Jessica Day George

Book 3 in the Dragon Slippers trilogy [Dragon Slippers, Dragon Flight, Dragon Spear] Creel's final exciting adventure in this series is the story of the dragons' future after an unknown colony of dragons come to light.

She's an unusual heroine--with dressmaking superpowers--and an intrepid one with a tendency to go off on her own. It's endearing that the dragons call her on her impetuosity, from time to time.

I loved the dragon king and queen! They are fully-fleshed (fully-scaled? :) characters in this story with strong personalities and longstanding relationships to Creel and the other dragons in the story. The dragons are the star of the show.

I read the earlier books some time ago, so I missed some references to earlier events in the series, but the story still worked. The romance is woven into the story, and takes second place to the conflict between the groups of dragons--and the groups of people.… (mer)

2023 re-read review:

This second book in the trilogy is more enjoyable than the first: there's more action, more agency given to both the MCs and the antagonist, and the Cinderella retelling is given a twist which—while not entirely unique—makes the story a lot more enjoyable than if it had been the standard version. I remember liking this book the best out of the trilogy, and so far that memory is holding true. This is still a young-YA novel (the heroine is 16 in this book, and I feel the target audience was aimed there or slightly lower) but feels less simple than book one did.… (mer)

2023 re-read review:
I still really enjoyed this book, though sad to say I didn't enjoy it as much as I remember. Don't get me wrong—I still had a bunch of fun. But it feels like a very young YA, and some of the simplicity of the book (which makes sense if it's meant for a tween audience) left places where I wanted more. I've read the book many times, and it lives on my Keeper Shelf of comfort reads. I'm sure I'll read it again, many times. I just don't think my expectations of it will be as high next time I pick it up.… (mer)

When I was in middle school, all the way through my early twenties, I was absolutely smitten with fairy tale and traditional fantasy fiction. When I received this I was beyond myself. The castle in this book reminds me of Hogwarts and Howl's Moving Castle- it is intelligent, alive, and able to shift itself and create new rooms. It's a feature in fantasy that I will never tire of. I am happy to see this has become a series, one I saw in my very own department at my bookstore I worked at, because this is the kind of book you gush about to children. The family, Celie and her siblings, they were all a pleasant surprise with how well they got along. Something we need to see more of. A breath of fresh air, this was.… (mer)