Long ago humans used to bond with dragons, but as the humans greed for power and status increased, they began to turn on their dragons, betraying them and taking their magic for their own. Centuries later, humans revere dragons as gods, often praying to their preferred deity in the hopes of them offering comfort and solace from the toils of daily life. Arcady, a thief, steals to survive on the streets of Vatra, plagued by the death of those closest to them, and hellbent on revenge for the death of her grandfather, known as the 'plaguebringer' Arcady is determined to prove these claims false. Stealing an artefact from his tomb, one that gives the wearer a new life, Arcady takes on a new identity, ingratiating themselves within the court of nobles, to enact their vengeance. However, the spell Arcady uses summons Everen, a dragon, through the veil into the mortal realm. Everen is the last male heir seer, foretold to be the saviour of his kind, he bides his time, hiding in plain sight in his human form, he learns that to gain back his magic, full power and fulfil the destiny bestowed upon him, he will need to convince Arcady to trust him implicitly, bond completely, and then kill them.

Arcady Eremia has spent their years as a thief on the streets of Vatra, always holding a deep need for vengeance at the forefront of their mind, They've spent their life in the shadows, watching as those she holds dear die at the hands of others, each loss laying heavily on her heart, and her desire for revenge bubbling slowly under the surface, determined to make the Consul pay for the lies and hatred they've spread about her family. However, when the spell to give Arcady a new life summons Everen, a male dragon, they become immediately bonded and things suddenly become even more complex for them both. Arcady is steadfast and tenacious, very driven in their decisions, and exceedingly cocky, which only adds further charm to their character. Arcady's banter is incredible and an absolute joy to watch, tired of living in oppression, Arcady wants to ensure the evilness of Vatra is rooted out completely, then they can disappear to somewhere where the heaviness of the losses they've had to bear isn't as suffocating. I found Arcady inspiring, and so empowering, they're so self-assured, in such a powerful and beautiful way, accepting themselves and not letting anyone else decide their fate or truth, they were delicately but beautifully written.

Everen it the last male dragon prophesised to be the seer that saves the dragons from their peril, but as the years dragged past, and the prophecy failing to show itself, the pressure and overwhelming burden of feeling like a failure has hung heavy upon his shoulders. Determined to get to the bottom of it, and save his kind from extinction, Everen flies through the veil, coming face to face with Arcady, his unknowingly bonded human. However to save the dragons locked away across the veil in Vere Celene, Everen must get this human to trust him implicitly, and complete the bond, mind, body and soul, so he can be the one to break it, and bring his kind across to the mortal realm. Evern is grumpy, broody and mysterious, harbouring a deep resentment and hatred towards humans. I found his perspective really refreshing and interesting, I've not read many stories where you get to see the plot unfold from the dragon's perspective, and it made the experience all the more authentic, immersive, smooth and fascinating for me.

I loved seeing Everen and Arcady's bond developing from enemies, to reluctant allies, the way they bounced off each other, was so entertaining. They're complete opposites and both have ulterior motives they bury deep down, that ultimately leads to them betraying each other, but their banter was delightful and enchanting, and the tension was palpable. Arcady and Evern find kindred spirits in the other, despite their reluctance to, always underestimated others, and struggling with the rigid gender roles impressed upon them, it was really beautiful to see them slowly lowering their walls to each other as the plot developed, even if they know they'll inevitably end up betraying each other in the end.

'Dragonfall' is a high fantasy which is richly and vibrantly crafted. Immersive and overflowing with lore of both dragons and magic. It's gritty and raw, with an intriguing and intricate world, loveable characters, and strong, authentic interactions that were so compelling. The writing was also so beautiful and flowed seamlessly, this is a story with queer representation, enemies to lovers, dagger to the throat (!!!), deep-seated betrayals, high stakes, an intriguing and complex political system and an abundance of dragons, with a fierce main character, what's not to love?

This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it and we have to leave a star rating.

I'm honestly not sure how to feel about this book. The writing was...weird. Word choices and descriptions felt forced and like they were trying to be some sort of weird world building but they just made things sound stilted and unnatural (mammary glands!? who does this!?) I liked the world and the premise was good but the story fought itself for purpose and what it was, high fantasy, fantasy romance, romance subplot. And ended up not doing any of it super well.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this novel.

I think if you're looking for a good solidly written book about dragons, then this will be a good fit. The author does love to describe things and that's a take-it-or-leave-it aspect for me. I do feel like the world needs a little more time in the pot. There are facets that are interesting in the world, the dragon gods, but there aren't enough ripples to show the worldbuilding is working together. But that really is a personal preference, this wasn't as horrible as some other dragon books I've read recently.

I can't speak about the representation but I am always here for more LGBT+ voices out on the market. If you're looking for a new series, why not give it a shot?

Everen is the only of his kind and he has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, he's meant to be the savior of the dragon race. Arcady is a thief, a good one and is planning a huge coup... The two meet and sparks fly... In every way.

This was a complex story in a complex world and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I liked the characters, the intricacies of the world and how everyone grew and evolved throughout the story. It was a lot of fun, I was really taken by the whole heist plot in the book and the whole dragon being cast out of the world thing. I will without a doubt be reading the sequel. I'm really curious to find out more about this world and get to know Everen's sister better!

I really wanted to love this novel, but I went into it with expectations that were perhaps too high. It fell a little flat overall with slightly dull characters and two-dimensional world-building. There were good moments and a couple of great ones, but this book didn't sing for me. I think it'd be perfect for someone who read more new adult fantasy, but it didn't quite suit my taste.

Queer enemies to lovers in a queernormative society! Which is great! I can tell the author is a fan of a lot of the same media as me and this was sort of a love letter to those old favorites. I think this was better than fourth wing but still just not the right dragon book for me.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read this book early! I really enjoyed it. I thought the writing was very well done, and the story kept me interested. I am so excited for the next book! I believe my students/patrons would also love this book and will be acquiring it for the library!

