I really loved this book! Fantasy is one of my favourite genres and I loved the inclusion of dragons in The Last Namsara. Our main character, Asha, has grown up to become the fierce Iskari, hiding her insecurities and doing whatever she can to please her father, the king.

One thing I really loved was the amount of character development Asha went through. As well, the romance between Asha and Torwin was one of the highlights of the story. Torwin helped Asha to see from different perspectives and become a better person.

There's a lot of action and tension which had me thoroughly engaged throughout. The writing was descriptive and very pleasant to read. I also loved the inclusion of the world's lore and the stories Asha tells every couple of chapters. If there was one drawback, it was that The Last Namsara was a little slow at the very beginning, but after a couple of chapters I was fully drawn in.

Overall, I highly recommend this novel. It really stands out amongst all the other YA fantasy books out there. It has great characters, romance, action and of course, dragons!

3.5*
Not as good as I thought it was going to be, but still had a lot of potential. I'm interested to see where this story will go in future books.

What doesn't this book have? This new YA fantasy book is just amazing, let me count the ways - fire-breathing dragons that love ancient stories, a cursed title and a lifetime scar for a childhood mistake, a dragon slayer trying to prove her worth, her betrothal to a cruel commander when she has given her heart to his slave... need I say more? I think this book got me hooked from the first page, and then the mini stories within the book just hooked me in even more. I was doubtful at first whether I needed another "dragon" story but this one was really good and it's not just about the dragons. I really liked how the story gave dimensions to the supporting characters - like their motives, hope and their goals; the story also did really well in world-building like setting up the mythical history of the Namsara and Iskari, the slave system, the history of Firgaard and its connection to the dragons. I highly recommend this for fantasy lovers!

*I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I bloody loved this! I devoured this whole in the space of a day while travelling and couldn't have been more of a fan.

Fantasy made up of dragons and magic is my absolute jam, and this was no exception- loved the world building and magical rules and all the stories and everything was just real good A++ massive thumbs up from me cannot wait for more from this marvellous author.

Surprise - more cover lust here today!
I loved this book, and had already started recommending it to friends with still a quarter or so to read! It was my perfect YA high fantasy (and, bonus, no love shapes!)
Here are a few of my favourite things about it...
Fierce female protagonist - think GoT's Daenerys, or ToG's Manon Blackbeak, because...
Dragons!!!
A revolution
A celebration of stories and storytelling
I just had one problem with it.... how to wait until next year for the sequel?!!


Four big strong sparkly stars for this one!

"A fool can be sure of anything; that doesn't make her right."


When it comes to arcs, I’ve not had much luck with YA fantasy, I don’t think I’ve done a very good job at selecting them for myself as I’ve ended up with quite a few that I end up dnfing early on. This wasn’t the case with this brilliant start to the Iskari series.
The Last Namsara follows Asha, her father, the Dragon King's Iskari.
A third of her body was burned by the First Dragon Kuzo and her mother died from telling her the old stories, poisoning her from the inside out.
Asha now hunts down dragons and is counting down the days until she is binded to the boy who saved her all those years ago, a monster of a man. So when her father tells her she can get out of the marriage by bringing him the head of the dragon who harmed her she jumps at the chance, focused on her mission. But no mission ever goes as planned and before she knows it she's trying to save a slave.

The old heroes were called Namsara after a beloved god, he said. So she would be called Iskari, after a deadly one.
I really loved Asha, she was strong and abrasive. She was seen as this kind of monster everyone was afraid of. She thought the old stories had infected her, that she was corrupted.
But most of the time the perceptions we have of ourselves are so very wrong.

