I just love stories about dragons in any form. This book took dragons in a unique direction. It focused primarily on how dragons communicate with each other and the need to figure out this sacred language during a time of war. I really enjoyed how this played out. It looks like the ending is set up for there to be a sequel. I hope that is the case.

A very well-written YA fantasy about dragons during the early 1920s. I loved how they weaved real history in with the parallel world of the dragons. There was a lot of information about languages, and the middle of the book dragged a bit when that was most of the focus, but the characters were well-drawn out and helped carry the story forward. I loved how they included Bletchley Park as the place where they tried to understand the language of dragons and crack their code.

The story revolves around a war involving dragons and young linguistic experts who are desperate to decode the dragon language for an advantage in the conflict. It is surely an addictive, dark academic tale, that features a (very) slow-burn romance and morally gray, flawed yet lovable characters. This book was right up my alley. I loved every bit of the buildup, I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and of course, the dragons.

I loved the story of this book! It’s not quite what I thought it would be but is better! I loved the character growth of Vivian. How she did this terrible thing and kind of continues down that path but then has the breakthrough and won’t do it anymore! The dragon politics are unlike other books I’ve read so that was a nice take on it! That ending though!! I can’t wait for book two and hope that just maybe Atlas didn’t die!

This was a fun read! I loved the story in this book, it was very interesting and entertaining! Great world building, with incredible characters and a fast moving story! I would recommend this book to everyone!

I was instantly intrigued by the concept behind "A Language of Dragons"—and the book did not disappoint. It had a variety of my favorite tropes and archetypes, but arranged in such a way that I couldn't always guess what was going to happen next. The worldbuilding was spectacular, I loved the explorations of grey morality, and the emphasis on the importance of linguistics was very enjoyable. While there were some moments that I wish had been more in-depth, such as the blossoming relationship between the FMC and her love interest and a few of the climactic scenes toward the end, this was an overall very solid read and impressive debut novel!

I absolutely adored this book!! The worldbuilding was so thorough--even at like a close, linguistic level--and I was always so pulled into the world Williamson built. I love that it was inspired by real historical events at Bletchley Park, but Williamson really ran with her own spin and it definitely read more as a fantasy novel than historical fiction one.

Though she's difficult to root for at times, Viv is an incredible main character and such a driving force of the narrative. Throughout the story, she makes selfish, rash, contentious, and sometimes just stupid decisions that had me questioning why I wanted her to succeed so badly. The truth is that I loved her because she is a refreshingly young adult character in a YA market that seems to be pushing for adult mcs who just happen to be 16-18. Viv reminded me so much of all my favourite YA protagonists of the early 2000's--leading with heart and emotion, whether or not that is the best for the situations she's in. Having her start in a frankly infuriating place has only given her that much more space to grow and change through the narrative and I CANNOT wait to see where the sequel takes her.

*Thank you to Harper Collins & NetGalley for this eARC; the review is my own.*

I had high hopes for this book. Dragons, languages, wartime codebreaking, romance--it was a very promising combination. But it fell a bit flat for me, and I found I was never fully engrossed in the story or the characters.

To be honest, I didn't like Vivien (17) very much. She was selfish, shortsighted, and willingly naive about everything that happened around her. Over and over, she convince herself that her choices didn't hurt anyone, even when they obviously did. And then when she finally accepted reality and decided to "be better," she turned around and made some of those same choices again. I liked Atlas, but I didn't feel much chemistry between the two of them. My favorite characters were probably the dragons. But I never found myself particularly attached to anyone, as evidenced by my "oh well" reaction when a prominent character died (not saying who).

Someone else might really like this book, but it didn't hit any higher than Okay for me. I'm giving it 3 stars because the concept of all the dragon languages was interesting.

I had to DNF this at 20% Vivian was so incredibly insufferable as a main character. For her to sit there defending a class system that she has to cheat to stay in and committed crimes to try and cover up her parents crimes for, make it make sense!!! She is supposed to be smart but she just want to live in a naive bubble and make increasingly poor choices, I cant suffer through.

I found A Language of Dragons to be an interesting take on dragons that I haven't seen before! I was really excited when I picked this book up. While it didn't leave up to all my wildest dreams, I did enjoy it. Vivien was hard to root for at times and felt a little cookie cutter when its comes to a YA fantasy lead she wasn't the worst. I just found myself wanting to shake her a lot and she induced just a few eye rolls and complains to my partner. The plot was definitely interesting and the romance was standard. Even though I'm not in love with the book, I did enjoy it and would recommend to any teens looking for a historical fantasy.

"In an alternate London in 1923, one girl accidentally breaks the tenuous truce between dragons and humans in this sweeping debut and epic retelling of Bletchley Park steeped in language, class, and forbidden romance. Perfect for teen fans of Fourth Wing and Babel."

Synopsis:
Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon. -- By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. --With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. --As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.


