee are rising stars in the new regime. Both have become dragon riders and are competing to become the top commander of the dragonriding fleet. Just as the competition heats up, survivors from the old regime appear. They make it clear that they are determined to take back what was once theirs – by any means necessary. With this news, Lee must make the most important decision of his life. Stay loyal to the new regime, or reunite with his family and fight for the old regime.

Even though this book is almost 450 pages, it is a very easy, quick read. While there is minimal world building, the characters are fairly well developed. There is plenty of action and intrigue to keep the story moving, with very few sections where the story slowed down or dragged. I highly recommend you read this book and am excited to read the rest of the books in this series.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.