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readingrobin 's review for:
Dragon's Bait
by Vivian Vande Velde
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decided to go back and read this book from my childhood to see if it still held up. Even though I've only read it once during middle school, the story always stuck out in my mind, mostly from its promising concept. A girl, Alys, is unjustly accused of witchcraft and is left to the mercy of a dragon that's been causing a bit of a stir around the land. Instead of becoming a victim, however, she teams up with him in order to take revenge. on those who wronged her. To twelve year old me, still in the prime of my dragon obsession, it was like candy.
Revisiting it, I find that my attitudes haven't changed much from what I thought as a kid. I liked the characters, with Alys having a good character arc concerning how she feels about her revenge and generally questioning if it's what she really wants and the dragon, Selendrile, playing really well off her with his aloof attitude. One of the downsides of this book having such a fast pace is that we don't really get much character development from him. He's mostly there to aide Alys in her revenge while questioning her every now and then. He has a definite personality, which keeps him from being dull, but I wish we had learn a little more about him just so we could get a little more insight towards his motivation. He's just such a close lipped sort of guy that it makes it kind of impossible.
And when I say there's a fast pace, I mean fast. There is absolutely no fat to cut from this book, as it quickly goes from one scene to the next, and yet somehow keeps itself from feeling rushed. At times it's like this book is a skeleton of a larger narrative at work, that there's a way for it to keep going and flesh out the world, but ends right before we get there. Even as a kid I craved more from this book, a sequel, anything for these characters to stay around a little longer. But alas, it wasn't meant to be.
I still like it all the same. Just knocked it down a star only because I wanted more out of it. It has a good framework, it just needed more to fill out the space in a satisfying way.
Revisiting it, I find that my attitudes haven't changed much from what I thought as a kid. I liked the characters, with Alys having a good character arc concerning how she feels about her revenge and generally questioning if it's what she really wants and the dragon, Selendrile, playing really well off her with his aloof attitude. One of the downsides of this book having such a fast pace is that we don't really get much character development from him. He's mostly there to aide Alys in her revenge while questioning her every now and then. He has a definite personality, which keeps him from being dull, but I wish we had learn a little more about him just so we could get a little more insight towards his motivation. He's just such a close lipped sort of guy that it makes it kind of impossible.
And when I say there's a fast pace, I mean fast. There is absolutely no fat to cut from this book, as it quickly goes from one scene to the next, and yet somehow keeps itself from feeling rushed. At times it's like this book is a skeleton of a larger narrative at work, that there's a way for it to keep going and flesh out the world, but ends right before we get there. Even as a kid I craved more from this book, a sequel, anything for these characters to stay around a little longer. But alas, it wasn't meant to be.
I still like it all the same. Just knocked it down a star only because I wanted more out of it. It has a good framework, it just needed more to fill out the space in a satisfying way.