DNF
not for me so i have given a middle of the board rating. I do believe many people will enjoy this

I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had massive potential to be amazing. There seemed to be great motivation for characters, the setting was spectacular, and the first couple of pages were a strong start for the book. However, I continued to read there were two glaring problems that kept this book from achieving its full potential: character and plot.

The plot starts off strong in the prologue. The author had me on the edge of my seat. Dragons. Character on the run. Mystery. It had everything. Then I turned the page then the next page. And nothing happens. And within the next 100 pages or so, we don’t really progress with the adventure. The beginning started off right in the middle of the adventure, then the author decided to put a halt on it. For half of the book. I have no clue as to why. I was literally amazed that the plot had a clear direction it needed to head to and the author stopped it in its tracks and said, “Nope, you have wait until the middle of the book to start on this grand adventure.”

Now, I get it. There was a reason why Jade stopped and didn’t continue initially. I don’t mind pausing the adventure for around 10-15 pages to develop characters or to show the background info. However, when half the book is literally the character just chilling at someone’s house and stuff happens that have no bearing on the plot, that’s where I became so frustrated and start asking questions as why this is happening. Why even do this in the first place?

Unfortunately I don’t have answers to this puzzling situation. What I do have is another problem: characters.

Now, I will say Jade, Miria, and Dan should have been the focus for the entire book. They make a good team. Unfortunately, after the prologue of the book, we are introduced to about ten characters. And we have to keep each of them in mind since Jade spends so much time with them.

For some astute readers, that may be fine and dandy. But what if I told you those ten other characters barely make a dent in the plot? What if I told you that Jade spending time with these characters are basically just given roles and no other development?

It becomes problematic pretty quickly.

I get that part of the reason Jade doesn’t start her adventure is build a rapport with the other characters; however, it seems that there wasn’t any development. There were just so many characters and stories that it got all muddled. I was trying to keep each character straight, but as soon as I learned the name of one character, boom here are five more out of the woodwork. And some of the growth displayed by the characters didn’t feel earned. I can’t put my finger on why but the feeling is there.

I really wanted to be invested in these character, their stories and their lives but there were simply too many and not enough focus on the core three.

What I would have loved to have seen is just sticking to the core team. Maybe Miria brings Jade to her house and all she has is her grandmother and brother. Then we would grown closer the matriarch of the family and the brother. Then just the three of them would go off on the adventure. Or they could build rapport on the adventure as they traveled along. Either one of those options would have worked, but that didn’t happen.

I could go on and on about the issues I had with this book. I have pages of notes that I could studiously go over and describe in detail. I just don’t think it will benefit the author or reader to sit through and read my notes. Overall, I cannot recommend this book in good faith. I can see that other people enjoyed it and I’m happy for them. I simply did not enjoy it and I hope that the author will try to fix the various issues that are in this book.

Isle of Dragons by L.A. Thompson, I struggled to really get into this book, it felt lacking in the beginning and just felt like a slog with the writing style for me. I do think others will enjoy the book and thank you for giving me a chance with it.

The Journey

An exciting journey in a Science Fiction novel. Three young people intent on reaching a mysterious island said to be an isle of dragons.

Jade is of noble birth to the nobleman Carison of Sol. When her father is arrested and taken to the Isle of Dragons she escapes in a caterpillar pod and goes in search of this island. When her pod needs repairs she meets Miria and her brother Dan. She stays with their family and Dan works on her pod. Miria and Dan live with their grandparents. Their parents left to find the Isle of Dragons and never returned.

The three young people decide they are going to go to this mythical island and find their parents. The book is about this journey. The perils, the narrow escapes, the capture and escape. Will they find the island and find their parents?

This was a good book , I do not generally read Science Fiction but I needed a dragon book for a book challenge and I picked this one. I am glad I did because I really enjoyed it. I love the character's and the white dragon was special. I hope there is a sequel because when it ended I got the impression there would be another book. I want to find Thomas. By the way, the cover is amazing.
If you like science fiction you will love this book. I would recommend it.

Thanks to L.A. Thompson, Cameron Publishing and Marketing and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[digital arc provided via netgalley]

this was such a confusing book to read. not gonna lie, i skimmed most of it. the writing was just bad, the story didn't make sense... and the amount of plot holes here? it was a great disappointment as this cover and premise had me excited to read a new favorite dragon book, but this couldn't have been worse than this. just nope.

I read ISLE OF DRAGONS by L.A Thompson a quarter of the way through, but it was not my cup of tea.

This book was just downright confusing because the author did not explain specific aspects very well.

The plot was very scattered and hard to follow because it jumps between events so frequently.

You do not get a taste of how characters felt about each other because it was completely told from the narrators point of view.

I believe this book would be better geared towards middle schoolers than young adult.

I DNF’d this book at just over half way. I’m not sure if I was missing things but I found this book really confusing. Another review brought up plot holes and I couldn’t agree more.

I was given a e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review via NetGalley

A loose plot, underdeveloped fantasy world, and disappointing worldbuilding. I think the author was trying a new spin on dragons and their mythology, but when you take away their furiousness, these left them lacking. Having the dragons described as rat-like was too much for me. I appreciate the fresh take on dragons, but there was no substance there. Also, instead of describing the fantasy world a little bit first in order for the reader to gain their footing, the story begins suddenly. It honestly felt like I started reading in the middle of the book. Overall, I found this book to be too confusing and convoluted.

