Amparo Ortiz's Blazewrath Games is a unique take on the competition books that have been popular in recent years. In this world the popular sport revolves around a race that features one runner and several battling dragons. I very much enjoyed the team aspect that is missing in most of the books that involve fighting or competitions.

This book ultimately wasn't a good fit for me. I loved the concept, but I found the main character to be juvenile for my tastes. This veers towards the younger side of YA and may possibly even be a good fit for mature middle grade readers.

Wonderful worldbuilding and fun concept delightfully executed! The games were a blast! A fiery blast!

Any book involving dragons has my vote and BLAZEWRATH GAMES is no different. Out of the gate I was engaged, The story moves pretty quick and we're thrown into a rich world that I didn't want to leave. I didn't find myself falling into the trap of predicting the story as I read, which I've come to do with YA fantasy of late. Instead, I was just along for the ride. And I'd say all of that held true from start to finish. Where the book lost me a little was with the main character Lana who I liked but didn't find as intriguing as some of the side characters, and the actual tournament aspect of the games which was more confusing than tension-filled so the book dipped in those moments. That said, it was a solid first in a series, and an all-around enjoyable read, that I'd recommend!

“In a nonstop, dragon-roaring adventure, this mash-up of magical realism and coming-of-age story will keep readers enthralled until the last page.”
– SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

I want to start by saying I think the cover for this book is amazing! I am such a cover buyer and this one deserves lots of attention and praise! The story within the pages, holds lots of competition and dragons! Two things that are always a fun read for me.

Blazewrath Games has a fantastic premise and some really engaging moments but there is so much going on in the book that the core of the story often gets lost. Regardless, reading it was an enjoyable experience and I'd love to see more from this author and this world.

I enjoyed the books premise the most: a modern world full dragons and an olympic like sport played with them. I think readers who are fans of Harry Potter and Maze Runner. A good book to suggest to youth who enjoy sports and fantasy elements,.

GAH. I'm SUCH a sucker for magical competitions.
It's no surprise, then, that I absolutely LOVED this title.

Fast, fun, and with a hearty dose of magical adventure, BLAZEWRATH GAMES is everything great about the 4th book in that ~wizard series that shall not be named~...just more diverse, inclusive, and reflective of the modern world.

Plus, there's DRAGONS. What more needs to be said? :)

It was definitely a 3 star 3.5 star!
I enjoyed this book overall and I would recommend it if you're a fan of Warcross by Maire Lu, but with DRAGONS! I the only things that held me back was that I personally was interested in continuing the series. The overall action was cool, but I didn't care for the characters. I'm definitely more of a character driven person. I didn't enjoy a lot of the side characters either and some of the relationships to feel forced.

Overall a solid read!

This book was adventurous and so compelling. If the Goblet of Fire is your favorite Harry Potter book, this is 100% the book for you, With dragons, athleticism, diverse representation, and a fast pace, this is a great book for those looking for fresh YA contemporary fantasy.

This story was ok. Based on a limited budget for our library, this is not a title I purchased because I don't think it was engaging enough.

Dragons and sports, what else needs to be said? The book was full of energy and I can see this being an easy read for some teens.

Really enjoyed this book! Super adventurous, I loved the representation. I was really able to see myself in this novel.

A fast and fun romp through our world if dragons and magic were real. Focuses around the high-action sport of Blazewrath, where dragons and their riders compete in a very quidditch-like fashion. This was a fun enough read but the character development just didn't feel real enough to me (and there were a lot of characters), and some of the plot devices felt a little wishy washy. I was reading an eARC, so it is possible some of these issues got ironed out in the final book? Good enough to be on library shelves as a quick pleasure read,

When a competitor from her country is removed from the team, Lana is is invited to participate in the Blazewrath Games. The games are a competition with sixteen countries competing for the World Cup. Think Hunger Games, mixed with Harry Potter's Quidditch, with dragons. As the games are about to start, Lana learns that one of her competitors and his dragon, who has been changed to human form, have been burning down dragon sanctuaries. They won't stop until they know the Blazewrath Games have been cancelled.

Lana's strength as a fighter and her devotion to her dragon make this a book many teens and preteens would love. This book is a fantasy, YA adventure with a strong female Puerto Rican protagonist. The other teams favor diverse ethnicities and races and the author uses several Spanish phrases throughout. While I'm not much of a fantasy lover, I thought the writing was fun and ferocious.

Really loved this unique and high octane YA fantasy! I'm also really looking forward to the sequel. The worldbuilding was engaging and made me want to continue on, and the main character was fun to follow!

