ARC BOOK REVIEW: Wrath of the Dragon King (Dragonwatch #2)

Here I was, about to write this review a few chapters before I finished, and I said to myself, “You know what this series needs? A cliffhanger.”

And guess what? This book has a major, game-changing cliffhanger.

But let’s get on with the review, shall we?

All of my reviews are made to be as spoiler free as possible.

SYNOPSIS:

From Goodreads:

War has come to the dragon sanctuaries of the world and nowhere is the danger more intense than at Wyrmroost. After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Kendra and Seth, Celebrant, King of Dragons, prepares to unleash his fury and take control of his native preserve. Armed with information from a new ally Ronodin, the dark unicorn Celebrant seeks a legendary talisman the dominion stone.

However, the powerful stone is protected by a cursed castle. Upon entering the castle fortress, an unyielding power strips all magical beings of their power and forces Celebrant to take his human avatar form. Kendra and Seth must enter the cursed castle as well. The race is on. Will the two young caretakers rally enough support from the creatures of Wyrmroost against the greatest threat the magical community has faced in ages? Can they foil Celebrant’s plan and beat him to the mighty dominion stone? Or will all hope be shattered by the wrath of the Dragon King?

MY RATING:

MY RATING: 4 Stars (out of 5)

I was originally going to give it 3.5 stars, but I’m giving it extra bonus points purely for surprising me in the end.

IF I WERE A KID: 4.5 Stars

EMOJIS: 4 dragons 🐉🐉🐉🐉, but not as many as last time

MY THOUGHTS:

The time has come to review Wrath of the Dragon King, my first official digital ARC!

(Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book!)

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I did it, friends! I finally figured out why I didn’t like Dragonwatch #1! (If you haven’t read the first book yet, then I suggest you go and read that first.)

It’s the dialogue. I thought there was way too much of it for my taste, and the book seemed… a little too long. This is also why I loved the beginning so much! Wrath of the Dragon King began with a scene in which Seth just silently did random stuff. There was little dialogue, and it was great.

While preparing for this review, I was going to compare the amount of dialogue per page to the books in the original series… but it’s about the same! I think my view on Middle Grade has changed over the years, then. It’s my fault, not the book’s!

So please don’t take this review very seriously if you or your child are considering this book! This is a “it’s not you, it’s me” situation in which I don’t love the characters anymore. While I still like the Fablehaven universe, I guess I’m no longer the target audience. I don’t read the same as I used to, and that’s okay!

The plot of Wrath of the Dragon King takes place soon after Dragonwatch. Things in the dragon world are beginning to get darker, and hope is starting to fade for the characters…. Things seem to be even more at stake, especially because the cousins are involved. Characters from the original series return, and the dragon war finally takes off!

In general, the beginning of this book was good. I liked the faster pace, and now most of the introductions were out of the way, it was easier to get into the plot.

However, at around a third of the way through, my interest just… slowed down. I wasn’t as interested in continuing the story anymore, and here’s one simple reason why: the original Fablehaven series was supposed to be the end of it. In the 5th book, it truly felt like anything could happen, including a major character death. But now that there is a sequel series and all of the characters are still thriving, I don’t believe anything terrible will ever happen to these characters. They are now untouchable, and I just don’t see what could make me believe they were ever in any kind of mortal peril.

In short: A dragon war? No big deal. Somehow, someway, Kendra and/or Seth with save the world. No exceptions.

In the end, I still liked this book, and I know I would have really enjoyed it if I had read it several years ago, when I finished the original series as a kid. So that’s why I’m rating it 4+ stars! It wouldn’t be fair if I rated the Dragonwatch books as harshly as I would a YA series.