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A review by immakingt0ast
A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4 confused stars.
Don't get me wrong, this book was good and I enjoyed reading it, but I feel like the description is a bit... misleading?
(mild spoilers)
This book is fast paced and the plot has some really interesting twists and turns. The world building is good, and the alt-history setting of wartime Bletchley Park is super interesting! I also love the lore we get about the dragons (which talk and are sentient) and how they were historically integrated into Brittania's society.
That said, since I have a habit of barely glancing at book descriptions and picking them based on ~vibes~ I didn't have any complaints til I went to write up my review, and realized that if you are someone who reads the descriptions, you might not agree at all.
Some issues I have with it based on the description:
Slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance: The romance is bland and underdeveloped, and describing this book as a romantasy is comical. It felt like the author copy-pasted a pretty generic romance because it was a required checkbox, however, this didn't really bother me while reading because the romance took up very little page time. (but again, it seems disingenuous to call this romantasy because it just is not) Also, they weren't enemies at any point.
Dark Academia setting: The setting is not a school? girl quit lyin. Yes, they talk about school a lot because the MC wants to study languages, but this takes place at Bletchley Park, which is not academia?
My biggest issue: This book isn't explicitly described as a standalone, but the story does NOT conclude at the end. The main conflict, aka the civil war, is not resolved at the end, not even close! But there is no mention of a sequel. I don't know if there will be another. I do not know if the author left it open ended on purpose because they were hoping to get a book deal for a second and it didn't happen? Idk, but when I hit the 80% mark and realized there was no way it was going to wrap up I was irritated. I would read the sequal if there was one, but I would have preferred to know that beforehad.
Don't get me wrong, this book was good and I enjoyed reading it, but I feel like the description is a bit... misleading?
(mild spoilers)
This book is fast paced and the plot has some really interesting twists and turns. The world building is good, and the alt-history setting of wartime Bletchley Park is super interesting! I also love the lore we get about the dragons (which talk and are sentient) and how they were historically integrated into Brittania's society.
That said, since I have a habit of barely glancing at book descriptions and picking them based on ~vibes~ I didn't have any complaints til I went to write up my review, and realized that if you are someone who reads the descriptions, you might not agree at all.
Some issues I have with it based on the description:
Slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance: The romance is bland and underdeveloped, and describing this book as a romantasy is comical. It felt like the author copy-pasted a pretty generic romance because it was a required checkbox, however, this didn't really bother me while reading because the romance took up very little page time. (but again, it seems disingenuous to call this romantasy because it just is not) Also, they weren't enemies at any point.
Dark Academia setting: The setting is not a school? girl quit lyin. Yes, they talk about school a lot because the MC wants to study languages, but this takes place at Bletchley Park, which is not academia?
My biggest issue: This book isn't explicitly described as a standalone, but the story does NOT conclude at the end. The main conflict, aka the civil war, is not resolved at the end, not even close! But there is no mention of a sequel. I don't know if there will be another. I do not know if the author left it open ended on purpose because they were hoping to get a book deal for a second and it didn't happen? Idk, but when I hit the 80% mark and realized there was no way it was going to wrap up I was irritated. I would read the sequal if there was one, but I would have preferred to know that beforehad.