This book has such a pretty cover but the insides are just... meh. I kept thinking "I've read this before, haven't I?" because it's such a generic YA fantasy. But even more than that, the characters are all blank slates.

Jiara is dyslexic. She likes... nature? She wants to keep her sister's ghost from hurting her family. That's pretty much it. Raffar is... well he's a king. He has tattoos. Otherwise he's impassive. His translator has more personality in one scene than Raffar has in the first quarter of the book.

Partly this is the language barrier. Neither speaks the other's language, so they communicate through translators. But even then you'd expect *some* personality to shine through.

The author has clearly thought a lot about the worldbuilding, but it could have been integrated into the story more smoothly.

Ultimately I came away with the feeling that it sounded like a great read but needed a lot of help to be able to get to that point.

*Thanks to NetGalley and North Star Editions for providing an e-arc for review.

First off I want to say thank you to TBR Tours & Beyond for giving me a spot on their Blog Tour, to Netgalley for providing me with an Arc ,the publishers North Star Flux and finally Laura Rueckert for writing a very interesting and different YA fantasy.

Our main character is seventeen old Jiara who finds herself betrothed to Raffar the King of Farnskag and sent to a foreign land where you did not speak the language and found any form of learning hard due to being dyslexic. I loved this that Laura made Jiara this way as this made the book stand out more. I also loved how Laura made each land different from each other and her descriptions were stunning. I am still trying to imagine what an elephant bird would look like. I also loved the different belief systems of each land and seeing Jiara embracing Farnskag beliefs was lovely to see. I did not see what happened towards the end of the book which was very well paced throughout all I can say is dang. I loved all the Characters apart from Aldar he really was a very annoying character and we saw a lot of him throughout the book. I really wanted to learn more about Raffar than him. I can actually see how well this story could be developed for tv or film i think viewers would enjoy it. For all these reasons I am giving this book 4 stars. I admit i probably would not have picked up on my fruition and so I am grateful to TBR Tours & Beyond for giving me this chance

This was a nice story. The setting, the magic system and the writing were good. I did think Jiara’s language issues limited the story a bit, because for the most part there was very little decent dialogue and interactions with other characters, which, in my opinion, made the story feel smaller. Still, if you like YA fantasy, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.

A Dragonbird in the Fern was a fantastic debut novel that was impossible to put down. As a standalone fantasy novel, I was nervous that there would be not enough world-building or character development; however, this novel did a fantastic job and I cannot wait to read more from this author. First off, I love that there is a map at the beginning of the story as it was easy to picture each nation in relation to the next and give a visual representation of the vast distance that is covered in this story. The story begins in the kingdom of Azzaria that is at the southern tip near the ocean with its capital city of Glizerra. They have a lot of tension with Loftaria, which is their neighbor to the North. On the other side of Loftaria lies Farnskag with its capital city of Baaldarstad. To the east of these nations lie Svertya and to the west is Stӓrkland. Although the story mainly takes place in Azzaria and Farnskag, all the nations are included in some way throughout the pages.

Princess Jiara Ginevoradaag of Azzaria is seventeen and five months shy of eighteen. She is an extremely bright and clever character, but she has doubts in herself when it comes to reading and writing. As she is dyslexic without being aware that she is, she believes that she is not good enough and not as smart as those around her are by comparison. She thought her life was planned out for her as her three-year-older sister, Scilla, was betrothed to King Raffar Perssuun Daggsuun of Farnskag while Jiara, on her 18th birthday, would become engaged to Duke Marro Berdonando Riccardi from Flissina (a northern territory in Azzaria near Loftaria). When Scilla is murdered, Jiara’s life is turned upside down. Scilla becomes an earthwalker, which are murder victims consumed by wrath to find their killers and can cause harm to the living.

During the Time of Tears, the three-month period of mourning, the Farnskagers, who had a planned meeting to pay their respects for Scilla, end up arriving early. Raffar, who became the ruling monarch after losing his parents three years ago when he was sixteen, leads the party along with his translator, Aldar Anzgarsuun. To preserve the alliance between their nations, as Farnskag needs Azzaria’s ports and Azzaria needs them should Loftaria attack, Queen Ginevora of Azzaria, Jira’s mother, creates a new plan to betroth Raffar and Jira. Once the two of them are married, Jira moves to Farnskag where the main part of the story begins. Not only is there a lot of political intrigue taking place, but Jira also has to now live in a place with her new husband in a new place where she does not speak the language or fully understand the culture. On top of everything, she is determined to continue the search for Scilla’s murderer.