"Death is a thief," she said, thinking of an old story. One about Elorma, whose true love was stolen be Death on their wedding night.
[...]
"Maybe for you," he said as he began to bandage her, winding the strips of white around and around her rib cage. More than once, his fingers brushed against her skin. "For some of us, Death is a deliverer."
Torwin is the slave of Asha's betrothed, the Commandment. His master is an awful, abusive man who thrives off power, and the fear and pain of those around him. Torwin has lived a harsh life and yet he is still so kind. Asha's kind has treated him like dirt and yet he still gives her a chance. He's not an alpha male, but that doesn't make him any less strong.

I don’t know what it is, but I love a strong, abrasive female MC, and I love a soft cinnamon roll boy. I have an especially soft spot when they’re paired together. So it came at great delight that I got all of this and more from The Last Namsara.

We must take great pains to steel ourselves against wickedness.
Although I kind of had an idea of the reveals to come, I still was kept in the dark enough to be shocked by each one.
And I really loved all of the characters! I thought Safire was strong, maybe even stronger than Asha.
Dax was very similar to Torwin in that his strength is often seen as weakness.
Roa is sharp and observant.
And the dragons! I loved Shadow, my brain cast him as a red Toothless and I loved it!
There wasn't much I didn't like about this book and the old tales in between chapters really sent me on a trip to a different world. The stories were probably the only thing that makes this book stand apart from all the rest of YA fantasy and yet I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
There wasn't a whole lot of magic in The Last Namsara and yet the story was so very magical.

Never forget; you are not what they say you are; you are what lies deep within you.

Actual rating: 3.5/5.

Drawn in by the allure of dragons, old stories and a sweeping romance, The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli felt like my kind of book. I mean, it has dragons. Do I need to say more? But while it was an enjoyable read, I did have some gripes with it.

Here are my thoughts on The Last Namsara.

Asha is a flawed and feared protagonist.

Asha is feared, loathed, and yet respected to the highest degree. Her history is intriguing. Her fascination with old stories is relatable (because why not like the one thing that attract dragons). It’s her attraction to old stories that drives the plot, as well as her own development. In this world, stories have the power to destroy – she’s playing with fire every time she tells one. I personally liked that she wears her disfigurement with pride. She knows her strengths and weaknesses. So as Asha grows throughout the story, she grows on you too.

The mythology and old stories were so rich and incredible.

I loved the immersion of mythology and dragons and old tales throughout the book. It added that layer that kept me hooked. The book jumps between Asha’s perspective and the past, which read like a fairy tale. There are many stories: creation stories, ones about Namsara and Iskari, about forbidden romance and grief, about defying death and corruption. They are weaved into the book like a parallel story line, gorgeous in detail and lore. They were definitely one of the best aspects of the book.

The imbalance in the romance was not my cup of tea.

The romance in The Last Namsara was not appealing to me because of personal taste. I’m not a massive fan of imbalanced relationships, so I didn’t find myself interested in Torwin and Asha’s relationship. The master/slave trope didn’t win me over, and I found the romance moved too quickly to be realistic to both the characters and their personalities.

Other thoughts:

The supporting characters were great to read about. Safire and her story was intriguing, and I liked the exploration behind Asha’s relationship with her brother.
The theme of slavery left me a little uncomfortable, especially considering it was from an oppressor’s POV.
DRAGONS ❤
Jarek = tool. The end.


The Last Namsara is a fiery debut with a lot of ambition and gorgeous stories. If you’re into dragons, a rich fantasy landscape and a pretty interesting protagonist, get on this.

This book reaffirms my love of YA fantasy and my love of dragons. The world Ciccarelli has created is new and exciting. I adore the idea of telling stories to dragons and having the dragons tell you stories in return.

Our protagonist, Asha is a dragon slayer and she wants to destroy them all. This is her amends for telling stories as a child and causing a dragon named, Kuzo, to burn down Firgaard. If she kills Kuzo and gives his head to her father she will fulfill her task and bring an end to the Old Ways. But more importantly, if she can kill Kuzo she won’t have to marry Jarek.

