Dragonhaven | 
pickThe writing style takes a while to get used to; it's very chatty and it took >50 pg before anything happened (finding dragons) and the story finally took off. It took me a bit longer to get used to the style.
It is information dense and the print is small so it took longer to finish this. I did like the story.
Well worth sticking with it. The premise and the putative science behind it (a lot of which is worked out as the story develops) work.
(Jake has named the baby dragon ‘Lois‘):
I was sure Lois would be brokenhearted if she woke up one morning and discovered she‘d fried me in her sleep ... but what if she did?
There‘s a lot of Louis Carrol (Alice inWonderland, Jabberwocky) threaded through this book.
Just at the beginning of this one (partway through ch1); a bit confusing. Told in 1 person POV by a boy recalling events 4 years ago. His mum seems to have died before that time. At some point he was 12 and his sister? friend? is/ was 7.
Set on a parallel Earth where computers and dragons coexist. Very much not Damar (I suspect).
💖 💖 💖 💖 🤍
so-so3.5 🌟
This was a fun YA fantasy that feels like a blend of Fablehaven and Temeraire. Jake matures a lot throughout the book, and I just enjoy McKinley's writing.
so-soI was torn between so-so and pick for this one. It's a so-so and a half. The hyper, overwhelmed and not very articulate teenage narrator is what pushed this out of "pick" territory for me. I feel the author sacrificed good narrative flow to stay true to that voice. Read Sunshine, by the same author, to see how much better she can be.
The first person narrator of this book is a 15 year old boy. It's quite remarkable how realistic and consistent the author is with that voice. It's also starting to wear in me a little. Are you a fan of the first person narrator?
This is going to be very different then her previous books that I have read.
