I love Melissa Mitchell and this book is a fabulous addition to her writing! I highly recommend anything written by her.

Having read another book from the Dragonwall series that was more of a prequel to this one, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this fantastical world of dragons and sprites.
The story was well-paced and the action was entertaining.
The only niggle I have was the abrupt ending.
I understand that this is only one in a series of books but the ending just seemed so unexpected and came without warning for me.
It also ended at quite an ordinary moment which felt mid-flow.
It held my attention until the end and I look forward to reading more from this world.

Dragons! That's all it took for me to be interested in this book. 

I enjoyed it I did promise. It was a fast and fun read. Does it have issues, yes, but overall it has mystery, adventure, dragons, shapeshifters, interesting heroine. And, yes, just like this review, it was a little all over the place. 

Should you read it? If you don't mind a bit of confusion and plot going everywhere, it really is a fun read! I do wish there was a bit more romance involved, but hey - DRAGONS falling out of the sky!

I was ecstatic when I found this book becuase dragons and I adore dragons. And the book started so well, so exciting but than something happened and reading Talon the Black started feeling like a chore. 
I liked Claire but to my utmost dismay I didn’t like the dragons. I kep reading and I was worried I didn’t like the dragons. They are arrogant and rude. 
I stopped reading at 40% and I still feel bad about it but I just couldn’t continue.

I think I might give it another shot later...

Thank younto NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

I’m very excited to share my thoughts on Talon the Black by Melissa Mitchell because I really enjoyed it and I know that many people who share my reading tastes will too. I am so picky with fantasy books that I often say I don’t like the genre because that’s easier, but Talon the Black hit all of my requirements. The first one for me is that I want to get to know the fantastic world along with the main character. What I mean is that I want my main character to be a regular human living in this world. Not only was Claire a regular human, but we get to see her living in this world for a good portion of the book. She’s not just thrust into another world, but it’s more of a journey and we learn about it with her. Another thing I liked was that the chapters were short and we always got alternating perspectives. That made the 700+ page read much less intimidating, and it made the story-building super nice and layered. I wasn’t given big blocks of information but rather bits and pieces that came together to paint a big picture. 
Of course, this is a series and absolutely nothing got wrapped up in this first book, so I obviously bought the second one already and will be starting it as soon as this review gets published. Who would’ve thought?

I was originally drawn to the cover of this book. It was very eye catching. I always enjoy reading books with multiple viewpoints and enjoyed the many different POVs in this story. While the main storyline focuses on Talon and Claire, you get glimpses into the other characters minds. The struggles that the characters go through also made them easy to relate to. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next one.

Talon the Black surprised me. I went in fully expecting the trope-iness of the book and embraced it, for I too share the love of Pern, Harry Potter, and other dragon books that the author describes in her acknowledgements, and the book had received many 4 and 5 star ratings. It was a shoo-in, right?

Unfortunately, that proved not the case for me, and finishing Talon the Black was one of the greatest book-reading struggles I've faced for some time. I initially DNF'd the book at around 15% before giving it another shot. Fortunately, the book did grow into itself some by the end. The first third I would rate as DNF/1 star, while the last quarter was 3.5-4 star, and the middle somewhere in between.

The primary reasons I can pin down that made the book rather unreadable in the early stages were three-fold. First, the manner in which the exposition was handled exemplifies the saying "Show, don't tell." While I do understand the struggle Mitchell had to set up a whole fantasy world and the motivations for the 'forces of evil' and the 'forces of good' in the book, it was handled rather clumsily through talking-head-like interactions. Worse, we often did not even hear the explanation directly nor see our characters' reactions properly as for pages and pages they were summarized (ex. 'he told of...' or 'he described the...'). This contrasts with the last quarter of the book where our characters are directly experiencing events and/or engaged in dialogue, making the book far more engaging. Additionally, the early exposition lacks weight/emphasis to the point that when information contained within is brought back up late-book, I felt I had missed something (a critical reaction or observation), likely because it had been buried under all of the exposition.

