3 out of 4 stars
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Dragon Born by Ela Lourenco is a young adult fantasy fiction. It is the first book in a series of five installments.
Azmantium is an alternate universe where the plants are blue instead of lush green. There are two suns, not one. The sky is lilac-colored, and the sea is a shade of green. The residents of Azmantium are typically people born with magical powers they utilize to secure their way in life.
Larissa feels sad to leave her foster mother Yelena and her sisters, but she is excited to be tested for her power and finally go to Lantis School of Magic. It is a boarding school for children to develop their magical abilities and learn to properly control their powers. On her first day, she encounters Leyla, who fortunately happens to be the daughter of Yelena’s longtime friends. They make two other friends, Anna and Sophia and manage to nettle Jayla, the popular mean girl at their school. Lara also captures the attention of Xan, the Prince, who happens to be Jayla’s friend. Together with Leyla and her friends, Lara tries to make the most of the school year, by sneaking around at night, trying to discover secret passages and learning new spells. But there is a huge secret she isn’t aware of, which might be dangerous for her and the magical world of Azmantium. In the present circumstances, Lara promptly has to come to terms with her new identity and needs to use it to save her world.
Ela Lourenco’s writing style was really engaging and carefree. The dialogue was pretty funny at times, and she really knows how to hook her readers with elaborate descriptions of her setting. I loved the fantasy world she has created. Though it was described well, it wasn’t unique. It felt like most of the plot points were borrowed from other popular mainstream books like Harry Potter and Divergent. For example, testing for uncanny abilities and discovering Lara was different than the rest, was pretty much like Divergent. Lantis School of Magic and some of the events that take place there felt like parts of Harry Potter. But the truly striking bit of the book was the friendship. I loved Lara, Leyla, Anna and Sophia, and their bonding, which was unique and heartfelt. I also loved the side characters like Yelena, Arwen, and Healer Thomas.
One of my biggest problems with the book was that it lacked a convincing story. The book was predominantly a set-up for the upcoming book. There’s a little bit of world-building, but that’s merely it. Nothing of much significance happens in the story. Given the title and the cover, the climax was eminently predictable. Above all, Lara’s character was a Mary Sue. She was an innocent, friendly girl with no flaws, it felt a bit unrealistic. I was annoyed by the number of times Lara pretended to be unaware of her own brilliance. There was a trivial romantic development, but it suited the story.
Even though the writing was effective, the book could have implemented another round of editing. There were many cases of missing punctuations and bad grammar. It wasn’t distracting, but it was there. I enjoyed reading the book and the ending left me curious, hence I’m rating this book 3 out of 4 stars. I refrain from giving it a perfect score due to the grammatical errors and the lack of a compelling plot. If you are looking for a simple fantasy with strong friendships, you would love this book. It is more aimed at teens and pre-teens though, so older audiences may not find it amusing.
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Dragon Born
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