I took a while to get into this book. At first it's not totally clear what's going on. I like that it starts with her being the slayer of dragons, and that was well written and interesting, but so many of the little details around it, her cousin, the slaves, her burn, aren't clear at all until much later. The world building is slow which I struggled with in a story that jumps straight into the action. However, it ends up coming together beautifully. I like the old stories being woven in, and the fact that they call the dragons. :) the idea of dragons being story hoarders is just lovely! 🐉
I struggled a little with the romance sub plot, if only as it felt a little forced on her side, an issue I often have with YA books. It was well explained for Torwin though. And I quite liked Roa and Dax, though we do not get enough story for either of them - especially Dax, I felt that he should have been more prominent as he's pretty important to Asha's story!
And finally - the villains. Oh my gosh I loved to HATE these villains. Her father omg. I like how we see him change through Asha's eyes, that was so incredibly well written. And Jarek. What a vile man. And one who must be a good ten years older than Asha at minimum, which makes my skin crawl even more than he does in the books!
I think I also just want to add that the slavery felt lightly touched on for something so central to the book and also so harsh, like them not even being allowed to look at people. I hope that is dealt with later, as I imagine this has a sequel coming - it was pretty well set up! I think I will be getting the sequel, I want to see Asha take on what comes next for her.
A good read that takes a while to get into but is worth the wait.

13.08.2017 - This book is simply incredible, one of those titles that the minute you finish reading it a deep set and saddening feeling of loss comes over you. I haven't read a title that I have found quite this engaging and engrossing in quite a while and it's going to take me a little while to write a proper review but in the meantime if you can read this delectable debut by Kristen Ciccarelli then you simple MUST do so!

Full review/update to follow when I've straightened out my thoughts coherently!

Draghi che sono fonte di storie, storie che nutrono il fuoco dei draghi, attirandoli come mosche al miele. E per questo le antiche storie sono proibite: dànno potere ai nemici che si vogliono sterminare, creature infide colpevoli di tradimento.

Questo sa Asha. Questo, e che lei è l'Iskari, colpevole di malvagità, creatura del buio, e che solo una caccia dietro l'altra, una testa di drago via l'altra può espiare il suo peccato.

Almeno fino a che il matrimonio con il principale generale delle truppe del re suo padre non le toglierà anche la gioia della lotta.

Ma forse le cose non stanno come le sono state raccontate, e le antiche, proibite storie nascondono altre verità...

La premessa del romanzo è intrigante: basata sul potere delle storie, forgiata nella mitologia.

Dopodichè, a pagina trenta, entra in scena lo schiavo fascinoso che non ha paura della protagonista nonostante la sua fama, le chiede un ballo (...), suona il liuto, e ti rendi conto che è uno dei tanti romance sotto mentite spoglie.

E io sono stanca di prendere in mano fantasy, o distopici, o fantascienza, o thriller, e trovarmi messa alle strette da un romanzo d'ammmmore. -.-

Del resto, poco altro raccomanda il romanzo: lo stile è corretto ma piuttosto piatto, con puntatine di infodumping non troppo fastidiose ma presenti; i personaggi non hanno ombre: sono figurine di carta, appena sbozzati e totalmente stereotipati; la costruzione del mondo vorrebbe essere complessa ma anch'essa risulta poco più di un fondale dipinto; e ho l'impressione che, se mi fossi disturbata ad arrivare fino in fondo, avrei scoperto che i colpacci di scena che vengono vagamente promessi nel primo quarto del romanzo erano esattamente quelli che mi immaginavo.

Mi terrò il (vago, peraltro) dubbio.

E aspetterò il ritorno di Lada: se voglio principesse che spacchino fondoschiena, so che sposso sempre contare su di lei. XD

ITS A NEW AMAZING PHENOMENAL BOOK THAT HAS DRAGONS IN IT!!!!

Did I mention I'm excited? Did I?

This is everything I want in a YA fantasy novel. It's got plot, it's got interesting characters, it's got stories flooded throughout, gorgeous prose and most importantly it has well thought out, wonderful dragons!

Let us start with the world. The landscape etc. isn't as fleshed out as other fantasy books, we don't stray too far in this particular book. But what is considered are the stories of this world and the strange power they possess to call dragons. The idea of dragons hoarding knowledge is explored in Seraphina but dragons being drawn to old stories was something totally new to me. This element of storytelling was a great addition to the plot and I liked the stories dispersed throughout the actual story.