Second, the variety of POVs *without* variety of voice causes the book to feel monotonous and confusing. Mitchell introduces many different POVs by the end of the book, yet every character sounds almost exactly the same. Why does a girl from a small Midwestern town speak like the shapeshifting nobles of a fantasy world? Even if I use a plot-related reason to explain that away, it does not explain how a poor commoner also speaks/thinks/observes the world just as the king might. I noted that the word "permeate" is used almost whenever an aroma is described, no matter the character (ex. maybe I'd expect our midwest girl to sometimes use "filled the air" and a commoner to might say "caught a whiff that set his mouth watering" or something). While POVs are useful narrative devices for showing events happening in different places to different people, they also add color to the world. When the color is all the same, it paints a world with little texture and interest. 

Third, the resolution and pacing were very slow, particularly at the beginning/middle when the book was weighted down with all the exposition and POVs. While I do understand there are more books to come in this series, I feel this entry left me hanging with no real resolution to almost any arc, and the few that were addressed had been blindingly obvious most of the book (I'm totally up for trope-iness, but I would prefer that our character not oscillate between a quick wit/adaptability and stubbornly oblivious the whole book). The last quarter of the book felt largely freed from the pacing issues of the first 3/4, and just as it started going, the book ended. I'm a bit confused as well why this book is named after Talon while the second after Reyr given that the Talon arc feels like it has barely started developing while Reyr was a main character this whole book. Perhaps I will read that one to find out, but I am in no hurry to do so.

In conclusion, I can now understand both the early DNF/1 star reviews as well as the finished book/4-5 star reviews, as those who were able to make it to the end saw the evolution of the book. However, this does not entirely make up for the struggle of the early book for me, so I would rate it over all 2/5 but with the author exhibiting plenty of potential as she grows into her craft. Thanks to NetGalley for the 'advanced' readers copy!.

Talon the Black is an amazing story for those readers who love adventure, dragons, and the fantasy genre in general. Melissa Mitchell writes the story of Claire extraordinarily well, with a beautiful storyline and a well-researched and well set up setting.
The story of Claire is enticing to the reader, you never want to put the book down. Her actions are relatable and story feels as if you are her. I have been in love with fantasy stories for years, but this is the kind I’ve been waiting for.

An entertaining and fast paced read, really interesting and easy going , the perfectly escapism, fantasy, great characters and a good story, what’s not to like

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I was provided a copy of this book with thanks from BooksGoSocial via Netgalley

WHAT A SURPRISE! I don't mean that in a condescending way at all. 

It's just that, this book was a rollercoaster and I changed my rating a million times while reading! 

"You must remember, it is only through great struggle and strife that we become who we are truly meant to be." 

Okay, this book, I have so many things to say, so I shall try to be as succinct as possible and not bore you through reading this review. Let's jump into my interaction of the plot as we commence: 

What would you do if destiny comes crash landing into your house?
What if saving a life meant forfeiting your freedom? 
If saving a kingdom meant you will never be safe again? 
What would you do if myths become reality? 
These are the questions that permeated within Claire's thoughts. 
Dragons. Elves. The great Arsarlai of old.
The dragon stones have found their protector.
But to protect she will have to forfeit everything, even her very own self. 

Now! let's get into this review. 

The beginning: Train wreck
The middle: LIFE ITSELF!!!!!
The end: slow and somewhat lackluster.

And yet, I rate this book as 3.5-4 stars! 

This book is a fantastic beginning to a tale that I shall follow through the end. Having said that, when I initially began this book, my entire soul writhed with annoyance, the beginning of this book was a 1-star in personal rating.

I hated the cliche, I hated how she was this intelligent, country, bartender girl, who was just cheated on by a greasy and sleazy dude who couldn't help but sleep with Tiffany (why is it always a tiffany?), etc...I rolled my eyes and groaned and for a time put the book away because I honestly felt very bereft for the next few chapters. 

When Cyrus appeared, I was still rolling my eyes and painfully trudged on. 

