I would like to thank Netgalley for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

It has been a bit since I have read a book this year that had me constantly eager to see what happened next. I love the mixture of WWI and the mix of political intrigue with the dragons. The history on languages of dragons was really interesting, and I felt that this was a breathe of fresh air when it came to books about dragons. The exploration of a morally grey main character that she is out right admitting she is not good and seeks to cover for her own self and those she wants to protect, to the other characters and their backgrounds.

I can't wait for book 2!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I absolutely loved this book. It took a minute to get into the grit of it after the world building, but it was a fun read that entertained me from beginning to end. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

The characters in this book are written so realistically. You can truly feel all their flaws and raw emotions. It was different having a main character you couldn't necessarily emphasize with. I did start to understand her near the end though, which I believe was the intention with this narrative. Learning all the ways dragons communicate was fascinating. It was interesting to see how the humans and dragons co-existed, flawed as the system was. The class system was definitely that needed to be destroyed. By the ending, my heart broke. This book is an absolute must-read. Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to Arc read this.

This one had such an interesting premise and I was really looking forward to the more academic take on a fantasy story with dragons, but honestly the main character was so unlikeable to me it was hard to look past that and enjoy the rest of it. I feel like the writing was good and, again, interesting premise with a lot of possibilities; the note at the beginning about writing characters with flaws I appreciated, but if your character is going to have such glaring flaws I need them to be likeable in the interim. I also found it kind of icky that the priest was the love interest. Maybe that isn't fair of me and I'm sure others will be fine with it, but personally I wasn't a fan.
Overall, I do think this book will appeal to people - it is very complex and it poses interesting questions about the good and bad in all of us, but the story was not for me ultimately.

DNF

I really wanted to like this because dragons have really been making a comeback and who doesn't like them?

The MC wanting to learn the language of dragons was a cool idea and I really liked her commitment to it. My problem with the book was really with the dystopian theme and the setting. I didn't feel like we really got much from the WW2 setting and a lot of what was happening was telling and not showing. It was just really hard for me to get fully immersed in the book and I just found myself not wanting to pick it up.

I wax so intrigued by the blurb of this book. However, the set up takes too long and the focus is confusing.

Where to start with this book, the first mark it had against it was that it immediately started off with a pretentious tone which put me in a very critical mood. In addition, the set up doesn’t make sense and it felt like the author was trying to force different components together without really thinking through how cohesive they are with the story.

Also, the main character was selfish and unlikable. I knew and expected this going into the book, so that wasn't a problem, but I didn't see much character growth throughout the story either.

The dialogue/flirting between the main character and the love interest was really cringy and felt like two middle school students trying to talk to the opposite sex for the first time, which made it feel like a middle grade book.

Overall the book felt very clunky and needed more editing.

This book swept me away. It was Soo well written and captured my attention quickly! The dragons are fierce and the people are realistic and the struggles they face with morality are relatable. Absolutely amazing

⭐️ 4.75

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ARc for my honest review

A Language of Dragons first had me captivated by its cover art and kept me going from the story. I really enjoyed the real world elements while balancing the fantasy/dystopian world building.

I really appreciated that Vivian did not jump straight into the rebels cause and she was kinda stubborn about it. She tried to keep hold of what she was raised with and believed in as the society she was brought up in. I helped bring in the political questions that were raised throughout the story and it made it seem like not everyone was truly “ in the right”

The love interest could’ve had more substance to it. I felt like it was kinda insta-love but it wasn’t the worst I’ve read before.

I truly had a fun time with this read and would recommend it to others.

3.75 ⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance.

“A Language of Dragons” was such a fun read! It’s definitely dragon/with a touch of dark academia. There were several aspects I really enjoyed: the way the author fleshed out dragons, the world building, dragons themselves, and Atlas King. There were also several surprising twists that I really enjoyed at the end. As for what I didn’t enjoy: the pacing of this was just okay, I found the initial conflict confusing like “who is fighting who again?” as it was multilayered and is just thrown at the reader, and by far the biggest reason, I really didn’t connect much with the main character Vivien. This girl is extremely morally grey (which I can get down with, I love a good morally grey character + there’s a disclaimer at the beginning stating as such), but I found it tedious how often she went back and forth whether deciding if she wanted to do the right thing or not. I feel like she changed her mind every/every other chapter and I just wanted her to hurry up and decide where she stood already. I will be continuing the series for sure and I loved the idea of this story and want to know what happens. Definitely one for dragon fans/lovers.

1.5 stars

This was one of my most anticipated books for early 2025 and I'm really disappointed by it. I thought it would be hard to mess up a book about dragons and linguistics but this just didn't hit any of the marks.

