Blazewrath Games is described as Quidditch meets Dragons, which had me excited. The Blazewrath tournament is at the center of the story, and I can see the direct parallels to Quidditch in its gameplay. The politics in this world are interwoven with the tournament, which I thought added an extra pressure to the stakes of the game. The story was pretty straightforward with some cheesy moments/predictability. 


I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Experience the World Cup with dragons in this debut fantasy, set in an alternate contemporary world, in which riders and their steeds compete in an international sports tournament."

If that tagline alone doesn't make you hit the "want to read" button I don't know what else I can tell you but I will try!

Our main character Lana Torres dreams of competing in the Blazewrath World Cup as a representative of her native Puerto Rico. After a series of unfortunate... but fortunate for her... events she is granted a spot on the team! Yeah! Right? Not really because now she finds out that one of her idols is now a bad guy who seems to be working with a dragon turned human who is out to destroy everything!

Also Lana's best friend Samira is the bees knees. We all need friends like her!

So to sum up...

Magic... Awesome!
Dragons... Awesome!
Characters... Awesome!
Mysterious intrigue.... Awesome!
Dragon turned human out to destroy the Blazewrath Empire.... Double Awesome!

Thank you Netgalley for an e-arc of this book. Fantastic debut and definitely recommend!

This book is AMAZING! This is the debut novel of Amparo Ortiz and I just can't wait for more. Seeing a Puerto Rican main character in a book made my whole year! Blazewrath Games is one of my favorite books; and I'm talking about top 3. I was really excited to read this book because of the boricua Lana Torres, but also because of the dragons. Who doesn't love dragons?

This book is pure magic and I love it! Wait until you meet the Sol de Noche Dragons... and the rest of the dragons as well! You are probably going to fall in love with all of them. And the Sire? Wow, such a great character development. I love hating him, you know? I hold Lana near my heart because of the struggles with her identity; I felt instantly drawn to her. Blazewrath Games have a lot of characters! For me, that was a little difficult. But it is something you can work through. One of my favorite things, besides the dragons, was the relationship between Lana and Samira. It made me think of my relationship with my friend; we are always joking around! So yeah, the fun relationship between them was so relatable.

I think I haven't read a YA fantasy novel with such a perfect world building as Blazewrath Games. I was able to see and imagine everything on my mind! Actually, can we get a Blazewrath Games movie, please? Also, I loved the presence of a lot of cultures. Especially everything about team Puerto Rico and all the little details, like the Puerto Rican flag, their pride, and the musical instruments (like we always do cheering our teams!). I felt I was there chanting with the rest of the Puerto Ricans!

I admire Amparo Ortiz because her writing style is so SO good. The details in every page were gracefully crafted.

I ADORED IT! So good! I felt so proud to be from Puerto Rico! It was honestly such a fantastic novel. And for the first time ever I was rooting for the hero....well Heroine!

World Cup on dragons? Yes, please and thank you. I have been eagerly anticipating Blazewrath Games, by Amparo Ortiz, since the first announcement. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my high expectations.

Plotwise, it does not hold up much under scrutiny. Too much of the plot is based on exceptions to the world building that Ortiz has done, without giving the reader enough time to settle into the rules of the world before they are broken. Major plot points are developed through methods that seem far too convenient, and the narrator and main character, Lana, does not have enough impact on the events that take place.

From a character perspective, there are simply too many people on the page. It is impossible for any of the characters to make a real impact because each one is fighting for a few lines here and there. The emotional stakes fall apart due to a simple lack of caring about any individual character. 

The moments where this book shines are in the action sequences, especially the drama of the cup games. Overall, however, a surprisingly small amount of the action actually takes place during the cup itself, with the other plot taking precedence at every turn.

Another huge plus is the amount of rep on the page. There are tons of queer characters, as well as many POC and Spanish speakers. Although the translation of Spanish lines was sometimes clunky, the amount of Spanish was great to see.

Overall, this book was highly ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful in its goals. I fervently hope that other readers will find it more to their taste, as there was much to appreciate in the concept.

Thanks to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!

**I received a copy of Blazewrath Games from NetGalley and Page Street Kids, in exchange for an honest review**

Blazewrath Games is an enjoyable read! I very much loved the Latinx representation in the story! Lana is a young person on a mission to represent her beloved Puerto Rican community. The fact that dragon fighters are blended into the tale is favorable in my eyes! 

