This book was promoted to be like fourth wing level book and unfortunately this book just did not reach that for me.. at all. I rate based of how the book makes me feel. This book had too many point that just felt like it was not fully detailed enough or had enough time in the scene to really make the reader invested in what’s happening. I lost interest a couple times due to the flow of the book just not keeping up with what needed to be happening. The characters weren’t bad but the FMC just wasn’t for me. She didn’t seem like she lived up to the hype of this book either. I truthfully feel like this book needed more time not because it doesn’t have a good base but it wasn’t as refined and edited to a point where its fourth wing interest level. I think that was what was most disappointing to me was I went in expecting such amazing things and when that happens usually it has the negative effects. I’m not swearing off this author by any means. I just couldn’t connect well with this book

I love the way this one is set up. Arla is an assassin for one of the kingdoms at war, and she's been sent with Hark, of all people, on a diplomatic mission to discover why shipments are going missing.

The kingdoms are struggling to survive while their Kings revel in riches, and it makes Arla sick. She doesn't know how Hark can put up with this but she soon finds out more than she bargained for. Secrets, betrayal, and ancient magics that were thought to have disappeared ages ago will resurface and become known again. But what could that possibly have to do with Arla?

3.75 ⭐️

A fun romantasy read!

⚔️ Enemies to Lovers
⚔️ Forced Proximity
⚔️ Magic
⚔️ Dragons ( later in the story)
⚔️ Political intrigue

Arla is definitely an interesting character - she is a stabby FMC who wants revenge on the kingdom that killed her parents. She has a lot of inner struggles and insecurities. At times she got on my nerves with her cockiness and arrogance but I think she is written that way so we can see the growth and change in her as the story progresses.

I love the relationship between the FMC & MMC, even when they ‘hated’ each other. A slight slow burn but I loved reading as they came to the realisation about their feelings for each other (more so Arla as we read on we learn just how long he has had feelings for her). Seeing Arla open up despite the tough exterior that she portrays and her finally being able to let someone in, was beautiful.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I found it to be a light and enjoyable read. I think this book shows promise and hopefully we’ll get to see more romance, more magic and more dragons in the next book/s.

A solid romantasy with lost dragons, hidden magic and a tense enemies to lovers journey. I like a stabby female lead with a traumatic past and a man who isn't all he seems so, first and foremost, I was sold on the characters in this story. As for the plot, the romance and the general adventure, it delivered on all fronts and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Really wanted to like this book, had likable characters but story/plot was way too slow and didn’t really seem to go anywhere till the middle/end of book.

First off I want to state that I did not finish this book, however, I read enough that I feel can give a substantial review.

I really really wanted to love this book - dragons, enemies to lovers, badass assassin what more could you want?

Unfortunately, this story completely missed the mark which is a shame because it truly had potential. I was not invested in any of the characters or the plot, I did not feel the enemies to lovers connection at all, and the magic/dragons were not well developed. I was hoping it would pick up and I really tried to continue on but once I reached 65% I just couldn't finish it.

A heartfelt thank you to @abbieeatonauthor, @onemorechapterhc, and @harpercollinsuk for the generous gift of the e-book!

This debut novel is nothing short of captivating. We follow Arla, the personal assassin to the King of Hadalyn, who grapples with her shattered faith in the gods that have forsaken her. As vital shipments go missing and kingdoms teeter on the brink of collapse, she finds herself reluctantly allied with Hark, the arrogant ambassador from the very kingdom that destroyed her family. Their partnership leads to the unearthing of shocking truths that will forever alter Arla’s perception of her past and the world around her.

The characters are brilliantly crafted, drawing readers deep into their complex lives. The close-proximity storyline adds a tantalizing layer of tension, while the witty banter between Arla and Hark is sharp, filled with delightful sarcasm. Arla shines as a strong, determined, and fiercely independent character. I particularly enjoyed the dual perspectives; hearing both Arla’s and Hark’s thoughts enriched the narrative immensely.

The magic system and the intriguing presence of dragons piqued my interest, although a deeper exploration would have enhanced understanding. The story wraps up beautifully, providing satisfying closure, so I don’t anticipate a sequel.

If you love quick-witted dialogue, suspenseful secrets, and a formidable female lead, this book is a must-read.

The dragons come late but DAMNNNN do they make an entrance and change the entire story!!

Do you know what I love? A book with true enemies that unfold into lovers, with every turn of a page. Goddammit, this book was perfection.