Jira’s character was amazing. She was very open to learning about everything around her and understood that she would have to work at it. She knew mistakes would be made along the way and was not afraid to try. I love all of the connections that she made in the story, both previously established and ones that were developed over time. Even though she was the queen of an unfamiliar nation, she continued to think about the needs of her homeland. Jira was a very likable character and, although I loved her relationships with many of the characters, her romance with Raffar stood out. They were incredibly patient with each other due to both the circumstances of their marriage and language barriers. I loved how Raffar treated her and how he was secure enough to not force Jira to change just to suit his needs.

Overall, this was a very well-written story that was very thought out. There is a lot of mystery at the beginning, especially about the murder. As it becomes a little more foreseeable about how the novel will conclude, the author did an excellent job at keeping it interesting. Since the story follows Jira, there were times that I missed getting a more in-depth look at other characters, such as Raffar. Everything in the story centered on Jira’s experience, thoughts, and feelings. In many circumstances, this would bother me as a reader, but the author did it in a very well-done and purposeful way that I loved the way it was written. Even though this novel is standalone, I would love more stories set in this world as it was very well described and captivating. Easily, I would pick up any and all novels written by this author!

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, North Star Editions, for the opportunity to read this fantastic novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:
What initially drew me to the book was the stunning cover, so unique and the colour scheme is beautiful. I found A Dragonbird in the Fern to be an enjoyable read from start to finish.

The world building was beautiful and created an easy to imagine, vivid landscape. The character descriptions were pretty vague but that didn’t bother me, it left room for my imagination. The elephant bird things though… I want more of them🤣 there was one plot point that was definitely vital but for me it was frustrating by the 4th time it happened because you knew what would happen but that’s just my personal opinion.

I enjoyed the slow-burn romance and the way they worked around their language barriers to communicate.

Overall a lovely read that I think many fantasy fans will enjoy.

4.5 stars. This was such an amazing book! It’s about Princess Jiara who is forced to marry her sister’s fiancée after she was killed where she now goes to his kingdom to find her sister’s killer in a world where she is unable to communicate. This story was beautifully written and I had to say before I picked it up, I was nervous that I wasn’t going to love it. Once I read the first two chapters, I was hooked on the story and didn’t stop reading it until I was finished. There was just everything I loved that was included in one book! Romance, mystery, fantasy, and suspense were all jammed into one book. I also loved the world-building which was simple but also very unique. The writing was amazing, the pacing was perfect, the conflicts were just wow and there were some good page-turners.

I enjoyed the main character Jiara. She was kind of forced to get married and was brave to go to a new country with her new husband. Jiara has dyslexia and it was good to see the author writing this into a character as most female characters are written to be super strong like assassins, powerful, etc but this heroine was strong by having to be strong for her country. I enjoyed seeing her development throughout the novel. Also, I enjoyed the side characters in the book who also had some developments but I enjoyed how they played out their roles in the book. Though I have to say I wish there were more scenes with Jiara and Raffa as I totally shipped them together. The romance in this book is the forced marriage trope which I enjoyed in this book!

The ending was well done with this book and I was so sad we only had ONE book. I wish it was written into a series or a duology. I just loved the world and characters that it was hard to say goodbye to. Everything that I love to read about was combined into this one book which made it so much better. I did have a minor problem which was mostly the romance but overall this was such a great book. I’m so glad I decided to pick this one up and read it! This book is perfect for fans of Serpent & Dove and those who enjoy forged marriage.

The premise of A Dragonbird in the Fern sounds amazing and I was really looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, a majority of the story fell flat and therefore it didn’t end up meeting my expectations.

The book has such an interesting plot: Princess Jiara must marry her deceased sister’s fiancé, the king of foreign country, meanwhile attempting to figure out who murdered her sister. Like, could that synopsis sound any cooler? The biggest issue is that a lot of the story didn’t feel fully fleshed out. The characters felt pretty one dimensional and could have used some more development. Plotwise, nothing really happens until the last quarter and by then it became predictable and a little rushed.

A Dragonbird in the Fern had such potential but fell pretty flat. There were still aspects that I enjoyed in the book, such as Jiara and Raffar’s relationship and the language barrier, but for the most part it was predictable and forgettable.