HOWEVER!!!! Once the core characters came around, once she began her journey to Dragonwall. OH MY GOSH! YES!! My eyes began to open wide in absolute amazement and awe.

I believe I exclaimed at some point from the excitement and kept reading to the wee hours of the morning. Man, when she walked into the king's hall I was screaming and fist-bumping the air. 

At this point, it went from literally a 1 star to 5 stars in my mind. I kid you not. 

However, afterward, I began to again wish for the story to progressssss. 

With all due respect author, there were one too many perspectives I didn't care for, nor was I invested in. I was like, yup cool, you found your mate, let's move on please, and get back to claire. 

Nearing the end, I began to feel annoyed with Claire and her persistent hatred of Talon and Talon's self-hatred. To be fully honest, I have NO idea why this book is called Talon the Black because he barely had anything of note to do in this book. It should have been about Reyr because Reyr was in every single part of this story. So I'm a bit confused as to why the second book has his name...? 

I don't know. 

All I can say is that this book lost 1-1.5 stars with the ending but I am so, so invested. 

The world-building was great, the writing was awesome! the characters were for the most part really well constructed and developed. 

Will I read the second one? Love, it's already purchased :P 

I'm curious and eager to see where this goes! 

Stay awesome my Lovelies, 
Emmeline (The Book Herald)

DNF at 25%

I am seeing all the 4 stars and 5 stars reviews and I realize that the problem here is probably me. This book is not bad, and I can’t say that I disliked it, I just can’t get into it. I started it 3 weeks ago and I only read 30% of it.

It all starts in Indiana, in the middle of the night. Claire (22 years old, normal woman) sees a dragon falling from the sky, and pretty much in the middle of her backyard. She finds a wounded man in the middle of a huge crater and learns that he is a dragon that can shape-shift into a human and he comes from Dragonwall. He talks to her about threats against his land and the mysterious circumstances that led to him crashing into her backyard. I got the distinct feeling that Dragonwall would be the equivalent of medieval time for us because Cyril (the dragon-shifter) obviously does not know how the technology works.

I thought that Cyril would be the romantic interest, but there is a plot twist: he dies (but not before making Claire vow to tell his king everything he told her). His shifter friends then show up just a tiny bit too late to save Cyril and instead, they take Claire with them where I assume, she will become the savior of their land because deep down she is very special… or something like that.

It is a massive book, and I honestly felt that the plot was jumping all over the place. The ideas seem good, the summary is intriguing, but I am not interested enough to keep going. The fact that I do not care about the characters does not help either, they all seem so bland and simple. There are POVs from different characters, but even after reading from their point of view, I do not feel connected to them at all. The dialogues are also quite simplistic and even weird at times, while also being tedious to understand at other times because of the old-fashion way the Drengr (dragon-shifter) speak.

I might give it another chance in the future because I can see that the majority of the readers loved it, but for now I can’t bring myself to continue reading it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would! It was fun and I was able to get through it quickly. I liked how original the story was. The book was a bit too long, but the characters and plot were so enjoyable!

There were too many points of view for me to keep up with and the romance was way too much of a slow burn. I enjoy a good slow burn but this was too much.

Claire Evans is a small town Indiana gal with a heart for adventure. When a wounded dragon falls from the sky, she runs into a cornfield to rescue it. This isn’t just any dragon, he’s a shifter, one of six royal protectors. Helping him has consequences. She must fulfill an Unbreakable Promise but to do so, she must face Dragonwall’s king. King Talon is not like those before him. Troubled and temperamental, he is scarred by more than the events that shaped him. Worst of all, he is mateless. With no queen and no heir, his subjects are demanding he abandon tradition and marry into nobility. There is a rising threat upon his borders. He will soon have far greater problems than that of finding a wife. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I revieved a free digital copy of this book from the publisher BooksGoSocial via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly i really wanted to love this book but i made it to 6% before i dnfed it. It just wasn't for me at all..