I was already obsessed with the plot, right from the beginning. It was very high stakes, with an unapologetic female main character who quite literally is the definition of female rage. Sassy, confident and angry!!! Then came Harks POV and the obsession level shot up. He's so done with everything, fighting against everyone and swooooon.

There's too much for me to love, it's my new favourite book and I literally cannot wait for the next one!!!!

The Dragonhart blurb dragged me in. I mean, I'm a sucker for books with dragons, especially dragon rider books. Who wouldn't want to have a companion that could breathe fire, fly you into the sky and take you where ever you want, and would know you like no one else could. That's pretty dope!

Arla Reinhart is our FMC, the King's Assassin, who is destined to be a dragon rider and I was so looking forward to read a new story, promised to be the newest most awesome book with the tropes we have been force-fed lately. Arla's past trauma is definitely a heavy one that influences her greatly, which is understandable, but it turned her into a one dimensional character. Everything is black and white to her, and while reading this my internal commentary was: "you need some intensive therapy, honey!" She's young enough that her brain isn't fully developed so I'm willing to give her some grace, despite my jaw ache from grinding my teeth.

The tropes 'forced proximity', 'FMC seeking revenge', and 'enemies to lovers' I can stomach when they are done right, but they were a bit wishy-washy here but definitely crafted better than other books I've read lately.

The enemy in the enemies to lovers trope, Hark Stappen is a real enemy - ambassador for the country is the reason behind Arla being an orphan, the consequent trauma, and the need for revenge. "He is arrogant, but handsome" and by the color of his blood he is hated on principle (the invisible line decided by humans on a map determines the color of blood, apparently).

They want to kill each other, which makes them enemies in my opinion, unlike how "bully and victim" is portrayed as "enemies to lovers" nowadays. Why oh why is bullying being romanticising?! It's not sexy, it's traumatising! You can't change my mind on that! Sorry, pet peeve rant over...

The promised dragons showed up late in the book but the build-up was necessary, and since it's a series I will be enjoying my favourite fantasy creature (hopefully) from page one in book two!

There's nothing groundbreaking in this book, or nothing I haven't read before, but it was still a decent read. Dragonhart is a debut so hopefully the annoyances I had with this book will be smoothed out, and shades and dimensions will be added, as Abbie Eaton progresses in her career.

2.75 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for the arc copy in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are my own.

Fun fact: "Arla Foods" is a Danish-Swedish multinational co-operative and the fifth biggest dairy company in the world, and main producer of dairy products in Scandinavia. I could not get that fact out of my head! It was a bit distracting!

I knew better than to trust the hype — I picked this up for the dragons (because, of course), but I should’ve turned back the moment I saw it compared to books I can’t stand.

Even with low expectations, I still ended up frustrated. Dragonhart felt like eating chicken soup without the chicken — bland, forgettable, and lacking substance.

Here’s what I look for in a book, and what this one didn’t deliver:

Complex characters with actual flaws and growth — not another edgy Mary Sue.
Something memorable, even if it’s weird or niche. This left zero impression.
Consistent, show-don’t-tell storytelling. This was more like a dry essay.
Dialogue with depth, but even the banter felt completely flat. A book has room for rich, layered conversations, but this felt like a poor script. If I wanted that, I’d watch a movie.
Tropes with purpose. I love a good trope when done well. Forced proximity? Guilty pleasure. But this book felt like a treadmill of tropes crammed in for the sake of trendiness, with no deeper purpose or story arc.

A story isn’t just point A to Z. The magic lies in all the messy, meaningful letters in between. And unfortunately, Dragonhart just didn’t spell anything worth reading.

Maybe this book will work better for readers who don’t mind vague storytelling and just want to turn off their brain after a long day, but it left me cold.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, for the ARC!

2.75 ⭐️

overall, i absolutely loved the premise of this book.. it seemed exciting gripping and very very fun to read.... i just feel like the characters were super immature and it read so much more like a YA despite it clearly being a new adult book.

plot˖˚⊹ ꣑ৎ‎
i loved the plot and how fast-paced the story was. it genuinely gripped me and i had a fun time reading it. i felt the tension between the characters was a good gradual build and the different elements of the story were super engaging!

characters˖˚⊹ ꣑ৎ‎
I actually really struggled through the book to read about the characters. The dialogue and their actions felt so elementary. it just felt so jarring to me compared to the plot and the backstory of these characters to have them behave the way they did.

overall, i really loved the premise and i will be reading the next one ... to answer all my unanswered questions !

I really want3d to love this. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me. Might be the most bland book I have read. Everyone and everything feels incredibly one-dimensional. I just felt like this was a case of who the story input characters and then input plot. I DNF at 45%. I just couldn’t continue. I am sure others will enjoy this.

