Between Dragon's and Their Wrath follows three different characters and their POV's within the Shattered Kingdom. Tesha is a glass blowers apprentice and a rebel of sorts who involves herself within the higher echelons of society to aid with sabotage from within. Ash, a dragon rider who was banished from his family and must patrol the rim with the help of his dragon, Shuala. And finally Naili, a laundress who is employed by an alchemist and discovers dangerous territory when tragedy strikes amongst the women she works alongside.

Wow. Between Dragons and Their Teeth far exceeded my expectations, and I am so happy I got a chance to read this. Devin Madson writes a slow-burn fantasy packed with politics, deception, intrigue, magic and more. I loved this book and I loved the pacing and how it sets the world up for the next installments. The world building is fantastic. She weaves together a desolate place with the riches of the wealthy so beautifully that makes this such a unique and different. The magic system of the iishor and how to communicate with the dragons?? Loved it. This was such a great opening installment, I could not put it down.

Tesha is a strong willed woman who wants to bring down the people want to bring the Shattered Kingdom together. She is tasked with becoming an insult bride and biding her time within the family before she can strike. Tesha was a great character. She was dynamic and strong willed. She was willing to give up she apprentice position and even the man she loved to fight for the cause. There was a lot of politics within her storyline and I loved it. It weaved such a great tale and really showed the characterization of each of the people in play.

Ash or Ashadi is a dragon rider who's dragon is shot through the scaleglass which, in this world, is impossible. He starts asking asking questioned and is told to leave, but then labelled a deserter when he begins to make his way back to his family. Though I loved Ash and his relationship with Mana, I wanted a little more backstory as to why he was sent to the Citadel, but I understand why it was not discussed, the book is about the forward looking events and does not cover much of the world before. I will not spoil it here, but you find out things about Ashadii and his companion which flips the script on them both.

Finally there is Naili, she is in the employ of an alchemist. She is unassuming and quiet, and does her work. When she discovers a tragic fate to one of her friends who works at the laundry, it awakens something within her that she had tried to keep hidden for a very long time. Naili was one of my favorites. I loved her demeanor and seeing her blossom into the character she ended up as at the end of book one.

Though the world is big, the characters weave together a story which will allow them to cross paths in the future. I loved this book. I cannot wait for the next installment.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely yes. Would I reread it? Yup.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review!

this book has glass dragons that riders can talk to by drinking sludgey poison and girls growing flowers out of their skin until they start turning into plants. yeah, it kicks butt.

I feel like this book took on a LOT, between the deeper thematic elements, the involved plot, and the large cast of characters (including romance), and while it didn't quite accomplish everything it set out to do, it did a pretty dang good job and was overall both quite fun and really tense. I'm also impressed that this book has THREE FIRST-PERSON POVs and it somehow works???

the ending is very "wtf you can't end it there" both in terms of it's a great cliffhanger but also it cuts off right when things are getting SUPER crazy. excited for the next book though.

Interesting concept with an excellent veiled villain question of what/who is truly evil. Dragons are portrayed in an action packed edge of your seat way. Unfortunately there's way too much unnecessary romance for me. It detracts from the story, which has great potential. But that's a personal opinion.

Possible Triggers:
Death | Mild Body Horror

Summary:
This is the first book in a new series; ‘Shattered Kingdom Trilogy’.

Characters:
This story is told through 3 distinct characters (Tesha, Niali, and Ash) PoV’s from the first person.

Positives:
+ Cool as heck monsters and beasties. Also the materials used in the armour and weapons as well as transportation across the world are great. Such neat visual imagery visiting this world.
+ Loving the baddie so far in this series. I gotta say I am loving who i think is the baddie but also i am loving that i am constantly questioning if i have perhaps gotten the main antagonist wrong as well. There is something so appealing about being in a place where you can't quite decide who is the “greatest” evil in a story. Is it the person that seems so obvious or…? Leave me questioning my reading comprehension! Make me want to go back and reread scenes more carefully.
+ I like that each of these characters in the book have such a neat and unexpected craft/way of solving their problems. Each one has some pretty severe detriments to their respective crafts/abilities and it's refreshing and delightful. Keen to see how their abilities and understandings of that come to fruition in later books.