Huh, I could have sworn I had left feedback on this novel as soon as I had finished it before publication, but . . . no review :0

I enjoyed Dragonfall immensely and was very impressed with the world building and the different viewpoints of the humans living and worshipping the memory of dragons and the Dragons, hating humanity and scheming on ways to 'take back' their lost world from the human plague.

One HECK of a twist at the end of the story! Neatly setting up plotlines for the next book.

I really wanted to love Dragonfall, because dragons--duh, but really struggled with how slow the pacing of the story was. The storyline was a bit too drawn out, and I just could not stay focused on this book.

The only thing I dislike is the cliffhanger at the end that means I'll have to wait to dive into the world again.

The fantasy world was interesting, and gave me enough information at a time to understand and be intrigued without leaving information dangling or being dumped. The commentary on gender expression is well handled and fascinating to explore.

The romance is the perfect blend of "I'd kill for you," "I'd die for you", and "I kind of want to kill you" which is all you need to know about Everen and Arcady and both of their personalities.

An epic fantasy that has dragons, queer rep, and great world building. How can this go wrong? With the magic system. I found it to be a bit difficult to understand and not well explained. I was immediately intrigued and was interested in where the story was going. Unfortunately, Dragonfall could not keep my interest and for that reason I had to DNF this one as much as that pains me to say. I wanted to LOVE this. I think the mistake I made was reading this after Fourth Wing. I wanted more dragons, angst, and combat and though this had most of what I was looking for it just fell short for me. However, I will end by saying I might revisit this when I am in a different mood.

I will be honest. I did not finish this book. The concept was extremely interesting. However, I could not get into the writing style, and I tried three separate times. I really wanted to like this book, I even bought it (don't regret it, book is a beautiful addition to my shelf :) ). I found it hard to read and confusing. I did not like how certain things were barely explained, while others were over explained. I didn't get very far, but I did not really relate to the characters very much. I feel like this book could be and might be very good. But for me, it is a DNF.

I was really looking forward to this novel because I heard such good things, and the premise sounded like something I would enjoy. While the writing style was excellent, the world building was confusing at times. There were a lot of info dumps, and the way the book flipped between first, second, and third person was very disorienting. The book was interesting, but it was a bit much for me.

L.R Lam truly created a fantastical and intriguing world.

The romance in this felt so real and I was cheering them on every step of the way, even when they weren’t on the same terms at the beginning.

I loved the three different points of view especially when the pace started picking up in the second half of the book.

In the beginning the pace was a bit slow and there was a small bit of info dump but that’s something that didn’t affect my enjoyment reading this book!

Thank you Net Galley for giving me this ARC in exchange for this honest review

3.5

Overall I did enjoy the book, I like the writing, the magic system, and most of the characters. What I'm really annoyed with is cliffhanger endings to books. It literally makes me NOT want to continue reading.

This fell short in ways that I was not expecting it to.

While the world-building is detailed and well-crafted, the same cannot be said for the characters who feel underdeveloped and lack the depth that is necessary to make them relatable or interesting to me. The author's attempts to create a unique and intricate world were well done, but the characters fell short. They felt one-dimensional, with little growth or development throughout the story. As a result, it is difficult to connect with them on any meaningful level.

The plot of Dragonfall was interesting, but it was also predictable and I struggled to pay close attention. The story moves at quite a slow pace, and the lack of narrative tension makes it hard to stay engaged. The constantly swapping perspectives at times made my head spin. I found that, while the author has a talent for description, they failed to bring the world to life in a way that felt engaging or compelling to me.

While the dense world building and elaborate descriptions gave the atmosphere of a high fantasy with queer rep, I felt that it hindered the momentum of the plot. By the end, I thought this was a pretty decent read—a heist with a scrappy group of thieves, a religious zealot and his ward-turned-assassin (wanted more from her POV!), and some good dragon-based world structure, but the beginning really dragged for me. There was a huge amount of background given to this world that just didn’t get elaborated on and didn’t seem to have any connection to the story. As a result, it was hard to get invested in the small cast of characters and it impacted my reading pace (also making it hard to follow). the bulk of this book felt very monologue-y, with characters just explaining what was happening instead of allowing the reader to feel or see what was going on and how the characters felt about it. Acknowledging that this is outside of my own experience, so others may feel differently, the queer politics and representation in this book felt inauthentic. For example, in this society, the noble class uses capitalized gender-neutral pronouns, but we never learn why it’s important. Perhaps contradictorily, the gods they worship are dragons, who have a clear matriarchal structure. (Everen, our MC is the only male dragon currently living.)

The story is (primarily) split between narration by Arcady, a thief with a chip on his shoulder, and Everen, a dragon burdened by a prophecy. When orphan Arcady steals an artifact, the two become psychically linked. Though neither wants the connection, they see how it can benefit them in the short term as they complete a heist that will set up Arcady’s future and allow Everen to build enough trust to get what he needs.

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much Netgalley for the ARC!

I think I would have enjoyed the book if I could remember all the extra infos and unknown words. The beginning - while it wasn't the best, I loved that there were prophecies (reminded me of Percy Jackson), Arcady's troublesome past and humans betraying dragons. The premise seemed great and I thought the rest of the journey would be very exciting. Spoiler : it wasn't. I couldn't care less for the characters and their weird speaking styles. At one point, I couldn't even understand where it was going. The pace was so slowww and I actually love slow burn. Anyhoo, not my kinda read.

I am late to the game with this, but looking so forward to the other books in this trilogy! I'm on a bit of a dragon kick right now, so this was right up my alley.