Rosalind was born into an ancient prophecy. Merlin had predicted that one day a "21st queen would end war with a wave of her hand". So it seems a cruel trick of fate when the 21st queen in question is born with a dragon's talon as the fourth finger of her left hand. And after years of insane treatments from every sage, witch, wizard, sorcerer, seer, and wise person in the kingdom it seems that there will be no hope for Rosalind's future as anything other than a witch-marked mistake of birth. At the same time she must deal with her mother's increasing obsession with the secret in relation to the dragon attacks of Wilde Island (their kingdom). But all of that fades when she is kidnapped by the last dragon and taken to the island of Dragon's Keep to raise his eggs as a sort of governess. Abused, hated, exhausted, and still cursed, Rosalind begins to see the repercussions of her mother's own personal secrets and the treachery on both sides of the Dragon/Human War.
I had read a negative review of this book a few months ago and was prepared to not enjoy it, which isn't really a great way to go into reading a book. Sure enough, the heroine was cowardly, whiny, and in denial for a good half of the book (granted- she goes through more than I could ever imagine). But I can still see how that would turn off a few readers (understatement). Due to my love of dragons, I read on and began to note huge changes in Rosalind, although they came almost too late. Close to the end, the writing and plot really picked up as well. Still, the writing was really very beautiful from the beginning. It just got more beautiful in progression. It all felt very Fairytale-y-ish and Grimm-esque. And as you might have noticed, I am obsessed with the Grimm-esque.
Taking the above into consideration, I would have to give Dragon's Keep a 5 out of 7 Lightnings. Hesitant Readers Beware, Dragon-o-philes Enjoy!
Hunting For Carey Books I Haven't Read,
P.S. Even if I wasn't particularly fond of this Janet Lee Carey book, I really enjoyed the Beast of Noor! It was exceptionally fawesome. Wenny Has Wings was fabulous as well. OHOH! And she has a blogger account and blog!
3 comments:
I was hoping someone would review this book! I wanted to read it but I hadn't heard anything about it...good or bad. Now I think it's got some pull on my wishlist, partly just because I finally heard some word about it.
I've been wanting to read this book for about a year....I've just never gotten around to checking it out....
I read that...it was decent.
I remember a really tacked-on feeling romance though.
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