Negatives:
- I only really had one large, “this does not work for me”. The story is told from three characters' first person point of views. That is not a problem in and of itself; It takes a few chapters to get used to as you sink into each individual mindset and personality. HOWEVER, these characters all have one big thing in common, they are the thirstiest freaking cast of characters I have ever read.

Niali has got to be the worst of them all. The level of absolute sexual desire she has for literally every character she stumbles across in the story is truly mind boggling. Half the time I wanted to beat her upside the head with a sexual aid so that she would get off and FOCUS on freaking anything other than her unsated lust. Someone threatens her? She's turned on. Someone walks past? Turned on. Sneezes in a room next door (ok ok this didn't happen, but it isn't out of character)? Turned on. Half way through the book I was basically begging for each of the characters to please, oh please get laid already so we could actually KNOW what the real story was and why the stakes were so high in their individual successes. I am not opposed to sex, exploring sexuality, sexual tension, in my adult fantasy books… but this wasn't some kind of sexual tension that was relevant to the story progressing in any way. It was horribly distracting in a way that drew away from the many really interesting facets of the world and characters.

Please keep in mind that this book does not appear to be a romantasy or even a vague nod towards it. This is also not pure smut. So where the story is weaving this fascinating mix of political intrigue, colonialism, secret groups, and alchemical/magical shenanigans; insatiable constant sexual desire feels jarring and irrelevant. It was like a fruit fly, buzzing in your face while you are trying to read an amazing book. Look mate, you aren't ruining my day, but you are distinctly distracting.

Final Thoughts:
While I found a vast part of the book to be frustrating as heck because of the constant and unrelenting THIRST of the characters, the ending really left a lot of curiosity for what is to come. Would I choose to slog through another 400+ pages of character lust in order to have my curiosity sated about what happens next? I’m leaning more towards “yes” at the moment, but I could see myself DNFing the next, if the story doesn't get to the point faster.

One thing I love about Devin Madson's books is her meal scenes. You can count on mountains of intrigue, double-speak, emotional struggles, and narrowed stares whenever our cast sits down for a nosh. These scenes have elevated the Reborn Empire series, and it rears its mighty head again in Between Dragons and Their Wrath. There are also many (many!) sex scenes, plant dysmorphia, something called an 'insult bride,' and freaking dragon riders with guns who chug psychedelic sludge before flying off into battle.

Just in case you're somehow still on the fence, Between Dragons and Their Wrath follows three first-person POVs in three different regions of the Shattered Kingdom. Tesha is a glass smith and a freedom fighter, smart and driven, who becomes entangled with high society politics that quickly veers into life-or-death levels of intrigue. Ashadi is a handsome, smooth-talking noble who was banished to an unforgiving land and must constantly patrol under extreme circumstances. Naili is a laundress who faces harsh work conditions that lead to tragic, unexpected outcomes, and must pivot into a dangerous world of treachery in order to right those who were wronged.

All three characters have strong and distinct voices, and each chapter was an engaging thrill. Madson continues to write long chapters which feel like self-contained short stories. There's a ton of plot development with each visit with our protagonists, as well as strong character development -- every character is flawed to the point where you just want to strangle them while slapping your forehead -- which makes the read all the more fun and rewarding. An excellent supporting cast adds various love interests, interesting foils, and enough magic to enrich the lore with mystery and promise.

This book is serious fun. Madson has once again crafted a thrilling, layered world that lured me in from its opening pages all the way through its 'Did you have to end it THERE?' finale. Don't miss this one.

4.5/5 stars

Between Dragons and their Wrath started off slowly, building the world and setting the stage for the characters whose POV we would move through as the stories progressed.
Definitely need more of the actual dragons, but I think that will, hopefully, be coming in the next book.
There was a lot more going on than just the "insult bride" plot line. I really enjoyed Naili's storyline after a bit, and am curious what is going to happen with her new plant powers, if she will be able to manage them or if they will over take her, as they did her friend.
It did feel like much of this first book is to set up what will be, again hopefully, be a more action packed, second book.

Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for this ARC!

The first in an epic fantasy series follows three characters as their country undergoes political turmoil on the verge of revolution. We follow a glassblower’s apprentice as she sets out to insert herself into the family of the new ruler, a dragon rider estranged from his powerful family, and a laundress who develops magical abilities due to her master’s alchemical tinkering.

Given the title, I expected more dragon content. In my opinion there was not enough. Overall I thought this book had a great plot and really interesting characters, but I did not like it as much as I had hoped. I was looking forward to queer epic fantasy with multiple POVs, however, by the time I finished the book, I still felt unattached to any of the characters. The characters were likable, but it felt like all three lacked depth, almost as if the author expected readers to already know the characters. Some of this is due to all three character’s POVs being told in first person, which I personally don’t like in multiple POV stories. In my opinion, first person POVs confuse me as to who’s POV I’m reading and it makes the internal thoughts of each character sound a little too similar.

To be fair, much of what this book accomplished was setting the political scene and building the world for the series. The political intrigue was good in my opinion and is a big reason why I’d be interested to continue the series. I was also fascinated by the magic system which seems to stem from alchemy alone and hope to see it more fleshed out in a later book.

Like I said, I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped, but I also didn’t feel the need to DNF. I am still hoping the overall series improves in later installments. The queer representation is great and something you don’t read often in epic fantasy series. I may recommend this to a very specific audience, but will go into the “I liked it, but I didn’t love it” category.

I really enjoyed the world I was whisked into while reading Between Dragons and Their Wrath, and felt truly invested in the characters. It felt both slow and fast paced? Nothing happened but everything happened? I think it is a great set up book of world building and character development. Do I wish it had more and kept going? Yes- it felt like it should have had a longer ending as it took a while for the plot to plot amidst all of the world building. Do I wish I had book 2 in my hands right now? Absolutely.

-World: I enjoyed the method of world building- rather than an info dump or a glossary, we learned gradually through the characters naturally or through revealed secrets. As someone who has dnf'd my share of high fantasy books because I get so confused, this felt like good and fun balance. I never felt overwhelmed with information or terribly lost- despite the very unique details.

-Characters: Multi POV but each one is a different path/story- each one interesting and keeping me glued to the book. There was a lot of secrets the reader would know first and secrets the characters would know before the reader due to the POVs. I thought it was fun and loved watching their paths interact (cannot wait for the intersects hopefully in book 2).

-Dragons: They're there, they talk(ish), they have personalities (and some sass), there are flight scenes and battle scenes- what more can you want? I think they will play a bigger part later in the series and I am so excited for it.

-Romance: Hinted at or dabbled into, may evolve later. Couple spicy scenes or graphic sentences.

I was left wanting more when some events were mentioned, and not experienced. Obviously you cannot fit everything into one book (especially when you have multiple characters stories within one book) but for example; a specific wedding had a lot of build up and importance to it only to be mentioned the next day that it had in fact taken place the night before. Just made me feel a little disconnected from the story/characters.

All in all, it is a really interesting world, lovely characters, and introduction to a potentially terrific fantasy series. I am super excited to see the characters develop and to uncover more secrets in book 2!

This book was really exciting and fun. and... like DRAGONS! What more could you ask for. Definitely read this book!

An intriguing start to a political fantasy with fascinating world-building, multiple POVs, and diverse queer representation.

While I typically enjoy multi POVs, I did not initially gel with some of the narrators, which made it difficult to become invested in the book. Once I got through much of the exposition needed for a high fantasy of this kind and the narrators interconnected further, I enjoyed it. I found the premise and writing interesting but felt the climax to be too abrupt. I wanted this book to last another hundred or so pages rather than leaving the many cliffhangers and open questions. But for a fantasy debut, it has me hooked enough to continue the series!

I have some complicated feelings about this book. On one hand, it's extremely well written,  with some fascinating worldbuilding. On the other hand, the Protagonists are trashfires and I want to strangle them a little bit. (Silver lining: I am very engaged in reading. Lead lining: these people are trashfires.) This book is split between three characters, Tesha, an apprentice glassmaker with revolutionary leanings, Ashadi, a noble exiled to "The Shield" to be a dragon rider fighting monsters, and Naili, who is a laundress.