<p>Although I received an e-arc from the publisher through NetGalley, it wasn't until I purchased the audiobook that I started reading this book. I'm very glad that I listened to (most of) this book as the narrator did a fabulous job and I definitely would not have been pronouncing some of the names correctly if just reading the words on paper. Also, I loved hearing the Spanish phrases in the dialogue. I did say I only listened to most of the book and that's because toward the end I couldn't wait for my commute to make time to listen to the audiobook and pulled up the e-arc to finish reading on my lunch break at work. That's how sucked in I was by the end.</p>

<p>That being said, I do think the author did a great job with pacing throughout the whole story. There were few to no areas where I thought the slowness bogged the story down. We were given just enough space to breathe as readers while the characters took time to connect the dots before we were rushing into another scene full of action or fraught with emotional turmoil. I also think that the twists at the end had enough support that the reader could accept them as the final outcome without them being too obvious.</p>

<p>I hope we get more YA fantasy stories that explore other cultures that aren't just typical US white teenagers. I enjoyed the latinx element to this story as it defined our main character but didn't dominate the story. And I appreciated the inclusion of LGBTQA+ relationships at various age levels as normal. Quite refreshing!

It had some great elements to it, but there was too much going all at once. The main character arc wasn't realistic in some ways and the villain was unimpressive as the book continued. Subplots needed to be removed, there needed to be more world building, and I felt like her mom did what she did for the sake of a message and plot than what made sense for her character. A lot of things didn't connect or make sense, a lot of new writer mistakes were made, so this book was a disappointment for me because I really enjoyed the beginning. With that said, I may pick up another book by this author because I can see them become amazing with each novel they write.

Like almost everyone else, I first picked up BLAZEWRATH GAMES because of the dragons — and while it absolutely *more* than delivered the dragon content we were all holding our breath for, I found myself left with a bitter taste of disappointment upon finishing.

I want to start with what I didn't like — because there's only one thing: the main character, Lana Torres. It feels strange to admit this, but, truly? I just didn't vibe with her. Lana's voice is grating and obnoxious, and I found myself simply... not caring about the events in the book because of her narration. Part of this is my personal bias against the trope in which a young teen, for whatever reason, feels like it's their responsibility to go out of their way and solve the conflict in the book, and go against every single thing adults more qualified and aware than them suggest, simply because they think they know better. If that sounds oddly specific, it's because that's *exactly* how I viewed Lana and her actions throughout the book.
I don't think Lana was supposed to come off like that — I think, instead, she was supposed to be the badass heroine who had a strong moral compass, and acted on it. Unfortunately, due to an almost obnoxious voice, Ortiz misses the mark with Lana. With a weird angle of saying the "woke" thing, having a moral superiority complex, an overdramatic mental monologue, and a vague woe-be-me attitude whenever something even slightly goes wrong, Lana became disgenuine to me. Her hurt and fears seemed pretentious and overreactions, and I just, truly, did not care — not about Lana, not about her dreams, and not about what would become of either of them.

That being said, nearly everything else is phenomenal. The rest of the cast of characters are all so much more likeable than Lana, and I found myself getting ridiculously attached and in love with every one of them. They're all genuinely family, and while things go awry once in a while, they're love and care for each other felt so palpable and sweet.

The worldbuilding and magic system itself is incredibly fun. There was something irresistably exciting about Blazewrath — it promises an adventure, and it more than delivers. At the start of my review, I said that BLAZEWRATH GAMES fulfilled all my dragon-related desires in my heart, and I wholly stand by that. And, paired with magic that's genuinely interesting — the concept of an "other place" and the idea of the "Black Island" still gets me excited like none other — BLAZEWRATH GAMES is *fun!*

While the pacing was off a little — I had a hard time getting through the first half — the second half makes up for it with plot twist and unraveling threads and so. much. action. The gradual unveiling of the villain, and the way the book plays out is captivating in the second half, and I found myself devouring it all in one sitting.

And of course, as a diaspora teen, the conversation on what it means to be diaspora hit all the right notes.

So, as you can see, there is a LOT to love in BLAZEWRATH GAMES. I cannot emphasize enough that while my problems with BLAZEWRATH GAMES are aplenty — namely, the main character, and the writing, which gets old fast — I would still recommend it to every one else. I feel like my issues with the book are very me-things, and I hope that this review does not hinder anyone from picking BLAZEWRATH GAMES.

I'll be excited to pick up BLOODBATH RING, the sequel, come release date, and maybe, just maybe? I'll like Lana more?