Sure we’ve seen the whole princess wants to terminate her arranged marriage. But it’s not often you see the princess than falls in love with a slave. I will point out that the slave, Torwin, was never her slave but her betrothed’s. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship unfold. It was a slow burn, which was believable. Asha is a girl who has been told her whole life of cautionary tales of what happens to people who fall in love with slaves and that they are not like her. She spends most of the narrative fighting against the romance. She struggles with these beliefs but in the end, Torwin proves to be loyal and treats her like no one else does.

At first, I wasn’t sure I was going to like Asha. We see that she is the best dragon slayer but the reason she is the best is that she breaks the law and tells old stories to lure them. She comes across as arrogant, entitled and more than a little dangerous—the perfect mix for an unlikable character. But, as the narrative unfolds, it’s as though she starts to trust the reader and shows us who she is beneath the dragon slayer exterior.

The dragons are not just sprinkled in there as standard fantasy elements. They are just as dangerous, threatening and intelligent as Asha. When they aren’t fighting for survival you see a side of them that’s curious and protective which reminds me of Toothless or Saphira.

I adore the way Ciccarelli weaves in the stories of this world. After a chapter, there might be a story told in fairy tale tradition. The story will be the one Asha tells within that previous section. This is an amazing idea. We get the story without it clogging up the pace of the action scenes.

While I adore the world and the dragons, I would say that it does feel like a debut and the plot feels predictable. However, since I was so captivated by the world, the predictable plot didn’t affect my enjoyment of reading this book.

Similarly, the secondary characters are only there to further Asha’s narrative arc. I don’t feel like I know them. Her brother, while mentioned multiple times he only appears when she's in trouble. Her cousin, Safire, exists only as a hurdle to Asha's task and to show her humanity. Everything that happens to Safire is done as a way to keep Asha in line. I would love to see these characters become more fleshed out in the rest of this series.

Overall this is a pretty fantastic start to a new series! I adore Asha and Torwin! The world is amazing—Arabian inspired, dragons, and storytelling. Who could ask for more? All I can say is that it's going to be a long wait for the squeal!

Cover Art:

Generally, I don’t like people on the cover of books, but covers with part of someone’s face don’t bother me and I really like this one. I like how simple it is and how well it represents this book! I also love the design on the knife too.

Writing:

I didn’t love the writing to be completely honest. Every now and then there were a couple paragraphs that really didn’t make sense. When this happened a lot of the time it was the movement of a character. It’s hard to explain but it was just kinda contradicting itself I guess. Like they would say this person was somewhere or doing something and then the next second they were somewhere else or doing something else that shouldn’t have been possible. That’s the best I can explain it.
But as I am reading an eARC of this book, this may have been corrected for the final copy but I’m not fully sure obviously. But it was a little annoying when that happened as it just wrecked the flow of the book.

But besides that, there was also the romance. It wasn’t my favourite either. Not only am I not a romance reader but it was also pretty predictable and typical of a “forbidden love” story. But I’m really glad that the romance didn’t overtake the rest of the plot of the book.

I also enjoyed that they included some of the stories they talked about in the book. I thought that was a cool touch.

Plot:

I really enjoyed the plot of the book and I didn’t find it predictable even though I found the romance predictable. The plot was fairly unique and I loved the stories. And come on, the book has dragons!

Characters:

Asha was a little annoying at times. Through most of the book, she acted like she was better than everyone else because she was the ‘Iskari’. I get that yes she may have been a more powerful person but that doesn’t mean you have to act stuck up about it. Her personality when it came to this really annoyed me but besides that she was okay.

I really enjoyed Safire though. She was awesome and such a badass. She is also really strong! No matter the crap she had to put up with she was strong all the way and was there for her family the whole time.

Jarek was a horrible person. He is so controlling and obsessive. Honestly, at a couple points, I cringed when he came up to Asha and I’m only reading about it!