These three people are absolute disaster people who are tied to metaphorical train tracks, and in the distance, you can hear the train. The setting involves a nation attempting to "unify" the city states of a region referred to as "the basin." There are some severe culture clashes between the Emorans and the "Apaians" who are native to the region. There's also a third group,  called Lummazzt This war is mostly over a resource called "scale" which is mined, and used to make scaleglass--a kind of glass that is stronger than steel and considered absolutely shatterproof.)

Our revolutionary Tesha, a citizen of the city state Learshapa, agrees to be an "insult bride" in some complicated bit of Emoran politics. She has been told that this will lead to getting an Emoran ruler who will respect the independence and cultural ways of her city state. (Considering the Emorans are incredibly imperialistic, and actively engage in assimilation and cultural destruction, this does not seem likely.) Her ex-boyfriend is not happy about this.

Ashadi, our exiled noble who fights monsters, encounters a human where no human is supposed to be. A man who is somehow able to shoot a bullet through a scaleglass scale.  Ashadi is full of privilege, and is kind of thoughtless. He is also is coming down from being addicted to various drugs, at least one of which he needs to be able to ride his dragon in the first place. Oh, and he's been framed for deserting, because he Saw Something He Shouldn't Have. He continues to Learn Things He Shouldn't as the plot progresses.

Then there's Naili, who is a laundress in the household of an alchemist. Her life is kind of miserable and her job needs to be unionized because she's being beaten and starved for all kind of infractions. Unfortunately for her, close contact with the alchemist's chemistry experiments (via having to clean contaminated cloth) leads to Naili acquiring mysterious abilities involving plants. Mysterious abilities that may kill her eventually. Her desperation to find a cure before the contamination runs its course leads her to doing Extremely Stupid Things that will probably kill her faster.

The main connections between these characters so far is that Ashadi is the older brother of Tesha's ex-boyfriend. In turn, Naili's brother Mana is Ashadi's "watcher," a kind of attendant who administers the various drugs a dragon rider needs. (Ashadi and Mana have a painfully fraught relationship that is its own fascinating disaster to observe.) The three protagonists don't do very much interacting. It's very much as if there are three novels happening simultaneously, which is a very interesting effect. (It feels much more pronounced than other books that also have multiple pov characters. I think this is because in each storyline, each character is very much The Protagonist.)

My mixed feeling about the book can be attributed to the "human disaster" aspects of each of the protagonists. There is also the amount of trouble they are each diving into without much in the way of consideration for the actions. Tesha doesn't consider what might happen to an "insult bride" when she's discovered, Ashadi manages to get himself into increasingly hot water when he walks into a trap, and Naili...is Naili.

There are some attempts at humor, but the attempts tend to fall flat for me. (They may not for someone else.) This book tends toward the "grimdark" with several disturbing revelations and implications. (This book can contain so much fridge horror!) There are also some thoughtful meditations on the effects of imperialism, assimalation, and what happens when a people's culture is destroyed. (And manages to do this in a simple, in-character voice way.)

This review is based off of a galley from NetGalley

I'd like to thank orbit and netgalley for an advanced eARC in exchange for an honest review. Great world building and great character and growth let to a book I couldn't put down. The author is a literature force to be reckoned with and can't wait fore more. Highly recommend.

This was a new author and I enjoyed their writing. I’m excited to see and read more from this author

An epic high fantasy filled with dragons, alchemy, romance, politics and so much more. The world building was phenomenal, the multi povs were such a good way to really flesh out the story. Some spicy scenes 👀
Looking forward to the next book.