This book was wonderfully non-boring. I actually found myself gasping and saying 'no!' out loud as I read which was a new one for me. There's sufficient action and intrigue to keep any reader totally gripped.

To those interested, yes there is a bit of a romance. But if I'm honest, that's not what I remember in this book. I won't lie and say that it doesn't take up quite a bit of the story, however it just isn't what stuck with me. There is so much else to this story that a romance plot won't hinder the enjoyment of someone who isn't into love plots.

This is Ciccarelli's debut novel and of all the debuts I have read this year it may be the best. I am dying to read the second and third parts of The Iskari series and I don't want to wait until 2018 to get my fix!

More dragons! NOW!

My rating: 5/5 (duh)

The Last Namsara releases on the 5th of October this year so please please preorder it and enjoy!

By the way, I received a free digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

A good story line and interesting characters. Definitely worth a read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “The Last Namsara” by Kristen Ciccarelli. This story is so lush and fantastical. The world and magic are quite interesting and unique. The characters draw you in and the speed of the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat. The writing style is fluid and filled with gems. Loved this story!

This particular one looked like it was going to be a stonker - dragons! Kickass lady! Killer princess! Also, the cover art is pretty spectacular.

As a debut, though, it's good, but not mind-blowingly wonderful. Ciccarelli clearly has a lot of potential, but there were a lot of weaknesses in this to go with its strengths.
Asha is the daughter of the dragon king, and the famed (and feared) dragon-killer. Iskari, her title, marks her out as the bringer of death, counterpart to the legendary Namsara, a figure which has appeared throughout the history of their country, bringer of light and love.

Trying to escape an arranged marriage to a controlling man she despises, Asha is tasked with finding and killing the oldest and greatest of the dragons - Kozu. Along the way, she meets and befriends a slave belonging to her betrothed, and what they discover as she hunts Kozu will change everything for her.

Generally, I did quite like this book. Asha was flawed, and stubborn, and really quite reluctant to see what was in front of her half the time. She was also independent, fiercely loyal, and a kickass dragon slayer. But I felt like the background in this book was lacking - it's not really ever explained how or why sentiment turned against dragons, and why Asha is the only dragon killer out there. Why isn't everyone running around killing dragons, if they're so terrible?

Besides Asha and the slave, there's not a lot of development of the characters in the book. Safire, Asha's cousin, who is introduced very early on, has no agency or agenda of her own. She exists only as a foil to Asha and as an example of what happens when slaves fall in love with freemen.

As well as that, I wasn't all that enamoured with the central romance of the book. Despite being advertised on the strapline of the book (in fact, it's the first thing mentioned), it doesn't feel like it's developed or organic in any real way. In fact, I'm not sure they even really liked each other, let alone it being a world-changing love.

Basically, although there were lots of things in this book that I really liked, from the flawed, stubborn, headstrong, kickass main character to the actual dragons themselves, once you get to meet them, there was also a fair amount lacking. There was also a substantial amount of infodumping, in the form of the forbidden stories. At no point did Ciccarelli have to really worry about organically weaving the history of her world into her narrative, because she could just include a story at the end of the chapter which would do it for her.

Despite that, this was quite an enjoyable book, with some heartwrenching moments of shadow, and I will look out for the sequel, when it comes. Also, despite being the first in a series, the plot in this goes through a natural arc, and ends in a solid place - ripe for a followup, but with a satisfying conclusion to the plot threads of this particular story.