Dax I also enjoyed. He wasn’t that present for most of the book but in the end I really enjoyed him and what he did. He cared for Asha a lot and even though she was the ‘Iskari’ and was meant to be this fearless person he still saw her as his sister and looked out for her rather than treating her like a prop or a weapon like others tried.

Torwin I don’t really know how I feel about. I did enjoy him for most of it but for some parts, he just felt like ‘the forbidden love interest’ and that was it. I would have really liked if this book was in Multi POV with Torwin & Asha because seeing him through her eyes that was all he was really, the forbidden love interest. I would have liked to see him as his own person a bit more but the only time we see that is the part with the dragon and when he was telling stories about the woman who raised him.

I won’t talk about my opinions about anyone else as I don’t want to spoil anything!

Overall:

Overall I didn’t love the writing or the MC. I hope that in the next book she comes down off the high horse she has been sitting on for most of this book. The romance was not my favourite either, but I’m not a romance fan so that doesn’t mean too much. I did enjoy the plot of the book and some of the characters.

*For my rating I did not take into consideration the trouble I had understanding some parts just because I’m not sure if that is a fault with the eARC or not.*

I was thrilled to get the notification that I had been approved to read an ARC of this gorgeous book because DRAGONS!)! A huge thank-you to Hachette for this opportunity.

<i>Please note that any quotes used are from an ARC copy and as such may not be present or the same in the published version.</i>

<b>In so many ways, The Last Namsara is a sheer breath of fresh air.</b> I wasn't even ten percent into the book and I was already completely invested and absolutely LOVING the story and the interactions. The world was cleverly laid out piece by piece, drawing me in with each page - slowly describing the history and current state without info dumps and revealing information piece by piece.

<b>It has such a unique premise</b>: a fierce female who is definitely NOT conventionally beautiful is a dragon slayer - <i>THE</i> dragon slayer in fact. Many years ago, dragons turned against people and are now, upon the order of the king, to be hunted to extinction and Asha does just that. She proudly wears the scar of a dragon burn - a burn that she barely survived when she was just a child - and she slays every dragon that she can find.

In order to coax the dragons to her, Asha uses the old stories, forbidden stories. The old stories provide a temptation that the dragons cannot resist, but they also make the dragons stronger - providing them with the ability to breathe fire for a start. However it was these very same stories that have caused so much grief and loss in Asha's life, for the old stories are like a poison and her mother wasted away with the sickness that these stories brought upon her. It was the old stories that caused the First Dragon himself to be drawn to Asha when she was just a child and it was the very same dragon that burned her and then burned the city in which she lives.

<blockquote><i>"Once there was a girl who was drawn to wicked things.
Things like forbidden, ancient stories.
It didn’t matter that the old stories killed her mother. It didn’t matter that they’d killed many more before her. The girl let the old stories in.
She let them eat away at her heart and turn her wicked.
Her wickedness drew dragons. The same dragons that burned her
ancestor’s homes and slaughtered their families.
Poisonous, fire-breathing dragons.
The girl didn’t care."</i></blockquote>

The story of a girl trying to escape her betrothal is not a new one, but <b>this is far more than a YA fantasy novel containing dragons and a dragon slayer</b>. It is the story of an entire world and it's social hierarchy - the leaders, the conniving and the corrupt; the story of slavery and degradation and how cruel people can be; the story of the power of words and legends; the story of how a person's self worth can be shaped and twisted by others and overall how important self love is and where true strength lies.

<blockquote><i>“How should I be looked at?” . . .
“Like you’re beautiful and precious and good.” . . .
But Asha remembered the sight in the mirror.
She knew what she was.
“I’ve spent my whole life believing lies.” . . .
“Please,” she whispered, “no more.”</i></blockquote>

It is a complex world with complex interactions, especially depending on social class, however <b>sometimes the characterisation seemed to fall a little short and I wanted <i>more</i> from the secondary characters in this story</b>. I wanted Asha's family (Safire and Dax especially) to be more present and real and not just used as plot devices. It was for this and a couple of plot holes that I just couldn't bring myself to rate this one any higher, which I would have loved to!