Sadly this is not for me. Might be the most bland book I have read. Everyone and everything feels incredibly one-dimensional. I just felt like this was a case of who the story input characters and then input plot. I DNF at 45%. I just couldn’t continue.

I had high hopes but this really missed the mark for me. It could literally be any other carbon copy enemies to lovers fantasy. The characters were one dimensional and annoying, the romance wasn't very believable and was pretty typical, and it just felt very juvenile overall. I liked the worldbuilding and the dragons and it had potential but didn't reach it

Dragonhart follows our FMC, Arla, the kings assassin on a mission to a neighbouring kingdom alongside their frustrating yet charming ambassador, Hark. This tale gives us magic, dragons, and a forced proximity enemies to lovers plot that you just can’t resist.

I found that the book was a little slow to get going at first, but as I progressed I couldn’t help but feel drawn into the Throne Of Glass/Eragon vibes and the pacing felt much more balanced. The cast of characters were compelling enough but I couldn’t help but crave a bit more depth. The plot twists were entertaining and though I personally felt they were pretty obviously laid out, given the target audience I think this book hits the mark perfectly.

The aspects of dragons and the magic system itself were both intriguing but not explored very deeply, so I would love to see an expansion on this in the potential future books. Overall I felt that this was a great debut novel and I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Thank you to Abbie Eaton and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to give an advance review of this book. This is a great pick for fans of a good YA enemies to lovers trope with a feisty FMC. As I struggled to agree with myself on a traditional rating at first, I happily settled that the book felt like a 7/10 for me, so translates to a 3.5/5 star rating - which I really must clarify is not a bad rating at all, I enjoyed this book and I hope you will too!

Sad to say, I DNFed Dragonhart at 40%—I didn’t even have the patience to stick around for the dragons.

There’s just... absolutely nothing that stands out here. The protagonist is the same old formulaic female assassin: edgy, arrogant, stubborn, ridiculously powerful for no good reason, and—let’s be honest—just plain obnoxious. It felt like a character pulled straight from a "dark fantasy 101" checklist without any real depth or nuance.

The book also suffers heavily from the "desperately needs tighter editing" curse. So much of the text is bogged down by unnecessary info-dumps and endless repetition of the same thoughts or facts. The prose itself is painfully dry—lots of telling, barely any showing—and the dialogue? Forced and stilted, with characters who don’t sound like real people so much as walking tropes.

This just wasn’t the book for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley and One More Chapter for approving my request to read Dragonhart Abbie Eaton. This was a super fun read, good mix of action and humor, fingers crossed we get a sequel because the story does not feel over!

I’m not too sure why I chose this book. It’s not anywhere close to what I usually read. It felt very Ya-ish and predictable. I did like Arla and her toughness just not her foul mouth. I think there’s a definite audience for this type of book however it wasn’t me.

This romantasy had all the right ingredients—an intriguing world, a compelling premise, and a promising couple in Arla and Hark. While I was hoping for a bit more depth and spark between the characters, I still enjoyed the journey and can see lots of potential in the story. A great pick if you’re in the mood for something magical and adventurous with a touch of romance!

I can definitely tell the author has real talent—the writing flowed nicely and made for an enjoyable read! While the story gave off strong Assassin’s Blade and Fourth Wing vibes (which fans of those will probably love!), While the pacing had its slower moments and I was hoping for a deeper connection to the lore and characters, there was still so much to enjoy in this story I did find myself wishing for a bit more originality to set it apart. That said, it was still a fun journey, and I’m excited to see what the author creates next—there’s so much potential here!

I don't wanna make it a habit to not finish books. However, I've read 30% of this book and I noticed that I wasn't focussing on the story anymore. I was counting the amount of sentences per chapter starting with "Gods..." (too many), I was focussed on all the times to main character thought hateful and violent thoughts without an understandable reason (too often) and I was rolling my eyes every time the hatred these characters felt towards each other was especially mentioned (multiple times per chapter).

It's actually a pity that my brain focuses on these things now. There were a few elements of the story that made me curious. A part of me does want to know what is going on and what role our main character plays in everything. I also quite liked the prince, so far, and was curious to get to know him better. However, the above things are really distracting and it makes it impossible for me to give the rest of the story a fair chance. I therefore think it would be unfair to both the author, the publisher, and myself, to finish this book.

I'm pretty sure there are readers who will enjoy this plot. The story is fast paced and there is a lot of banter. I'm afraid I'm not one of those readers, though.