Man, I really have to dig more into alternative history books, especially if it includes dragons, because that was amazing!

Novik completely won me over with Laurence, who took one look at Temeraire not a minute out of his shell and went "Well, I suppose I'm a father now." And really, that's the kind of relationship I love to see between a dragon and its rider. It called me back to my days of reading Eragon, which really endeared me to the human/dragon bond and I think Novik does a fantastic job portraying dragons as loving, loyal creatures. Temeraire is now up there with my favorite dragons alongside Toothless, who shares that wonderful quality of being an absolute menace if gone unchecked. He's wonderfully curious, innocent, but, really, if Laurence had less of an influence on him, there would have been some dragon anarchy real quick.

Honestly, as someone just getting into the series, I'm predicting some kind of dragon revolt or something because, gee Temeraire you sure do have a lot of thoughts and a great deal of free will going on there.

Having read some of Novik's other works, this one felt a little different stylistically. I don't know if it's because of the plot or simply because this was her first book, but it didn't carry the usual verbosity or weight I normally I expect with her. Still, that didn't keep me from finding it absolutely charming. Sure, the logistics of just plopping dragons into the Napoleonic Wars without changing much of day to day society and the history of this world is a bit iffy and I wonder why aviators are not respected more in society because they, you know, have dragons,  but I'm willing to suspend my disbelief. 

I really can't wait to dive more into this series and see what's coming next!

Moriarty's book should practically be the definition of whimsy. It has that pure, unabashed feel of a children's fantasy and contains the usual entertaining standards: capable children with at times incompetent adults, a plucky heroine with a dash of personality, and a world full of magic and wonders. At times, it does feel like things line up a bit too conveniently, tasks have a too quick solution and the connections between everything comes off as a bit too much, even for a children's story, but that's really my only gripe. There were several points where I would wonder "Well why didn't they mention THAT? What a weird thing to keep hidden." But I guess this story just wanted to have surprise reveals as much as possible to keep it lively. 

Like Bronte's aunts on the boat didn't mention that "Hey, this kid that you're hanging around is your cousin." It's just.....why did that have to be a secret? I guess because he was being targeted by pirates and they had to keep him safe and keep a low profile, but why keep Bronte in the dark? Just seemed like a needless choice

I know it's a little unfair only to stop after the first chapter, but it really didn't hook me in at all. The tone is so humdrum and, for a post-apocalyptic setting plagued by demons, it's a shame that it didn't really do anything to start with a bang. I've heard some people say that it gets better at the halfway mark, but I'm not going to slog through 200 pages of book just to get to the good bits. Also, I'm really not in the mood for more violence against women in fantasy. 

Went a little slow for my liking, only for me to not really jive with the overall writing or direction of the plot. The vampire aspect felt a little needless and it felt like it was just following the trends of when it was written.