As far as character development goes I did love watching Asha grow and change throughout the book and she was not only relateable but I <i>liked</i> her: It's hard not to love such a ferocious and yet vulnerable character. The romance was also great for me - who doesn't love a forbidden romance inevitably doomed to fail?

<b>Now, for the important part - THE DRAGONS!</b> Kristen Ciccarelli managed to bring a fresh new point of view on dragons in YA Fantasy. I liked the mythology, the history, the interactions between the dragons and humans and the fact that dragons played such a big part in the story - they were not simply a plot device or an afterthought, they were fundamental to the entire book.

<b>The Last Namsara is a well nuanced, richly imagined fantasy story and a wonderful debut full of tragedy and adventure. I cannot wait to see what Ciccarelli has in store for us in the next book.</b>

<blockquote><i>Maybe everyone did have a song in them—or a story. One all their own. If that were so, Asha had found hers.
And here she stood at the beginning of it.</i></blockquote>

I enjoyed this story, but I didn't love it. I loved dragons too. I think with time the author will be one that we will see more of in the future. I think the author needs to work on making the characters feel more real to the reader. I think she done a good job for her debut.

Dragons you say?
Fierce female dragon slayer with a score to settle against the oldest dragon?
A legend about a destroyer called the Askari and the great saviour called the Namsara?
Deadly ancient stories?

... You had me at DRAGONS.

The Last Namsara by Kristin Ciccarelli was like How to Train Your Dragon (films), but with badass Asha—the daughter of the King of Firgaard, dragon slayer, and the girl with the title Iskari. Instilling fear in all around her, I found Asha imperfectly perfect, epically misguided and insecure, and quite often at times, very unheroic. I love it when a character is completely out for their own cause only to discover that the situation is much bigger than them. But isn’t that always the way? For there to be amazing characters the story must be intricate, and for the story to be intricate, it must be told well. The Last Namsara had so many secrets and I had so many questions! Characters' actions and events rushed along beside each other seemingly disconnected until they just weren't. They circled, looping in and out--that perfect knot tied into an enthralling and exciting story.

My only criticism is that the writing was maybe a little 'safe' for my liking. Description lacked in the world building of the book that I feel could have added to the splendour and magic of the story. I wanted, NO, NEEDED more of the world Asha lived in: the wondrous many animals other than just the dragons, the mystical atmosphere, the enchanting landscape, and the magic that was so thoroughly entrenched within the lives of the characters. There seriously would have been more things than just dragons... maybe a bird or two? Oh, there was a hawk! One hawk…

Regardless, I did enjoy the story very much. The writing ebbed and flowed naturally, weaving the twists and turns of the tale well alongside the story’s legends of the great Namsara and Askari. It was never choppy or stilted. I was gripped by the mystery, and I felt quite akin to Asha. Her brother was quite cool too, as well as her cousin and the slave and, well you get my point... but I loved the dragons!! I loved them so much! So, maybe more dragons in the next book and some other magical creatures too, okay? That would make me very happy.

Just in case you didn't hear me the first time--DRAGONS! :)

The Last Namsara follows Asha, branded Iskari, feared and reviled for her part in a dragon attack that left her scared and much of the city razed. Asha is now the King's most fierce dragon hunter and soon to be bride of the cruel Commandant. But as the Dragon King sends out his Iskari to kill the First Dragon, Asha's world and what she know begins to unravel.

 The Last Namsara is a solid start to the Iskari trilogy. It did take me a few chapters to start getting into the story as, as with many first books in a series, it needs to set the stage and build its world. The treatment of the slaves was a little hard to swallow at first and Asha was very much someone blind to her privilege and the beliefs that are imbedded in her world. However over the course of the novel those beliefs are challenged and we see Asha slowly begin to look outside of herself. 