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of ISLE OF DRAGONS by L.A. Thompson in exchange for an honest review. Jade Sol is a fallen aristocrat. Her mother was murdered, her father was disgraced and exiled, and Jade, herself, is on the run. Jade sets out on a quest to rescue her father from his imprisonment on the fabled Isle of Dragons. Along the way, she makes some friends who accompany her on her quest. There are mechanical gizmos (not sure if they’re steam operated), magic, and dragons of all sorts.

This was okay, but it had a lot of room for improvement. The story is told, almost completely from a narrator’s point of view. You only discern character motivations and connections from the dialogue provided, but the dialogue is limited to framework around action sequences. There are large gaps in the tale where the nominally main character is living with her new friends and, presumably, building relationships and learning magic before the action recommences. So, at the end of the tale, we only know things about the characters that they, themselves, have verbally shared as framework around action sequences and really have no reference for relationship dynamics outside of crises. Basically, you know the characters about as much as you knew those kids who attended your school but attended different classes and socialized with completely different cliques, but you walked past them in the hallway between classes (i.e., by sight and by gossip).

#IsleofDragons #NetGalley

First of all, this book reads way more like a middle-grade book than a general adult fiction novel. I still enjoyed it overall, but I think I may have been able to enjoy it more if I had a better gauge of the age range for the book instead of going into it as a book targeted at adults. I thought that the plot toward the end was more interesting because the first half or so of the book felt like a lot of nothing. I thought Jade and Miria were sometimes inconsistent and that Dan was too one-dimensional. The plot was interesting, but the writing felt weird at times and there seemed to be a lot of unanswered questions and at times the plot seemed not completely thought through, with sort of random things happening without much explanation. I wish the steampunk aspect had been more integrated into the story other than just the pods, but I did find it to be fairly original in that regard, with the giant metal centipede and what not. If there are more books released in the series, I intend on reading them, and hopefully, some of the questions I had from this book will be answered. It was a short read, which I appreciated, but I almost wish it had been just a bit longer and more fully fleshed out as a whole.

dnf

Jade is looking for the mythical Island of the Dragons in search for her father, who has been exiled there under mysterious circumstances.

I didn't get far. The writing is simply bad and the whole thing feels unedited, from awkwardly phrased passages to weird use of question marks. The plot feels jumpy, getting from one person to the next event in a way that makes it really hard to follow - and this at a time when my concentration is not great.

From what I've read so far, I would have liked a different sequence of events. Giving an entry where the action lies is a good idea, but you sadly, the momentum was lost quickly.

This reminds me a lot of my fanfiction days when I was in groups where we'd discuss our writings and you just clearly saw that someone started out only recently and has to get more words under their belt, simply <i>write</i>, gather experience and become surer in their craft.
I feel unable to pass judgement on the work of this author because, yeah, it feels like they're just starting their journey.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

ARC from NetGalley

DNF @ 54%

This thing was riddled with plot holes. There were many times I was having to go back to see if I missed something, which I usually hadn't.

Here are some of my notes:

“Dan took the mechanical bull to fetch the nearest doctor.” followed by the doctor saying “When Dan showed up in a large, elegant machine that’s only found in the capital, I had questions.” So, the bull turned into the caterpillar at some point...

Okay wait, the caterpillar, which according to the cover is like ~5 ft wide, climbed a tree? Why? How?

What? She was travelling away from their house, going over hills and through valleys, avoiding townships and left the house far behind. She is travelling in the caterpillar, which is faster than the bull, and yet somehow Elisa shows up to bring her home? Coming from in front of her?? The fuck?

Okay their search began during the autumn months, but it was just winter. How long has Miria been convalescing for?

Okay now we're back in winter.

Okay wait, three of them are going to ride an 8-foot dragon?

Okay so yeah they are, all 3 of them, riding an 8-foot dragon apparently with 3 saddles, the last of which was at the base of the tail. That totally makes sense. I can absolutely visualize that set-up. It also totally makes sense that an 8-ft dragon, which is slender enough that it can be saddled (with a saddle that Dan gathered up in his arms and hauled over his shoulder) can carry 3 full-grown humans. Right.

Yeah...

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for the eARC of Isle of Dragons.

This book was exactly how it was described, a fast-paced steampunk style adventure. Poor Jade, Miria and Dan could never seem to get five minutes before something else happened to them. 

It took me a little bit to figure out what the centipedes, bulls and birds were exactly and the differences between them but I think this is because a lot was going on at the same time and it was when they were being repaired that I took more notice of the descriptions.

On Netgalley this book comes under General Fiction (Adult) | Sci-Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA. Now to me, this was more of a teen read than YA or General Fiction (adult). I'd probably put it in the same age bracket as Howl's Moving Castle, Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series. 

I'd say about 40% of this book is them preparing to go on the adventure that is promised as part of a trilogy. Once you get past the halfway mark it's an adventure like I've never read before and it's certainly one that my daughter would enjoy. 

This is a quick read and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.