I love dragons and shifter stories but this was a twist on usual story - normal human world with a seperate world with dragons.
But there were things about the female mc that really annoyed me. First she went through someone elses belongings like she owned then simply because she helped a guy and saved his life - I'm sorry that doesn't give her the right to go through his stuff.
Second she is an avid reader - now it doesn't specify a genre but in the current world there are a shit ton of shifter books and dragon books that I'm aware of - I've only read a few - but they are all over and she must have seen some, somewhere! Surely?! I mena yeh I'd be shocked but it wouldn't be all that shocking... 🤔
Third, has she never read anything to do with history, did she learn nothing in school? I mena not knowing what a chamber pot is?!? Does she live under a rock? How does she not know what that is?! Granted I'd not really expect someone to start using the term in a conversation but going by the way he talks and the way he dresses it can't be all that shocking... Surely?

So yeh sadly this was a dnf for me it just annoyed me a lot 😔

I really wanted to like this because it involves dragons (who doesn’t like dragons?) and it’s fantasy! However, it was just way too slow in the beginning. It felt unnecessarily wordy, with scenes that felt like stock characters instead of fleshed out people. It started to get better further I to the book but I ended up skimming, which I hate doing. It was just really hard to hold my attention. I don’t think this is the novel for me. 

I did like how we followed different points of views and learned about them, I just wish there was a better way to fix the pacing throughout this story.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This is the first book in a series and I could not wait to get my hands on it. There was just something that told me I was going to love this book. I was not disappointed. It was a mix of fantasy and the modern world. Claire is a girl who loves the thought of fantasy is all to real. She save Talon she rescues, but he is no ordinary male he is a dragon shifter. Her mission it to help him save the Kingdom of Dragonwall. The borders have been attacked. It is an epic start to an adventure. I am ready for the second one.

ARC from NetGalley

4.5 stars

This book was a bit hard for me to get into, mostly because the beginning was a bit stereotypical and comical to me. "What is this strange device? There are small men behind the glass. How did they get in there?" That is not a quote, I am paraphrasing, but it was much like that, and there was more of it, and it was a bit cringey at the time. 

That said, the story becomes more complex and interesting. We read from a few different perspectives, and the main story was interesting enough that I started skipping certain chapters because IDGAF about them, which I later regretted. It turns out IDoGAF about them.

I dropped half a star because the ending was so irritating and unfulfilling. Things happen in this book, but there isn't a true climax. The entirety of the book is serving to set up the rest of the series, which I mean of course it has to, but it can do it with a plot and climax of its own. It just kind of petered out with a bunch of hints of what's to come. I don't like saying "are you fucking kidding me?" when I finish a book, and yet here we are. Still, if the next book was out I would buy it immediately, so I suppose the author has done her job.

The first book in a new series is always a wonderful gift.  Melissa Mitchell has built a world where dragon shifters are the main residents and given us the beginning of a far reaching cast of characters that all have a thread to be woven through the series.  The story begins with a young woman, Claire, rescuing a dragon that has fallen from the sky.  He has shifted into his human form and the story is off and running.  As an avid reader of fantasy books, Claire now finds herself inside a shifter kingdom, Dragonwall, where she will use every resource to keep this world from ruin at the hands of a sorcerer determined to shape this kingdom to fit his fantasy.  
Talon the Black is the king of Dragonwall, facing challenges from all sides, he must decide who he can trust and how he will protect his home and the shifters who depend on him.  Talon, along with Claire, are the main characters in this volume, but far from the only interesting "people" who live in Dragonwall.  Ms Mitchell has written an excellent example of what readers want in a series, a world and a community that is so well defined, you "see" it,  a story line uniquely built around a race of dragons and principle supporting characters and that cast of characters that fit so well into the story line and the fantasy built in the reader's mind.  I loved the story and am looking for the second book already.  Join Talon and Claire on their journey and you won't regret it.

I got a feel similar to the talon saga by Julie Kagawa based on the cover art. 
You had me at dragon but with such vivid imagery, and a fast paced plot... I'll be reading any sequels!