Interwoven throughout The Last Namsara are the old stories, which are used to call dragons and are the reason they breathe fire. However the old stories have been outlawed in a society that went from living side by side to hunting dragons. There are also stories we soon discover are bits of history. 

Whilst the first half was an enjoyable read, it was in the second half that the action really picked up and the story hit its stride. There were a few elements that could have been a little more fleshed out but over all The Last Namsara was an enjoyable and engaging debut by Ciccarelli and I'll be picking up book 2 to see where the story goes from here.

Fantasy worlds are particularly obsessed with the notion of dichotomy, of division and contrast, of the delineation between light and darkness. The Last Namsara explores these ideas in a particularly compelling way through its protagonist, Asha. Named by her father as the world’s next Iskari, death bringer and destroyer, Asha is widely feared and isolated from the people of Figaard. As the readers watch her whisper forbidden tales and hunt mythical dragons, we also see her reconcile with her dark destiny and claim her identity for herself.

As the kingdom’s most feared dragon slayer and a princess of the realm, Asha has to guard numerous secrets. In her world, the things we dream and love such as stories and dragons are considered taboo and wicked. Yet, Asha is drawn to tales, she’s enchanted by the way these stories grant literal power to fire-breathing beasts. Her life has been irreparably changed by her addiction to forbidden tales long ago, and she fights to keep her self-control from slipping daily. Stories are dangerous, this is a fact we know from our own world – but it was very interesting to see The Last Namsara explore a world where stories held the power to destroy.

The aspect I enjoyed most in The Last Namsara was the rich tapestry of the world’s own mythology and tales. Along with the events of Asha’s present life, the readers are also shown glimpses of the past through a series of tales that are reminiscent of storybook of old. There are tales about the creation of this world and the original Namsara and Iskari. There are forbidden tales of love and loss, of queens who defied death and kings corrupted by the promise of power. They interweaved beautifully with the main narrative and served to underline the immense power of stories within this world. I felt that the writing in the novel shined brightest during these interludes.

I have mixed feelings regarding the romance within The Last Namsara. As a romance reader, I prefer balanced relationships, and the master-slave dynamic is always a hard sell for me. Asha’s reluctance to use Torwin’s name for most of the novel also added to my unease when it came to their relationship – let’s just say that it’s difficult to root for a couple when one side of the pair constantly refers to her love interest as ‘the slave’. The explanation for her aversion to using his first name is given in the latter half of the novel, but it did little to erase my initial discomfort. I also found the romance to be poorly developed, especially the transition from their interest in one another into love.

Aside from Torwin, I enjoyed reading about the other side characters within this novel. The female characters in this book are especially complex and distinctive, I especially wish that we got to see more of Safire and her story. I also loved seeing Asha’s relationship with her brother, who was the Namsara to her Iskari. However, I can’t help but feel that Asha did not have as much agency in her own story, especially when compared to the side characters. She was continually kept in the dark, for reasons that do not extend far beyond Plot Necessity. The antagonists within The Last Namsara were also very one-dimensional, especially Jarek – the cruel commandant of Figaard and Asha’s betrothed.

While I enjoyed the themes of the power of stories within The Last Namsara, the way it dealt with other major topics left me unsatisfied. One of the persisting commentary within The Last Namsara was on slavery and the way the oppressor dehumanises the oppressed. I felt the book would have been better served if it was more inclusive of the views of the skrals. The Last Namsara was more interested in telling a story of realisation from the point of view of an oppressor, and I personally felt it lacked the nuance to do the topic justice.
Overall, I thought The Last Namsara was an enjoyable and ambitious debut, and I will be looking forward to reading more of the author’s future novels. I hope to see an expansion of world building and character development in future books, along with a greater exploration of the themes introduced in this novel.

Rwally enjoyed this, a good dragon fantasy is always good to come across. I think this will appeal to a lot of people, teens & adults alike. Likeable & hateable characters & a great story line.