I recommend Blazewrath Games for those who enjoy strong Latinx representation within an urban fantasy setting. You will not regret adding this book to your TBR!

I have never done an ownvoice reflection before for a book tour so this a little different for me and somewhat difficult for me to come with what I wanted to type about. When I saw that Hear Our Voices has a blog tour for a young adult fantasy book written by a Puerto Rican author which included a story with Puerto Rico, I was excited and wanted to support the author and the book.

I am a 48 years old Puerto Rican women who loves to read YA books and I had always wished that when I was growing up there were books that were written by authors who were the same nationality and who had characters in their books that look like me. Unfortunately, I didn’t find those books growing up but it so refreshing to see more and more Latino and Latina getting the opportunities to be able to tell stories that are reflected of who they are and show the younger generation that they can find a book which will have character or story that they can relate too.

I was not born in Puerto Rico and I do know how it feels when you thought of not being Puerto Rican enough because you spent most of your life in the mainland so I was able to understand how Lana felt in the book for being push aside from it and dealing with racism because of my skin toned.

Not only do I wish that this book was written when I was growing up but I wish it was around when my son who is 21 years old was growing. I think he would have benefited with seeing a characters that were like him because he is biracial and had dealt with discrimination most of his young life.

If you are Latina/Latino and want to see yourself in a book, I would encourage you to pick up Blazewrath Games and the plus it has dragons (which are awesome)!

Favorite Quotes
“Dragon are better company than people. Not that I hate people. Some are okay. People can’t fly, though.”

“Puerto Rico made me who I am but Blazewrath is the reason I was born.”

“I need to get out of this place drenched in nightmares. Deep down, I know it’s useless. Tomorrow I won’t just belong to the monsters. I will become one of them.”

“I once told you to believe in the world that’s coming. That was a mistake. The world I wanted to live was filled with anger, but your heart and your courage gave me hope.”

In theory “Blazewrath Games” sounded like an amazing book. Dragons, a tournament, a conspiracy - so why didn’t I love this?
The book failed to make me care. I didn’t care about the characters or what happened to them. I wasn’t invested in the events taking place in the book.
Overall I’d definitely recommend this book for fans of dragons and magical tournaments, it just wasn’t for me.

What a fun fantasy book! Give this to fans of Harry Potter and dragon books. Although it reads a little like a fanfiction version of the Potter universe in spots (there are witches and wizards and wands, all nonmagical folk are called "Regulars") it has a lot of totally unique and clever magical things happening to make it stand apart. I would describe Blazewrath as "Quidditch played on dragonback using flames instead of a ball," with the added twist of a Runner on foot trying to score but having to fight "Blockers" for every step they take toward the goal (kind of like how the Seeker looks for the Snitch in Quidditch). The game is actually pretty complicated, but sounds like it would be fantastic to watch! Our heroine, Lana, becomes the Runner for the Puerto Rican team, a lifelong dream despite her mother's fear of dragons due to a childhood incident. She has to work hard to fit in with her teammates, and her participation in the Blazewrath World Cup soon becomes very complicated, involving the "Department of Magical Investigations" hunt for The Sire, a menacing dragon terrorist, and the disappearance of a famous Blazewrath player, Lana's sporting idol. This is a fast read and a lot of fun once you let yourself sink into this world. I'm looking forward to the sequel, which I assume will happen, because there are enough unsolved plotlines to delve into further adventures with Lana and her dragonrider teammates.

4.5/5 stars

So I'm a big fan of this book! The world-building is truly something else — I absolutely adored this alternate reality where dragons and magic users coexist with non-magic humans. I loved the Blazewrath Games, which are exactly the magical sport (complete with dragons) I didn't even know I wanted to read about.

Lana Torres is 17 and has always wanted nothing more than to compete in the Blazewrath World Cup. Well, eventually — she gets her opportunity. Nothing is as it seems, though, because this book is not just a fantasy about a soccer-like game played in the sky on the backs of dragons: instead, it's a mystery to boot! 

There's some great family drama in this story; awesome friendships; and a big part of it is an exploration of growing up as part of the diaspora. 

The only drawback is that part of me feels like this book could have been either longer or divided in two. There's just so much rich world-building and so many characters that I didn't feel I truly had the chance to get to know them all, to really revel in everything, with the book at its current length.

Honestly all I can hope is that this means there's going to be a companion novel announced soon!

*I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.*

Blazewrath Games is set in an alternate world where fantasy meets reality. In this world dragons and magic exist. Dragons form bonds with riders and they compete in the Blazewrath Games, a kind of Olympic level event where teams from across the world come together to fight against each other. 