A Dragonbird in the Fern begins with a vengeful sister reaching from beyond the grave to express her displeasure that her murderer has not been found. Protagonist Jiara seeks to solve the crime and put the spirit to rest as her sister's ghostly anger gets increasingly violent. During this struggle, she must take her sister's place in a political engagement or lose the important alliance with King Raffar. Swiftly married and shipped off to her new home, she is unable to communicate with anyone, including her husband, without a translator, and she struggles to adjust to her new environs. All the while, her investigation continues, intrigues are uncovered, and her sister only gets more impatient for results.

There is so much to enjoy in this ya fantasy. Most important to me is always the characters. This bunch is so lively! There's just enough detail to make you feel you know everyone without slowing it all down. Plus, there's an unheard-of for the genre angst-free love story at the heart, and the language barrier made for some adorable miming and grand gestures to demonstrate feelings where words fail.

Jiara, in particular, merits mention as a credit to this story. She has a lot of anxiety and ingrained shame about her struggles to read. This contributes to her challenges with learning a new language, while her instructor powers forward with rote memorization and pronunciation drills. I was touched by the author's note about bringing dyslexia visibility to this story, and as a language teacher, I especially appreciate the way Rueckert spotlights Jiara's stress and misery under these less-than-satisfying learning conditions.

In terms of world-building, this book has a light touch. There isn't too much politics to keep track of or place names to squirrel away in your memory banks. Magic has a bit more of a spiritual angle here-- it's not a sword and sorcery approach, and I think that also contributed to the elegant simplicity. I also loved that the book has queernorm societies. In terms of representation, you can expect happy mlm and wlw partners among the side characters and casual, positive mentions of non-binary and trans individuals. The cultures here also normalize adoption as a natural, loving way to grow families, which was nice to see.

This fantasy welcomed me in, and I had trouble putting it down because it made me feel so at ease. It's a story about peace and selflessness, and I think it shed many of the harmful tropes of the genre to tell a really lovely story. Thanks to Flux and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, out 8/3.

"Those no longer here left so much behind. Expectations, reputations."

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Content warnings: blood, murder/death, antagonist mocks dyslexia

A Dragonbird in the Fern follows Jiara, a seventeen-year-old princess from a beautiful oceanside kingdom who has just lost her older sister, Scilla. Jiara, who had her own quiet life carefully planned out for years, is now forced to live in the shadows of Scilla, taking on her roles and marrying the betrothed she left behind. This betrothed, Raffar, is a young king from a foreign land, with different weather, culture, and an entirely different language. As if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, Jiara must also try and solve the death of her sister, before her sister’s ghost murders their entire family out of spite. Can she handle her responsibility and avenge her sister before she runs out of time?

I am a sucker for the arranged marriage trope, so I signed up for this tour with no hesitation! Boy, was I in for a treat. The arranged marriage is one of my favorites I’ve read, and Jiara and Raffar are such sweethearts. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen dyslexia represented in a book other than the Percy Jackson series, so that was great to see as well.

The writing in A Dragonbird in the Fern is an atmospheric delight and learning about each kingdom and its customs, religions, culinary dishes, and geography was lovely. I also enjoyed that while this book is heavily about Jiara’s marriage and growing accustomed to a new country, the romance is not at all rushed, and actually not even the primary part of the story? This book touches on many different ways the word ‘family’ can be defined, on the pressures and responsibilities of trying to live up to familial expectations and reputations, and the challenges of learning a new language through immersion culture! As someone who learned American Sign Language through classes, social outings, and week-long immersion camps where we were not allowed to communicate in any other method than ASL, I found this incredibly relatable and realistic.

I am not the most avid reader of thrillers/mysteries, but the mystery aspect of the plot kept me on my toes throughout the entire plot, too! I kept making different guesses, and while I did at one point almost guess correctly, I quickly changed my suspicions to someone else

I would absolutely try another book by Laura Rueckert as A Dragonbird in the Fern ended up being right up my alley!

Would recommend to lovers of: arranged marriages, slow burn romances, mysteries, and family bonds!

“A Dragonbird of the Fern” has definitely been a great read. I felt like I was going on an adventure with Jiara, and she would definitely be my best friend in the book. I even gave her a nickname, which means that I’m invested way too much, lol. It has been a rollercoaster of emotions, and poor Jia (yeah, I gave her a nickname) wasn’t in for a treat.