If you're looking for high fantasy, dragons and dragon riders, anti-colonialism/anti-imperialism, and spicy romance this book needs to be in your TBR! Stunning worldbuilding, intriguing characters, and fascinating political schemes with interwoven themes of anti-colonialism. This novel has multiple point of views with a diverse cast and plentiful LGBTQ+ representation. Each POV seems to contain it's own feel ranging from old western but with dragons, political games with forbidden romance, infecting plant-like powers and bio-horror, and much more which makes the story incredibly interesting! The novel ends on a cliff hanger which will leave readers buzzing with anticipation for the continuation of this fascinating story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in consideration of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! I was intrigued and invested in all three POVs, and to me that's a super important part of a fantasy novel for me so I don't get bored and put it down. I'm very excited to see where book 2 goes! I think the only thing that bothered me was how some of the romance plotlines were barely drawn out at all. I would have liked more tension and build-up over time, though I really liked Ashadi's romance and the character dynamics being explored within it are like my favourite thing to read.
4.25/5

sidenote: my gaydar for books that aren't proclaiming the gay in external details at all is *on point* and I'm pretty proud of that, happy pride month everyone

The story is told through the perspectives of three central characters: Tesha, Naili, and Ashadi, each grappling with unique challenges. They face long-buried secrets that threaten to destroy their world. Two of the characters were more intriguing than the other. I was very drawn into Ashadi's story from the beginning. His banter with his dragon was fantastic. I also loved the relationship with Mana. His revelation was one of the best moments in the book for me. Naili is the essence of the underdog. You are always pulling for her to catch a break. Tesha's storyline didn't grab me. Overall, the dialogue reflected the characters' distinct personalities and motivations. I had a hard time picturing the world. A lack of world-building made it challenging to understand the fighting scenes fully. The romantic scenes were a considerable turn-off; the word choices and lack of connection between characters could have been better. The book will be appealing to most fantasy readers. Ashadi's story is 100% worth it.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Netgalley and Orbit Books.

4.5 stars rounded down.

I really enjoyed this! The characters are great, likeable and fun to follow. The dialogue is sharp and witty, and the writing in general is very good. The world, though fairly small, felt real and was well set up without too much exposition. The plot set up the political intrigue and mysteries well enough for me to really want to know the answers.

I only have one criticism, which is that it felt like most of the book was in the set-up phase and the story didn't properly take off until the very end. This would have been much more of a problem if the writing hadn't been as good, but fortunately it was, so I am still looking forward to the sequel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

That ending was freaking wild! And sad!!!! But I loved almost everything about this book! I think some pieces of the plot got lost and some questions didn’t get answered that should have been. But all in all I really enjoyed this and can’t wait for the next one

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc of Between Dragons and Their Wrath

I had a lot of fun with this book! I actually liked all the POVs and characters. I'm not normally a huge fan of first person with different POVs but I felt like the author did it well. They were all fully fleshed out and interesting. You could tell that they were all connected somehow and we were starting to see how the different POVs connected towards the end. I liked reading Ash and Mana's relationship. Although, I was a bit frustrated that their lack of a real relationship was build on miscommunication. Hoping that it's just a really slow burn. I could see something potentially brewing with Naili and Iiberi. The one relationship I didn't love was Uvao and Tesha. We didn't get a ton of back story on what happened to them and then it felt like a lot of pining without being connected to his character or past. I did start to like Tesha with Kiren, but I'm really worried about being attached because something is telling me that he has a larger part in the war.

Some things I liked: There were really cool glass dragons that you could talk to by drinking basically poison. There was alchemy and people that grew plants on their skin. There was court politics, an arranged marriage, and a LOT of trauma. The book commented on topics like colonization, classes/hierarchies, war, and racism. The world building was a bit intense but well done. It felt like there were ten different mysteries to solve but I have confidence that they will all wrap up well in the next book and it was set up in a way that was intriguing.

The book felt both fast and slow paced but in a way that kept me interested. However, my one major complaint was the ending was very abrupt. I actually told a friend that this book was either going to be four or five stars depending on the ending because it was getting really exciting. But then it just ended in the middle of the excitement and you didn't find out how everything connected. I understand leaving readers on a cliffhanger for the next book. But, the pacing definitely felt off and it led to me being disappointed at the end. Also, I wish that the dragons took a bigger role in the book... I really liked Shuala and I would have liked to see her and Ash interact more.

However, the rest of the book makes up for the end and I will definitely continue with the next book. I'm really excited to see how it all comes together. Overall, 4 stars!