This book follows Lana Torres, whose dream it is to compete in the Blazewrath Games for her native Puerto Rico. When an opportunity arises for her to become the Runner for team Puerto Rico, she jumps at the chance. Though she soon finds her self in the middle of a conspiracy and Puts those she loves in danger. 

I enjoyed this book for the overall story. At times it felt more on the younger end of YA and some things were just too convenient. Overall it was a great story and I loved learning about the magic system and all the different dragons. The ending left it open for future installments so I’m excited to see if the author continues this as a series.

What is there not to love about this book? Action, tension, drama and DRAGONS!!!!!! My students are going to love this!!

CW: Allusions to domestic abuse, homophobia, murder, physical violence and mind invasion.

This book is SO GOOD! It’s action-packed, it’s entertaining and it has such a cool concept.

The world-building in Blazewrath Games is fantastic. This book is set in our world but there are wizards and dragons too, and Amparo Ortiz does an amazing job of sharing the history of the cohabitation of these three groups. An element that adds complexity to the world-building is the fact taht there are so many different types of dragons and they have different appearances and abilities, which is so cool. The author shares so much information about the dragons while at the same time it’s clear that people only know what dragons want them to know, they keep a lot of secrets so there is a lot of mystery surrounding them.

One of the coolest aspects of this book is Blazewrath as a sport which is played by teams of dragons and humans, and the Blazewrath games, which is an international sports tournament. The way Amparo Ortiz writes the matches is so incredible, I was at the edge of my seat the entire time while the matches took place, cheering the Puerto Rican team.

The plot revolves around a conspiracy surrounding the Blazewrath Games and it’s very engaging with a lot of moving pieces and interesting twists and turns, the characters are amazing, there’s a found family element that’s heartwarming, and it includes diversity in an effortless and organic way (most of the main characters are POC, and there’s also queer, trans and disabled characters).

The only issue I had is that a lot of convenient things happened and even some unrealistic things like the fact that the main character learns to fight in a few days and she fights well enough to beat people that have been training for a lot longer.

Overall, Blzewrath Games is a fun, gripping book that you won’t want to put down, full of characters you will root for and a cool and unique take on dragons.

Dragons! Magic! Dragons doing magic! What's not to love?
What I loved: the diversity of the characters, all the spanish, the weird dragon sport, how you got your want if you have magic, the mystery and twists.
What I loved less: the trope of characters being all "oh everyone is telling me not to do this thing for very obvious reasons but let's still do it because I of course know better and I don't care how this cause problems to other people" (I dislike this trope), the mc changed her mind so often it gave me whiplash, the mom.
Almost everyone was queer and I loved that. There is no forced romance just because and I found it refreshing. The focus was on the dragons, on the villains, and on the sport.
Blazewrath was interesting and I kind of understood how it was played. I would've loved to be bonded to a dragon. They wouldn't bond with me now because I'm old. Rude, dragons! Rude!
The writing made the story goes fluently and it keeps you glued to the pages. There's tons of action right until the very end. You won't get bored!

There were a lot of things in this book I enjoyed: the magic integrated in our world, that's always something I like, mixed with phones and the internet, we also have witches and dragons! How amazing! Loved also the diversity, we had a MC who was Puerto Rican, well an entire team actually, we also had queer characters, and in general we could see that the author wanted to represent different people in her books. 
And then, the dragons. I mean, I haven't read a book with dragons I didn't like. It's impossible not to love dragons, and here was no exception!
Now, some things really prevented me from loving this book: first one, sometimes it felt too close to a very popular wizardy book series. Like when we talk of the Other Place, but mostly, the blazewrath games themselves. In their structure, their goals, how they worked and how the players were called... it just was TOO closed from a famous broomstick sport. Inspired is ok, but here, it was too much.
The other thing was the plausibility of the story : the way the MC is cast into the Puerto Rican team (though that is questioned), the way the mom react to the news, among other things. There was also the fact that though the characters are around 16-18, I sometimes felt like I was reading middle grade.
So, overall, there was some good, there was some more meh thing, and I have a mixed opinion on this book! But I invite you to make your own ;)