I loved the writing style. Rueckert had a great way of describing her world, and I had no troubles following at all. Nevertheless, I’m a bit sad, that I will never be able to visit the world the author created. And that’s definitely a bummer.

I also enjoyed the way the author introduced us to Jiara’s dyslexia, and especially how she had to cope with a language she never learned before her marriage. It has been an interesting journey to read. The plot has been very intriguing, and the end makes you thirsty for more.

Overall, I can only recommend this debut to all fantasy lovers of all ages and who also love a good mystery.

4 stars!!! (coming out August 3rd!!!!)

**Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
#ADragonbirdintheFern #NetGalley

Pros
+ fast-paced, well-written YA fantasy adventure that was the perfect reading boost I needed after reading some heavier books
+ Jiara (MC, 17-18yo): a princess who takes her older sister's place in a marriage of alliance after her sister is murdered (strong, loyal, determined)
+ the murdered sister becomes an increasingly vengeful/powerful/bloodthirsty ghost the longer her murder goes unsolved
+ Raffar (20-21yo): the king of a neighboring country who Jiara is betrothed/married to (patient, not power-hungry, peace-seeking)
+ Jiara and Raffar's slow-burn/patient romance was so perfect (love to see a healthy relationship based on respecting each other's wishes)
+ Jiara is dyslexic (not named on-page, but in the author's note)
+ LGBT rep in side characters (m/m, f/f)

Cons
- fade-to-black scenes (so much sexual tension was built up FOR MONTHS and then the author had the ~audacity~ to fade it out like that)

TW: murder (off-page), assassination attempt, physical assault, blood

This was a very fun and interesting story. I haven't read a book quite like this before so for me the story was very unique. The story begins with our main character Jiara and her family dealing with the murder of her sister Scilla. Scilla being the eldest daughter was suppose to marry a foreign king to establish an alliance between the two countries. With her death the younger sister Jiara is arranged to marry King Rafar instead. However unlike her sister who had been training her whole life to be in the new country Jiara had not and could not speak the language. The marriage had to continue and within a short period Jiara finds herself in a new country, culture and language.

This story has a lot of political intrigue and maneuverings. It is also a murder mystery where Jiara is trying to find out who killed her sister and why. It has malevolent Earthwalkers who are ghosts and spirits out for revenge and justice. Gods/ protectors known as Watchers play a big part in the story. It is an arranged political marriage that turns into a slow burn romance. There is also dyslexia representation with our main character Jiara confirmed by the author in the authors note. This is Rueckert's debut novel and I think it was very well done.

The writing is easy to read and keeps the reader intrigued. The story has a lot of elements to it but the pacing didn't feel rushed or too slow. It is a genre bending book with mystery, fantasy, and horror elements throughout. I had a really good time with this book and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a genre bending, stand-alone with lots of political intrigue and mystery.

First and foremost, I would like to thank NetGalley and Flux for providing me with a copy for review.

I don't think that was quite the experience I was expecting to have when I picked up this novel. Nothing that happened really had an impact on me and I thought that a lot of elements didn't make a lot of sense or didn't translate well onto paper. Here are my in-depth thoughts on why I think so.


Writing:

I thought that the writing by itself was well done and easily digestible for the most part. Where I take issue is partly with the vocabulary but mainly with the pacing. One of the main regions that are featured in this novel is Farnskag, and it took me a long time to be able to pronounce it properly in my head. I get the need for fantasy books to have creative names, but it dampens the experience a bit when you can't pronounce something.

In terms of the pacing, I found that most of the plot was pushed towards the end as the majority of the book focused on things that I didn't think were particularly important to the narrative. Any reveals that were key to the story were also revealed either too early or too late considering that this is a standalone.


Plot:

I have several issues when it comes to the plot, but let's start at the beginning. Due to her sister's death, Jiara takes her place in an arranged marriage with the king of Farnskag. I am not a fan of arranged marriages in the first place but what bothered me was the logistics of it. It didn't really make much sense in my mind to ally with someone who does not know the language or culture of the land they are marrying into.

I would say this is me nitpicking as there wouldn't be a plot without this, but the language barrier led to another issue I had with the plot. Jiara struggling with the language and trying to learn it took up the majority of the plot. While that is not necessarily a bad thing, it was not what I wanted from this novel. I was expecting it to focus on the murder mystery aspect, which was there, but I felt like the synopsis mislead me.


