Wow, what a ride for the first book in the Kings of Avalier series and it definitely set the stage for something epic.

THe story follows Arwen Novakson, an 18 year old with barely any dragon magic, who gets swept into the Dragon King's search for a wife, but there's a twist - she's hiding a dangerous secret about her true magical heritage. The chemistry between Arwen and King Drae is intense, and their forbiden romance kept me hooked.

The world building is rich, with dragon politics and magical intrigue that reminded me a bit of Fourth Wing. The pacing is fast and while some parts felt rushed, I couldn't put it down. The tension, the secrets and the slow-burn romance made it a fun read. I am excited to see where this goes next!

I enjoyed this book. I thought the pacing was done well and it was fast-paced. I also really enjoyed the plot of this and how we get glimpses at the start of a war. However, I feel like it was very insta love and the characters could have been given more depth. I think we were just scraping the surface with them.

I forced myself to read at least 10 chapters to give it a fair shot since it would be reviewed....but I haven't struggled to make myself read a book this much in my entire life. I can't think of a single thing that this book did well. Maybe the premise--it could have been an interesting idea, but the execution was so blaringly poor that I'm not even really sure if it was a good premise or if I'm just grasping at straws to find SOMETHING good about this book.

Time for "zero stars" to be an option, honestly.

The fact that there are apparently THREE MORE BOOKS in this series is just.... The publisher needs to hire some killer developmental editors and have a serious conversation about what standard of writing they're willing to put their name on, because I will be making sure to avoid anything they publish if this and 50 Shadoes of Grey are the works of the "trailblazing authors" they promote! (They need to take that particular boasting phrase off their website, STAT!)


***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review.***

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to everyone.

Anything with dragons and I am in. I love it. I think the author really did a good job gripping me as a reader, and enticing me to continue to read the series.

I'm not sure if I've just read too many dragon books, or if I've read too many better dragon books. I don't do well with first person so I hate being surprised with it. DNF

I was really intrigued by the premise of this but it did not stand out to me.

The FMC constantly trying to show that she’s not like other girls and the MMC was not likable.

It was also really hard to follow the plot of this book as there was a lot jammed into it..

Romantasy with plenty of spice and actions! Although is part of a series can be read as a standalone

I wanted to like this but I just couldn’t, like the genocide that occurs was sad for everyone, but for the fmc to only be sad about the children when everyone from the town was killed is just weird to me.

It was a fun read. If you are looking for something to read, you can read this. This is a single time read book only in my opinion. Though it could only be me, you may like it more than me.

I was really interested in the concept of this story and the premise we are given. I did enjoy it, but found myself not thinking about the story when not reading, and the tone of this one is a bit more YA than I enjoy these days. The world building takes a backseat to the characters in this one, but I didn't mind that. Overall did enjoy, and would recommend to others!

I was intrigued with this story. I found I enjoyed it but I wasn't dying to finish it honestly. I felt it was a bit slow but the concept was on point!

I loved the cover for this one, it really caught my attending. Sadly, the book felt very much like most other books in this genre, there was nothing that kept me hooked or lead me to want to pick it up when i put it down.

In the forgotten city of Cinder Village in EmberGate, where ashes and poverty reign supreme, the King of the dragon folk descends, eager to find himself a wife to solidify his legacy and give him the heirs he so desperately needs, especially with a war with the Queen of Nightfall becoming inevitable.

Arwen, our fierce and fearless, bad-ass FMC finds herself unwittingly vying for the hand of the King, in spite of her protests, and lack of want to change her lifestyle, she needs to figure out a way to protect herself from the King, finding out her secret, and ensuring her family are safe and happy, especially after having to take up the mantle of the head of the family after her father's death.

Arwen fights the patriarchy incessantly and in such a sassy and fiery way, I adored her tenacity and fearless spirit. She's absolutely feral and cares very little for the opinions of others, she refuses to rely on anyone else, hunting her own game in a world where women are forced into stereotypical boxes, expected to stay at home, cook and clean, but Arwen couldn't think of anything worse... donning a dress and bending to her husbands whim?!? Couldn't be her.

However, deep down under her stabby and aloof façade is a young woman who wants marriage purely for love, and children born from this love, so when her hand is forced to compete in a competition with other magical women across the kingdom just for the privilege (debatable) of being King Drae's wife, she sees it as nothing worse than a horrific proposition, but there is some upside, she may not want to be his wife, but she's longed her whole life to be part of his elite guard, and the idea of being the second female warrior is too appealing to pass up.

King Drae, the king of the dragon folk, a race of magicians, grieves deeply after struggling with infant loss/still birth, the loss of his wife, and his father, and with the Queen bearing down on him, determined to obliterate those with magic, and allow the mortals to reign, things are even more dire and overwhelming than he ever thought possible. A broody, intimidating warrior whose the last known dragon, able to fully shift into form, he finds this young, impudent warrior, a match for his wits and his heart.

This was an intriguing and dark medieval fantasy with delicious world-building, an intricately woven plot with a refreshing take on Fae, dragons, elves, wolves alongside a fast paced plot. I love when it's medieval, it's one of my favourite times for fantasy books to be set in, there's just something about swords, bows and daggers that just makes me giddy and excitable.

'The Last Dragon King' is like a fast-paced Selection with more fantasy elements interwoven throughout, it's not an overly complicated story, it's easy and quick to digest with it's little pieces of cringe that we're all guilty of loving. However... it felt maybe a bit too rushed, there wasn't enough tension between the main characters for me, and I ended up just not connecting with them as deeply in the second half as I did in the first. It felt like a lot of Arwen's character development of being this independent, feral young woman was completely distorted into her suddenly being okay with sharing a husband so he can lay with other women for an heir?!?!

The same man who wouldn't let another man show any interest towards her out of jealous?!?!

If it isn't men's privilege rearing it's ugly head yet again, I was so angry.

This had such a good premise and ideas, but it just wasn't executed the way I would've liked, I ended up skim reading the end, it had so much potential and there's nothing more disappointing

I was super excited to dive into this book! It was a super fast pace read and boy was it what I needed to really get me out of my reading slump. This book was more focused on the characters than the world building, but I didn’t mind. I’m really excited to dive into the next one!

Felt very YA. Just not my cup of tea at all. Reminded me of SJM books at the beginning and felt a little derivative of other books in the genre. Love the cover. Writing style was almost too simplistic. General proofreading errors.

I was so excited for this book, it seemed like romantasy/dragon heaven but unfortunately it just did not hit the mark.

The main character was the biggest “not like other girls” that it was almost painful! Wahoo you are all about the tomboy life but seems to also be a ridiculous mean girl who needs to grow up.

Also the premise of the story is literally to breed and we have to choose who is best based on babies and their likelihood of deformities. The issues with this I can’t even go into right now.

The Last Dragon King is good YA fantasy with a some romance sprinkled in.

I liked that this was a fast paced/easy read but I wanted a little more from the world building and the relationship was just a little too “insta-love” for me.

This was such a great YA fantasy! I read this quick too. It was such a wonderful read! I adored the strong MFC, Arwen. I loved that this was a dragon king trying to find a wife with magic! This was a great start to a new series! I can’t wait to read the next one!

I enjoyed this book but it wasn't my absolute favourite ever - I will continue and read some others from the series though to see if my opinion changes.