Amparo Ortiz’s YA debut, Blazewrath Games, is an utter delight, a captivating fantasy from start to finish. Lana Torres has one dream, to become the Runner for the Puerto Rican team in the Blazewrath World Cup, a game played with dragons and their riders. After a dangerous brush with death in which Lana confronts a follower of the notorious Sire, a man who was once a dragon, Lana misses her chance at tryouts. But when the president of the International Blazewrath Federation takes notice, Lana is given another chance to join the Puerto Rican team. As Lana and her new team train together, news of the Sire conducting raids on dragon sanctuaries begins to circulate. Soon Lana finds herself caught in another game as the Sire threatens violence if the Cup is not canceled; meanwhile, the people Lana is supposed to trust the most are calling for the Cup to go on as planned. Ortiz’s has built such a complex world with Blazewrath Games. I enjoyed every time we as readers got to see another layer and loved how each new fact built on the last. Dragons aren’t the only magical beings, there are also witches and wizards. One of my favorite side characters was Lana’s best friend, Samira, who is a copper-wand witch and what she lacks in magical skill she makes up for in drive. It was really interesting to explore different polarizing views in this world and how they  influenced both the heroes and villains of the story. Blazewrath Games is a celebration of camaraderie and belonging, with enough twists and turns to keep readers on their toes.

a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I’m not sure which part of this doesn’t immediately scream READ ME. Was it the dragons? Or the Quidditch-like sport? Because seriously, I was all over this book as soon as I read the synopsis, and I can’t imagine why someone wouldn’t be!

Blazewrath Games is an action-packed book that’s part sport, part mystery, and 100% heart. Filled with dragons, Boricuan pride, diverse characters, and fun banter, it’s basically a must-read for 2020.

This book was fabulous, as expected. The only real (minor) complaint I have is that some things aren’t explained as well as I’d hoped they might have been, like a bit of an inexplicable deus ex machina towards the end of the book or the actual motives of the antagonist.

My Thoughts:

- The world-building in this book is just *chef’s kiss*. It perfectly blends magic with the real world. It’s basically our world, except we discovered witches a couple hundred years ago and went, “Huh. Wait! Maybe we shouldn’t burn all these people. It seems like magic could be kinda useful.” So there’s a whole market and society built around magic. Which also means … DRAGONS! Different kinds of dragons, too. And when you discover that dragons are real, what’s your natural reaction to the news, hmm? DRAGON SPORTS! … wait. Listen, I know you’re probably here to learn more about what the heck the Blazewrath Games are, so let’s not keep you in suspense and get it out of the way right off the bat. It’s been pitched as “Quidditch with dragons,” and that seems like an apt description. The whole idea is that you’ve got a team that includes dragon riders and a runner. The runner tries to get to the top first without losing their item. There are dragon riders that are scoring and dragon riders that are trying to stop the runner with dragon attacks and physical attacks, attempting to get their trinket and throw it to the bottom of the mountain, thus forcing them to return to the beginning and start their run again. The culture of this sport is so freaking neat, and getting to read about the games and “watch” it played was super fun.

- There’s a whole squad of characters to love (it’s a team, after all, right), and I loved how different they all are in both personality and general diversity. First of all, the Boricuan pride and feel is very strong in this book, which should come as no surprise since the focus is on Team Puerto Rico. This book is so rich in different aspects of Puerto Rican culture. This book is filled with diverse characters, beyond just the focus on Puerto Rican characters, too. For example, there’s a character who only speaks Spanish (though it’s translated in context, for those who can’t read Spanish, so you won’t miss anything). There are several characters who are LGBTQ, openly and proudly so, and there’s even one super freaking cute LGBTQ romance.

- Lana makes for a great protagonist, as she struggles with her own identity but also genuinely wants to do the right thing. I’m gonna just come out and say it: Lana faces quite a bit of racism in this book, especially in the beginning, and even from her family. There were far too many scenes that absolutely boiled my blood. I sadly found her struggle as a biracial character all too relatable: not fitting into either world, needing to choose to belong to one or the other, and never quite “enough” for either. At her very core, though, Lana stands out because she’s painfully normal in a world full of extraordinary characters, which makes her extremely relatable. The only way she truly stands out is in the way she fights for what she believes in. I mean, think about it. There are witches in this world. People with magic. There are secret government officials and bureaucracy. There’s dragon riders who bond with their dragons. Then there’s Lana … who is a runner with no special powers, no special ability, nothing that really sets her apart. Except that she’s willing to speak up when she sees something she thinks is wrong. I loved that about her!