I received an e-copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Well I don’t even know where to start writing this review I have so much swirling around in my head. Let see I first heard about this story in a vlog after BEA and it immediately spiked my attention. After that I put it on my TBR and when I saw it available on NetGalley I requested it and luckily got it as well.
To this point I saw 3 different kind of cover for this book and quite honestly a love all of them even if they all really different and all convey a different feel to the book. I don’t know which ones are already final covers but my personal favorite is the one I used for this post too. Then there is the title which ones again tells a lot about the actual plot especially if you think about it after reading the synopsis. I dare say it can be kind of spoilerish too. So yes I went into this book with high expectations and a certain level of excitement. I can’t say that all of my expectations were met because I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I hoped but it’s not because of the writing or even the story it because of my personal pet peeves regarding certain elements in this tale.
Oh before I start on the content of the book one more thing that more about appearance. The chapters have such a beautiful and intricate header that it’s unbelievable. I’m in love with it.
I didn’t read this book in one sitting as I usually do with books I looking forward to this much but for once I don’t mind the slower pace because I needed it, the breaks I took form reading, to fully experience the feelings and everything else that’s come with this story.
The writing is really good and I especially loved that there is a lot of symbolism used in it, I also think that the author took a more artistic approach when she wrote this book just by the world, phrase she used. The story is kind of told on two different planes one where you follow the events happening to the main character Asha and one where they tell the old stories and I don’t usually like jumping between times but I absolutely loved the old stories so it was just a bonus for me in this case. Maybe it’s just my overactive imagination but I happen to find some similar motifs in the story to the Bible and old folklores especially Hungarian one, yes I know it’s definitely not inspired by Hungarian folklore but the smart slave who outmaneuvers the rich and does this with unusual ways is a really common thread their and since I’m Hungarian that what immediately came to mind.
When I write my reviews I don’t talk about spelling and grammar mistakes because I’m not a native English speaker so I think it’s not my place to educate writes about this point, especially because maybe I’m the one knows it wrong. But some elements I usually call out as I’m going to do it in this case to. It’s nothing drastic or distracting but it’s kind of bugs me when it’s a lot of repeating of the same words, sentences or phrase and it happened here quite a lot.
I love the universe the author created as much as you can like one centered around a fighter nation who kept their conquered enemies as slaves and thrives on inspiring fear in others. But it’s definitely a well structured and thought out world and a perfect set for this story and its morals.
The plot is mostly action, secrets and intrigues but there is a romantic element to it too. Well I’m the first who admits that I like a bit romance to my fantasy but in this case it was so out of place that I wish it wasn’t there. Yes I know the last third or so of the book is driven by this romance but I didn’t see the chemistry or the attraction between the characters and for me it felt a bit like the romance is only there because its required by some rule. I think the story wouldn’t be any less without the romance and at least I wouldn’t have to read some really awkward forced scenes and conversations.
Asha, the protagonist is really unique in terms of appearance (she is not the flawless beauty but rather a the opposite) and in nature too. Where I liked some of her traits she is not my favorite character. Yes she is amazing when it comes to complexity and structure. She is fleshed out and relatable but I didn’t like her personality. Wel that’s not the complete truth, her personality wasn’t the problem because in the circumstances it makes sense but rather I couldn’t agree with her actions so I kind of disliked her.
As the story progresses it turns out that she is pulled in multiple different directions, her father and his laws, the Old one and his ways or just the general well being of her people. And my biggest problem with her which is one of my biggest pet peeves too is her indecisive side, her inability choose a side, a path. On occasion I even thought she was selfish because it seemed it doesn’t matter for her which way the scale is going to go as long a she gets what she wants and the others leave her in peace. Yes at the end she choose but not really on her own because it took quite a bit of outside influence and urging for people around her to Asha to even start to contemplate her not two faced existence because it would be a too strong indicative more like ignorant lifestyle.
She also easily blames others for everything that happened to her and doesn’t like to take responsibility for her curiosity. But she is lonely too thanks to the image her father forced on her and blinded by anger and obsessive when it comes to taking vengeance on dragons. Maybe that’s why a lot of thing happens to her because she overlooks a few obvious signs of danger.
She thinks she is knows everything and, heck I thought she was smarter than anybody and saw behind those masks of their, the she was the silent threat among the royals. However as the story progresses it turns out that she was cleverly deceived and manipulated practically by everybody around her. They all made her do their dirty work and made it sound as if was her idea.
As for the other characters they are not as well developed as Asha and quite honestly other than Torwin we only see a little of them. When it comes to Torwin, he is a strange one. He is a slave, grew up as one but doesn’t act as someone who knows the laws of the country he is in or even grew up in servitude, not for one moment and it was strange. He is entirely to open, daring and casual towards his masters. He also knows quite a bit more about Asha and her past what he should.
The last namsara wasn’t a bad story but I can’t say that it was a particularly spectacular either. There is a lot of things I loved about it but the characters weren’t one of those things. There are supposed to be other books in this series I just don’t see about what in my opinion this doesn’t require a next book it has it story arc and it has a satisfying ending why push it.