World-Building:

An important element of Jiara's land are the earthwalkers, who are spirits of the dead who haunt their family until their death is solved. In theory, this is an interesting concept, but it didn't translate as well as I thought it would. I wish that Scilla would have had more of a prominent role other than going around and scratching people.

Jiara's homeland, Azzaria, I thought was interesting as it was surrounded by water like Venice. It is a bit of shame that not a lot of time was spent there as most of the book is spent in Farnskag. As different regions, they have different cultures and customs, which I did appreciate, but they were bogged down by Jiara's struggle to blend in.

Aside from the earthwalkers, Azzaria's culture was only mentioned in passing. There were brief mentions of their belief system, but the book focused more on the figures that the Farnskag revere which were interesting but weren't utilized very well.


Characters:

As I have already said, Jiara is a bit of a frustrating character because more often than not she is wallowing over the fact that she is having a hard time learning a new language. She also felt a bit useless which may be a bit harsh to say. Her betrothed, on the other hand, Raffar, fell a bit into the background. I didn't feel like his character was used to his full potential.

In terms of their relationship, I thought that it developed way too quickly and was a bit uncomfortable. We didn't really get to see their relationship fully develop which made me not believe in it. What made me uncomfortable was how Jiara was handling her newfound marriage and attraction to Raffar.


Concluding Thoughts:

This book suffered mainly because it mislead me as to what the main focus of the plot was going to be. I went in expecting more of a murder mystery and what I got instead was mainly Jiara adapting to a new culture. I wish that the plot was more focused on what the synopsis suggested it would, and I would have liked for the characters to be more fleshed out as well.

If you are looking for a fantasy book with murder mystery elements, then I would suggest you try out House of Earth and Blood.

Princess Jiara never expected to be a queen, and she was okay with it. She was going to be married off to a boring person in a couple years, and that was okay. Life was okay. Until her older sister Scilla died and is now terrorizing her family from beyond the grave. It is common knowledge that until her sister's murderer is brought to justice, Scilla will lash out at her family, losing more of herself until she takes justice out on her family.

In Scilla's place, Jiara will marry a king of a foreign land and try to solve her sister's murder to protect her family at home. She doesn't know the language of her new country and even struggles with reading her mother tongue. Yet, she overcomes what she sees as her personal failures to show that she has so much more to offer to the kingdoms around her.

I enjoyed the easy read of this book. I highly recommend this book for young readers who are looking for a fantasy world filled with the traditional fantasy tropes. Especially as something that can be read in a short period of time, this is a book that I can enjoy because I don't have to ponder its shortcomings as I'm reading it. But since I mentioned shortcomings, I do have to note a few here:

One of the main distinguishing characteristics of Queen Jiara is that she is dyslexic. Although it is never outright stated, it is a large part of the difficulty that Jiara has when she travels to foreign lands. I love that this was a part of who Jiara was, but having a dyslexic character seemed to be thrown in to distract the reader from the more upsetting part of the story- almost everyone in the story was monolingual. I can understand common people only knowing one language, but rulers of countries that all neighbor each other? That will potentially go to war and need to know each other's state secrets? I don't find that believable at all. Having everyone only know one language with VERY few translators is what holds the entire plot and what ends up causing nearly every problem in the story. From what I could understand, the world was small enough to have 3-4 distinct languages all within a relatively short distance of each other.

My second issue with the story was that Jiara was really the only character that saw much development in the story. I think that this was largely because people could not adequately communicate with each other. King Ralla started off with a really intense stare... by the time that I started to understand what he wanted to say, I was no longer invested in his character. It didn't help that he didn't end up being a very thrilling character anyway.

And lastly, everything came together quickly in the end that was A)a pretty classic 'storybook' ending + B) A finished story with the potential for a sequel.

Overall, I would consider this a 3.5 star book for its interesting premise and fun storytelling. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book. I would read a sequel, with the hope that as the characters understood each other better, more focus could be placed on the magic and cultural aspects of the kingdoms.

My review for this book can also be found on my Goodreads account at the link provided.

3.5/5 stars!

Rueckert's debut novel A Dragonbird in the Fern was an entertaining read with an intriguing plot line that kept me invested throughout its entirety. The world building was great as it was easy to understand and refrained from info dumping. There are many aspects of this book that made me like it, however I did not end up loving it. Here are my thoughts.

