Hey so I am back with another fantasy review.. and this time the spotlight is on the mysterious dragons.
The lucky book this time is A gift Of Charms By Julia Suzuki. This middle grade fantasy is book one in the Land of Dragor fantasy series.
Julia Suzuki takes you on ajourney through the Land of Dragor, ruled by the just Kinga and occupied by the seven clans, each with a special talent and colour. Our little hero Yoshiko is of the red clan Nephan, The clan of the king. Mysterious sighns had marked his birth and even through the later years, his ability to change colour- a secret he strives to keep bottled-makes him different from the other younglings. But the land of Dragor is in grave danger. A danger so destructive that it is being kept a secret. But the time is running out...and Yoshiko might be the only one who will be able save them all.
I love how the author meshes in the relevant issues of bullying and inferiority complexes so gracefully and beautifully.And Yoshiko is a powerful character whom I ended up admiring for his courage in the face of such adversity and severe choices.The character developement was also pretty great and the secondary characters ,though they don't have a definite role in the first book, are well sketched. I loved Igorr , even Amlia and Elsy were pretty well developed
I have to admit at first I had difficulty imagining dragons cooking and writing. But, as the story progresses, we quickly become engrossed in the story and the world of Dragor becomes familiar. So that issue is quickly settled.
The Plot is pretty good, though I thought the ending was little convenient. The execution is also nearly flawless till the end and even then I had very few issues.
A major problem I had with the story was the mature way ten year old Yoshiko talks in.All of the elders as well as Yoshiko seemed to talk in the same way. The rest of the younglings seem to act their age and talk their age , all except yoshiko. This is a point the author has to take care in the coming books.
But all in whole the book was a very entertaining read.
So, would I read the next part............YES I definitely would.
And would I recommend it for a read.......YES I would and not just for the 7-14 age category but for adults as well.
Now its time for the ratings....
Rating : 4/5
Usually I reduce much more if the ending is convenient and the characters voice doesn't match his age . But, the story was too well written for that.
As a concluding note I would like to thank the Author Julia for providing me the free copy in return for an honest review.
P.s : Click on the above image to buy the book
She has won
British Arts Council award 2014
and Patron of Reading 2014
Julia has been featured in The Mirror, Daily Mail, The Sun, The Express, Womans Own,The Guardian and on blogs throughout the world.
Website : www.juliasuzuki.com
Twitter : twitter.com/JuliaSuzuki_uk
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