I was completely hooked from the first sentence! This is a brilliant fantasy which includes some wonderful world building and interesting characters, all told through lyrical prose. I loved the idea of stories and storytelling being contraband and wicked - Asha's turmoil over how she fits into her world is so touching that at times my chest tightened at how lonely she is and how much self-loathing she feels.

The political story that builds and swells in the background neatly reflects Asha's own journey, and the forbidden romance adds an extra element of danger - not that you really need more danger when dragons are involved... The Last Namsara had everything I love in a fantasy, and I can't wait for the next book!

The Last Namsara is perfect. The ideal blend of magic, mystery, adventure, action, romance. I don't know if I can adequately describe my feelings without dissecting it chapter by chapter and giving you a review equivalent to a Twitter feed.

Our protagonist, Asha, is a passionate, young woman plagued with guilt because of the death of her mother and the secret the two shared. She is scarred emotionally and physically from poisonous dragon flame but harnesses this to fight the same creatures that have inflicted this on her. She is reviled for her appearance as well has her reputation as the Iskari. Moreover, she uses stories to draw the dragons to her, who like King Shahryar are enraptured by the stories, to make the kill. Alas these tales are forbidden. And this is how the story begins.

I was skeptical when I first read that stories were the root of all evil. If stories was the weapon of mass destruction ...then I was going to be in for a ridiculous ride. But the stories grew on me. They provided an additional layer of history to Firgaad and also served as fables, foreshadowing what may happen to our protagonist.

As Asha's character develops and overcomes her guilt, the author builds a world rich with Persian influence but also rife with injustice including slavery and racism. In fact, it is a slave that helps Asha discover her true self worth and accept her destiny. To that end, the romance in the novel is light. So for anyone put off by even the slightest mention of it - it's really only one thread of the tapestry.

I devoured the book in one sitting so I can't speak much for pacing since I clearly couldn't control myself. I want to say more about the plot twists but I don't want to reveal too much before the book is even released. Suffice it to say, The Last Namsara, has my full support and I look forward to the next book!

I received a ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an honest review. Thank you so much!

(This review was crossposted to goodreads, but was edited here to remove spoilers, as spoiler tags are not available here. For the full review follow the link to Goodreads).

I think this is closer to 3.5 stars, but rounded up bc why not.

This book definitely dragged in places. The last 30% or so went by pretty quick, but the first half was all establishing things. It was interesting enough to keep me going though, which does say something!

Roa was definitely my favourite character despite the fact she was probably only mentioned in a dozen pages.

I updated my Goodreads feed around 78% but now I can't see what I said for some reason so I'll just have to do it from memory.

This book also feels like it was partially inspired by How To Train Your Dragon, which isn't good or bad it just is. I don't have a strong opinion of that either way.

I found it really hard to sympathize with Asha through much of the book, because her prejudice against the slaves and Scrublanders was just so entrenched. And I understand that it's very realistic, that overcoming prejudices that have been pushed on you for your entire life is difficult to do and her struggle was real, having to read her say awful things to/about them for much of the book made me dislike her more than I think I was meant to.

Asha herself is a believable, flawed, yet strong in her own way character. She is in an impossible situation where she doesn't know who to trust or believe or what to do. She feels cornered and is desperate for escape, and she carries a huge guilt with her in her mind, and she believes this guilt is represented in her scarred body as well, and I do sympathize with her for all that, but she is also seemingly unnecessarily cruel through much of the book, especially the first half or so.

Still, I did enjoy this book, it was a fun take on dragons and legends and storytelling and kingly nervousness around the power of history. I think I would recommend this book to most people, with the caveat that there are parts I wasn't fond of.

It's been a while since I reviewed an ARC and even longer since I reviewed an e-book ARC so I was very excited to start this book. However, I've also been in a bit of a book slump so I've been giving up on a lot of books and I've been slow when it comes to reading others. You wanna know how long this book took me to read? 2 days. Yep, I got through this book so quickly and easily so this is definitely a good book to get you out of a slump.

The Last Namsara is a YA crossover fantasy book about a young woman called Asha who has spent years of her life hunting dragons in the hope of pleasing her father and gaining her people's forgiveness. Of course, it turns out that she hasn't been doing exactly what she thought she'd be doing and an old god starts to intervene in her life.

What I Liked

The world building in The Last Namsara is incredibly rich and I'd even like to think that the heroine is a POC though the only description you really get of her people is that they have dark hair and eyes. That and that another group of people have darker skin than then but since they live somewhere sandy and the word pale wasn't used anywhere...I'm going to take this as a good sign. It isn't just skin colour that's rich though and the mythos and world are really fascinating. You get to learn a few of the worlds different stories and you're left with wanting more. Plus there are dragons and who doesn't love dragons?