The things I liked:

- World building:
I really enjoyed learning about this world and the different countries that make it up. I felt immersed in the lands of Azzaria and Farnskag with each new description and loved learning about the different creatures that inhabit its lands. I found the magic/belief system of the Farnskagers to be very interesting, especially the idea of the "Watchers". My only wish was that there was a little more time spent on learning the history of the watchers and the extent of their reach.

- Representation
My favorite aspect by far was the representation in this book. I loved that the our main character Jiara was dyslexic. Although, it is not directly diagnosed and stated in this book, Jiara faces difficulty learning to read/write and interpret words. I myself am not dyslexic so I cannot speak on the behalf of the accuracy Jiara's dyslexia was portrayed, however it is super refreshing to see a young adult fantasy main character have a learning disability. We definitely need way more representation of disabled and neurodivergent people in young adult and in the fantasy genre.

-Plot
I really enjoyed the plot of this book, especially the murder mystery to find Scilla's killer. I had no suspicion of who the killer was until a HUGE clue was thrown in there. I also enjoyed Jiara's journey of learning the language of Farnskag and its people/customs.

-Cover
The Cover is absolutely beautiful and one of the main reasons why I really wanted to pick this book up!!

Things I didn't like as much:

-Pacing:
I found the book to be very easy to read and read it very quickly, however I did find the pacing to be a little all over the place in some parts of the book. It started off engaging, however once Jiara was married to King Raffar, not much happened until further in the book. Some important scenes felt a little rushed and others felt a little too long.

-Characterization:
I thought the characters of the book were okay, but fell a little flat for me. It would have been great to see more depth from both Jiara and King Raffar so that they seemed more 3 dimensional. I felt that I was being told what they were feeling and doing rather than actually feeling/experiencing it myself. I was also surprised that there wasn't any conflict between the two of them despite everything happening in the book and the romance felt a little bland to me.

-Language:
I really loved the language barrier in the book and Jiara's journey of learning Farnskag and its culture, however I found it hard to believe that only a handful of people knew the languages of the countries neighboring them. I would have thought that in a King's court and country there would be more than a select few learning other languages, especially considering the politics and peace treaties involved in this book.

Overall I did like A Dragonbird in the Fern and I just know that many others will like it, if not love it too. I believe this is a standalone fantasy novel, so it is very quick and entertaining (if I am wrong with it being a standalone, please let me know). I recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick intriguing fantasy read. I would love to read more about this world and from the author in the future!

Thank you NetGalley, Flux, and Laura Rueckert for the eARC!

I enjoyed reading this book very much, it was a fast read, it only took me one day!!
First, I would like to say the story was very well written and I love where it took us. The places were very well described and I could easily imagine them in my head. The culture of Raffar was very different and intriguing, especially the whole shaving head and tattoos. Another thing this book did to make me fall in love with it, was the whole diversity of people, from different colors, genders, sexuality, cultures, and etc… without being forced upon us, it was natural, which it should be.
Jiara being dyslexic was also something that caught my attention and the whole awareness that the author put into the book was very well made and can help many people out there, to feel seen and understood! Laura Rueckert even explains a little bit about dyslexia and her story with it in the “acknowledgments “.
The romance was so cute, and Raffar was very respectable and a good person for her, even though it was arranged marriage (ps: it’s a book trope I love hahaha).
Second, this is my personal opinion, but I wish we had more political intrigues in the book, I love dystopias so that’s why, but I understand this book is a fantasy. Also, I didn’t feel very connected to the main character, I felt for her but it wasn’t a deep connection, because I didn’t know much about her to be real, and sometimes she came to me as immature, but that’s my opinion and I liked her either way! This happened to the other characters, too. It was missing part of their past identities, stories, connections with other people etc…
By the way, if you were to write a second book I would totally read it, especially if we could get a depth in the characters, more political drama and more about the Watchers ( to not say any spoilers hahahaah).
Thank you Laura Rueckert and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

What an interesting concept and unique twist on the ever thrilling “new girl in a new place” trope I tend to enjoy! What made this story so interesting was the added layer of dyslexia to the plot. The language barrier was probably my favorite aspect of this story, especially with the conversation progression between Jiara and Raffar. This story was a wonderful representation of how difficult basic communication can be for individuals who suffer from communicative disorders. Toss that into a language barrier and the angst and truth behind that whole plot point is fantastic!

