“Du gryr haydria til myia elwyn.”
I want to start this by saying - I understand people's common criticism of this being derivative. I enjoyed every minute of it, but it is not without flaw. That being said, I do think it is greater than the sum of it's parts. It feels much like a debut epic fantasy novel that... takes inspiration, to put it lightly, from other books that came before. I do not ultimately think that is an issue in this case, though.
There were some heavy hitting moments starting from the beginning. Calen, the protagonist, has some moments where his feelings are understandable, but god he is a bitch occasionally. The twist kill at the end definitely hit me in the gut, though.
I wouldn't say this book necessarily requuires any extra thought power, though. I don't think it hinders from the enjoyment but if that's what you like, this won't be for you.
I enjoyed the characters in this. There are a few that I feel could be fleshed out more and others I don't think made some decisions that make sense, but they're mostly young and in a situation that they didn't intend to be in. Some of Calen's reactions make him sound extremely childish... but he IS a child so I don't agree with them, but they are age appropriate.
The plot of this is fine, enjoyable, but not very unique. It definitely is a pretty typical dragon-led fetch/betrayal story.
I liked the world this takes place in. There wasn't a TON of worldbuilding in this specific book, but I do think that's absolved in later books.
The prose is simple and effective. It's not going to be what everyone wants but I do like it. It allows me to focus on the story itself and not trying to digest the way it's written.
Ending all of this to say - this is one of the first books I've read this year, part of a series, that I actually want to continue reading.