As well as this the romance was a slow-burn. Yes, it's fairly obvious who the romance is going to be with from the off but they aren't exclaiming that they love each other or kissing early on and that's always great. As well as that you get a real sense of how they're going to struggle to fit together at first. They've had totally different upbringings and have lived totally different lives so now they're going to have to learn how to live around each other with a new relationship.

What I Didn't Like

As good as the book was, I think it could have been split into two with each bit being expanded. It did seem a little odd that there was a rebellion in the end when Asha isn't even focused on that for most of the book. Doing this could have also allowed for even more on the dragons and mythos, which it didn't necessarily need, but it would have been nice to see more of.

My only other issue was that if you don't like animal death, some of the dragons are killed. It seems obvious when you remember the heroine is a dragon hunter but there is one particularly sad scene. That just seems like something people should be warned about, so.

This was a great book overall and if you're looking for a new fantasy read then this might be a new series for you.

I am not usually a person who reads a lot of fantasy, but I devoured this book. The story of the Namsara- the bringer of love and life, and Iskari- the death bringer is entwined with the life of the lead character- Asha, a fierce dragon slayer trying to atone for mistakes in her past. Along the way there is forbidden love, revolt, betrayal and friendship. I loved this book.

I was quite surprised with this book. I love dragons but somehow this was the first dragon story I've read, and I have to say I really enjoyed it.
At the beginning I wasn't a big fan of the protagonist, because she was selfish and mean. But her development throughout the story was very interesting and well done. I started to like her more and more as the story progressed. I really like how diverse the book was, since all the characters were POC.
And my favourite part were the dragons and the stories. I found them so interesting and enjoyable. I loved how those stories were about past characters and added a lot to their backstory.

I have been absolutely dying to read this book since I first saw it on Edelweiss and I just couldn't put it down when I finally received it.

From the publisher: In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be dark—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death bringer.

These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up hearing in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl.

Asha conquers each dragon and brings its head to the king, but no kill can free her from the shackles that await at home: her betrothal to the cruel commandant, a man who holds the truth about her nature in his palm. When she’s offered the chance to gain her freedom in exchange for the life of the most powerful dragon in Firgaard, she finds that there may be more truth to the ancient stories than she ever could have expected. With the help of a secret friend—a slave boy from her betrothed’s household—Asha must shed the layers of her Iskari bondage and open her heart to love, light, and a truth that has been kept from her.

I found that the story goes much deeper than I initially thought it id. I thought it would be great adventure. However, it deals with much more serious issues such as the worth of a woman and slavery. The two themes are so prevalent through the story that it was a much more serious novel than I expected. Furthermore, the novel deals with manipulation and self-worth, determined not by yourself, but by the others. Asha is a tragic heroine who has been blamed for the destruction of the city her entire childhood, her own father let the people of his kingdom spit on her for bringing in a dragon. She spends 8 years thinking that the only thing she is good at is hunting dragons and fulfilling her father's wishes. This is a classic example of someone manipulating someone's psyche to fit your own needs. It is cruel, and extremely harmful and it happens all the time, most commonly with parents and children. I feel like this issue is present very strongly and predominantly in The Last Namsara and it feels really good that Miss Ciccarelli spoke about this.

Furthermore - slavery. Today we all learn what the costs of slavery are. How they destroy the psyche, of not just the slave, but of those enslaved as a whole. Miss Ciccarelli does a marvelous job of describing this in her book. It is distributing and horrifying to read about and it needs to be spoken of because even today - slavery is very much alive.

And then there are the characters themselves. I feel like Asha is one of the most well developed characters I have read about. She transforms throughout the book and is a completely different person at the end. Even her brother threw in for a loop and turned out to be way more brave then I initially thought.

Then there is the world. It is really unique, down to the clothes that the characters wear and absolutely fascinating. I also loved that Asha's favored weapon is an ex, instead of the usual sword.

My only complaint with the book is the exaggerated number of dragons Asha killed. Hundreds seems like a lot even in fantasy setting. I would have believed dozens, but hundreds...nah not possible.

That being said - I will be pre-ordering this book, and patiently (hahaha yeah right) waiting for the second book.