The romance was YA. The thoughts were a little more mature, but in the grand scheme of things this was a juvenile, slow-burn romance that was really more of a side plot. Actually, I felt like there were multiple side plots (ghost, language barrier, romance, assassin) woven together without much of a central plot. If this were any other genre it might not work but I found it made this extraordinary tale more enjoyable in the end.

This book surprised me in the best way.
An interesting fantasy world with complex characters and realistic conflicts including a dyslexic main character and her struggles
I really liked this fast paced story.

A Dragonbird in the Fern was one of those books were I didn’t know what to expect going in which is intriguing on its own. I love to discover new books and authors that way.

I fell completely in love with the world Laura Rueckert has created. The imaginative and descriptive writing is probably what I like most about this book and I’d love to discover this world further. I also like how the book is sort of a modern take on an old plot. In this case, the princess isn’t forced into an arranged marriage against her will. While it is in the best interests of the kingdom, which is why she accepts it, the princess still has a choice in the matter.

I also liked the fact that the main character is dyslectic and that the book shows just how much of a struggle it can be in a society where “everyone” can read and write. There’s a lot of people in our world who struggles with different degrees of dyslexia and while we probably know a lot more about the matter than the characters in this book, I know for a fact that far from everyone with dyslexia gets the support they need. And we definitely need more including books like this one.

A Dragonbird in the Fern is a raw book, I don’t know how else to describe it. There’s no romanticizing arranged marriage or the other problems the characters meet. It’s a quite realistic take on an imaginative story which sets it apart from a lot of other fantasy books.

Am I glad I read this book? Yes, definitely. Was it the best book I’ve read so far this year? No, but I’d definitely recommend you to read it anyway because of the reasons mentioned above plus other which are best discovered on your own.

***I received an ARC of A Dragonbird in the Fern through NetGalley (thank you Flux, North Star Editions) in exchange for an honest review.***

Full review can be found on Goodreads, where I go into more depth in my descriptions of each of the characters.

🐉🐦 The story 🐦🐉
The book is about princess Jiara, who has just lost her sister Scrilla. After her death, Scrilla became an earthwalker; slowly turning into a vengeful creature, until her murderer has been found. Jiara has to deal with the consequenses of her sister's death, while searching for her killer.

Damn, I enjoyed this story even more than I expected! There was so much world building, but since the different countries were just so interesting to read about, I didn't mind it at all. I loved reading about the differences between Jiara and Raffar's countries, and the different gods/customs they have. When I think about it, the pacing was quite slow. It took quite a long time for Jiara to make any progress in finding her sister's killer, but I somehow didn't mind that at all. In my opinion, the pacing was just right for the story. The way we discovered more about Raffar's country in the progress probably helped to keep it very interesting. I was a bit scared that the amount of information would be confusing, but it really wasn't. There also were all kinds of representation in this book - meaning LGBTQ+ - and I loved that.

In my opinion, this story was really original. You could say that there were some aspects of magic in it, like the different Watchers and the earthwalkers - and I still really wanted to know more about both. Sure, the basics of the Watchers were explained, but I still don't really understand what exactly they are - are they gods or something else? Really intriguing, and I would've loved to learn more about why the earthwalkers got so agressive - was it really the sense of justice in Azzaria or was it something else?


🐉🐦 The characters 🐦🐉
I personally loved the characters, although I feel like I would've liked to see more depth to Raffar. More details can be found in my Goodreads review.


🐉🐦 The writing 🐦🐉
I personally loved the writing, because it kept me hooked on the story. The sentences alternated between long and short in a perfect balance. Although there was a lot of world building, there weren't too much descriptions of places and all that - it was just a perfect amount, if that makes sense. There were only a few mistakes in writing, which I bookmarked, so let me know if you want to know which ones there were Rueckert.


🐉🐦 Overall conclusion 🐦🐉
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book; although I can't exactly pinpoint why. I normally don't really enjoy a lot of worldbuilding, but I really did in this book - and I couldn't put it down! I also want to mention Freyad, because she was damn cool and I love seeing women in power positions (especially in the army) like she is. I also want to say that I kept reading Stärkland as 'smaland', the name of the Ikea children corner. Lol, I giggled every damn time XD

The world was really interesting to me, and I would definitely love to read more books in this universe, to learn even more about the different countries and their customs! Oh, and I loooooved the cover.