- This book has so many twists and turns and action that it never got boring and always kept me guessing. Did I guess a couple of the big twists? Sure. But some of them caught me off-guard, in such a delightful way! The mystery in this is definitely engaging, and I found myself frantically turning pages because I wanted to solve the puzzle and find out what really was going on. Opposite the action, though, is a lot of really emotional, touching scenes and soul-searching that I absolutely loved! These characters have such relatable struggles that even though I was mad they had to suffer such things, I enjoyed seeing them grow and come to terms with everything.

Sticking Points:

- Even though this is a duology and I expected there to be things left unanswered, there felt like a few too many whys left open-ended. I assume (hopefully) there’ll be more answers in the second book, of course. There are some things that I’m totally cool with waiting for, but one thing that really irked me is I wanted more about the villain! I’m sure more answers will come in the second book, but since the villain was the villain in this book, I was hoping for something a little less cryptic. Even just some sort of motive! This is probably just a me thing, but I love to both love and hate villains, but in order to do that, I need to know what drives them or what they want to accomplish, and I just didn’t feel that. The villain was more of this vague, threatening shadow.

This was a fun and exciting new fantasy adventure! It’s evenly-paced, has some amazing plot-twists and features an incredible cast of characters! Lana is sure to capture the hearts of many readers as the ultimate fan girl finally living her dream and then fighting for a better world! I loved that this book focused on building friendships and how difficult it is to be the newbie or late comer! The energy and scandal of Blazewrath is a force that will surely pull readers in and have them cheering on for their favourite characters! With wonderful world-building and magic woven into each turn of the page, this book is sure to knock the socks off of many readers!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book. 

Here we have the story of Lana, a Boricua who dreams to be part of Puerto Rico's team in the Blazewrath Games. Until an opportunity comes, after some kind of tragedy, and she is chosen to be the last member of the team. 

Is a book full of ups and downs (in a good way) that keeps you at "the edge of your seat", and makes you root for some characters. You'll find every type of character you can think of, the ones you don't like for most of the book, the ones you won't ever like, the ones who you'll love since the first page, etc. I'm trying to find the coherent way to put my thoughts down, excuse me if it is a mess. You'll find a found family that isn't a 100% close since the beginning, family relationships that vary from super close to keep your distance, friendships that can last over anything and everything, and bonds between people and creatures (animals). If you are a sports lover or are in need of the Olympics Games, this book will do it for you and add magic while doing it. The scenes of the games are so descriptive and creative that you are going to feel part of them.  

Recommended for fans of sports, found family, worldwide representation, ups and downs, magic, DRAGONS, villains, best friends. And if you are from Puerto Rico (Boricua), consider picking it up, you'll feel all the feels while reading this and reading about people screaming Puerto Rico while watching a game.

Blazewrath Games was a fun, fast-paced read that was super easy to get into, after all, who doesn’t love a good dragon book? There were a ton of things to love about this book, including a Puerto Rican main character, a diverse cast, LGBTQ representation, magic, witches and wizards, and of course, dragons, dragons, and more dragons! 

Ortiz did a wonderful job creating Lana’s complicated relationship with her parents, as well as with her Puerto Rican identity. I also loved her close friendship with her witch friend, Samira. The dragons were another highlight of the book. Ortiz has given readers these giant, beautiful dragon breeds, each one unique to their country of origin and possessing special abilities. While Lana is not bonded to a dragon herself, she is surrounded by these glorious beasts throughout the story. 

The areas I thought the book struggled were in developing Lana’s character, her motivations and decisions seemed lacking to me. I had difficulty understanding why she did some of the things she did. There were also moments where she made connections that pushed the plot along but felt unrealistic and convenient. There were also parts of the story that didn’t get much explanation at all, like the Sire character. I wish there had been more background story provided about the Sire, his motivations, why he broke his bond with his rider, etc. The Sire came off as kind of flat when he could have been one of the more interesting characters in the story. I also wish there had been more explanation around Samira’s sudden evolution into a Gold wand and what that means. I am also curious about what happens to the dragons if they are not competing in the Blazewrath games. There was no mention of dragons outside the competition unless they were unbonded dragons living in sanctuaries, so without the games, I’m curious to see how bonded dragons and their riders fit into the world. Now, I understand Blazewrath Games is the first in a two book series, so hopefully some of these questions will be answered in the sequel.  

Overall, Blazewrath Games is an exciting book with an interesting premise and diverse characters. I would recommend this book for younger teens who are transitioning out of middle grade and into YA fantasy, and of course for anyone who loves dragons and intrigue.

Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.