Thank you to the author, publisher, and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my review!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. I had to DNF this book a little while in, the plot didn’t draw me in as much as I expected it to.

In this fascinating fantasy novel, readers visit an alternate London in 1923 where Vivien Featherswallow is ready to follow the rules and study dragon languages to be sure her sister does not grow up Third Class. However, freeing a dragon has incredible consequences -- her parents’ arrests and her sister’s disappearance -- and Viv has begun a civil war between humans and dragons. Brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker and promised her family’s freedom if she succeeds, Viv must discover a hidden dragon language, but she soon realizes that the peace treaty and her work are far more dangerous and connected than she had thought. With incredible world-building and morally complex characters, readers will love this brilliant reimagining of 1920s London with dragons and a crazy mix of fantasy and steampunk. The characters are so challenging and complex, and readers will love the large cast of characters, their complex personalities, and varying motivations. The various conflicts and incredible world-building are fascinating, and the depth of detail and description really pull readers into the story. Brilliantly written and immersive, fantasy readers will love this unique and complex new novel about dragons, humans, and the costs of forced treaties because of these incredible details and complicated characters.

The premise of this is fantastic (and the cover art is too, frankly) and I'm sure it will find its audience. For me, however, this leans a bit too much toward the younger side of YA. The good vs. evil of it all came off kind of simplistic. Also, I wasn't really a fan of Vivian, and that really hampered my enjoyment.

Really interesting world here. I wasn't completely sold on the characters, but I was enthralled by the world the author created with the dragons and the academia vibes and the political plot.. And really, all I mean by the characters is the romance. On her own, I didn't really have issues with the MC (she was flawed in the good ways and not the best of people, but it worked), but I did want more out of the romance. It didn't seem to build that much.

Thoroughly enjoyed this unique twist on the dragon bonding/rebellion genre. Well paced with just enough romantic tension to engage younger YA readers looking for romantasy, but not ready or interested in the spicier ends of the genre. The threading of the academic study of language and linguistic etiology through the lens of the MC was a refreshing approach to the conundrum of interspecies communication that so often relies on the telepathy trope. And the setting of an alternative WWII era UK made for a great basis for world building via the alt-history approach. Looking forward to the sequel!

I loved this book. I was not expecting to love it, but I really did. It only failed to hit the 5 star mark because of the ending. I was expecting a sequel and I'm only now learning that this is supposed to be a standalone so... wtf? T.T

Do not read this book if you do not like morally grey, makes a lot of selfish choices, and stubbornly believes what she wants despite proof screaming in her face kind of MCs. Viv is deeply flawed and I love it. I don't love her. She's a hard one to root for but I truly appreciate that about her. She is a very solid, well written character that doesn't just flip flop for plot sake. You honestly have no idea what kind of choices she will make until she does.

The world building is solid. I think it could've been a little more but we were given more than enough to get a good feel of the political climate, history, etc. There's also a good number of dragons in this book thank you very much (side-eyes Hurricane Wars). So if you like dragons, political fantasy, analytical explanations and morally grey characters this book is for you!

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

* I received an e-arc via Netgalley for review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity. All thoughts are my own*

I loved A Language of Dragons and thought it was a fantastic debut for S.F. Williamson! It was fast paced, takes place in 1920’s England, has slow burn romance, and last but certainly not least, dragons! I really thought the world building was done well, and I enjoyed the whole aspect of linguistics being included in a fantasy novel. I found it quite fascinating!

I absolutely can’t wait for the sequel after that ending!

I honestly really enjoyed this book. I appreciated not only the writing style, but also the story and the level of detail. I finished this book in 2 days, and the combination between fantasy (dragons) and reality (classism, war, government corruption, etc.) was such a gem for me. I felt like this book was almost a combination of the dystopian world of Hunger Games combined with the world of dragons and lore. I highly recommend this one.

Thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

If you’re looking for a fun YA book with dragons from a debut author, pick up A Language of Dragons!

Viv is a feisty character whose beliefs and worldview is challenged by the end of the novel. Everything she’s known about the world changes when her parents are arrested and her sister goes missing. When Viv has the chance to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language as a way to release her parents and find her sister, she pours all her energy into the task. But she learns that rules don’t apply to everyone equally in society and must decide which side she wants to be on.

There is a love interest, but it’s not the main focus of this story, which I appreciated! The friends she makes at Bletchley Park help Viv view the world in new ways and cause her to reevaluate what she wants to do with her life.

I always love a story about language and literacy, so my favorite parts of the story were when Viv worked on cracking the dragon language. The author is a linguist so she did a fantastic job of providing enough of an explanation of the code breaking to make it see realistic without getting too technical.

The story ends on an action-paced scene and sets up the sequel nicely. I’ll be picking up book 2 whenever it comes out!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Books for the digital arc. All opinions are my own.