Vivian Featherswallow's plans to become a dragon linguist are foiled when her parents are arrested and she must help the government translate a secret dragon code to save them and stop the coming war. I have so so many issues with this book that I noted down while I was reading so I'm just going to hit the big ones. I study linguistics and I find the way that characters talk about linguistics in the book to be very strange, which is weird considering the author reportedly has some experience with translation. It's not clear at all how Vivian's knowledge of dragon languages helps her in studying the dragon's echolocation, and she makes remarks about dialects and changes in tone that make it seem like she only studied the languages without ever studying any linguistics. It's also strange that the dragon's secret language is called echolocation since they don't used it to navigate at all, and there's even a part that says that dragon echolocation is more complex than bat echolocation because dragons need it to survive which like...so do bats? Bats even use echolocation to communicate sometimes.
The love interest, Atlas, just comes off kind of annoying and their relationships feels very insta-love without a lot of substance. I think there was some room to explore how Atlas's religion informs his political stances or his interest in zoology but nope, this book is not interested in any of that. Instead his vocation is just used to create tension and draw out their relationship which feels in poor taste.
I find the world very poorly constructed. It's clearly based on our world but it's really not clear how the dragons and the class system fit into everything. Characters mention world war one but it's not clear if that was the war against the dragons that ended in the peace treaty or if that was totally separate and dragons just played a role in WWI. I don't think it's ever mentioned when the class system was established or what brought it about, and it's also briefly mentioned that there are countries without the class systems so is it just in England?
The villains in this story are just evil with no nuance or complex characterizations. None of the characters are particularly interesting. Poor Karim is a love interest of one of the main characters and somehow manages to speak like once in the entire book. In an attempt to make Vivian complex she's really just obtusely wrong and doesn't have the passion or redeeming qualities to make her "morally grey".
Oh, and if you were hoping for dragons, you just kinda get one dragon very occasionally. There's also a random weird single line at the end in an attempt to tackle how race intersects with class and since this book doesn't care about nuance they just decided that because a girl is rich she doesn't experience race inequality.
Above all, this book commits the cardinal sin of being uninteresting. It really feels like not much happens until the last 30 pages when everything happens. I think there was just so much potential to talk about class and academia and religion and race and the book decided to not really do any of that and just pad out the 480 pages with a whole lot of Vivian thinking obviously incorrect things for a very long time.

I don't know what happened with this book or how it ended up being another book about a competition between quirky teenagers instead of the bold, academically-critical dragon fantasy book that it promised.

An intriguing and captivating debut, “A Language of Dragons” by S. F. Williamson will no doubt be well-received by fantasy and dark-academia lovers alike! Set in a reimagined London in 1923, an uneasy peace exists between dragons and humans, and the language of dragons is studied and explored at universities, as varied and unique as the human tongue. Williamson adeptly explores classism, racism, and xenophobia through the segregation between humans and dragons, but also within the human population itself. Our main character, Vivian, is a member of the Second Class, and faces immense academic pressure to not fall into the Third Class. Amidst this backdrop a rebellion is brewing, with the goal of eliminating the class system and the segregation between species. After a moment of minor rebellion, Viv faces an impossible task to “decode” a previously unknown form of dragon communication or risk her family being lost to her forever. While at times reminiscent of “Babel,” by R. F. Kuang in regards to art of translation, this novel offers a unique story that delves into the darker, selfish parts of ourselves, but also shines a light on how much we strive to have connection to family, both found and those tied by blood. Full of rebellion, dragons, and a dash of yearning, this story was an engaging read and I look forward to the next chapter!
As always, thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this eARC, all opinions are my own.

Viv Featherswallow seemed to have everything figured out in her life. She had just passed her exams with flying colors, earning her a place at the University of London to study Dragon Languages and guaranteeing that she wouldn't be demoted from Second to Third Class. Her biggest problem was how to prove her excellent Dragon Language translation skills in order to get a prestigious internship. Overnight, everything changed: Her parents were arrested for allegedly participating in a conspiracy against the class system and other government-imposed restrictions. Viv hopes to make things right by recruiting a criminal dragon to destroy the evidence against her family, but this becomes the last straw that sets off a civil war. Viv is given a last chance: she can help the government gain an advantage over the rebels by cracking the so-called "dragon code" and save her family, or face the death penalty along with them.

So, dragons and a girl who saves the world with her knowledge of languages. I was really intrigued by the comparison to R.F. Kuang's Babel and Naomi Novik's A Deadly Education promised by the blurb, as those books are among the best YA fantasy/dark academia with dystopian overtones in my reading experience, as well as among my highlights for 2023 across genres. Interestingly, though, I might have rated "A Language of Dragons" higher without the constant comparison to such beloved favorites. Just because it gets too crowded in the 5-star range, you know.

It looks like we have the first installment of a YA dystopian trilogy (I'm referring to a YA dystopian trilogy as a genre form with a defined structure, as described by actual scholars of the genre - regardless of the number of planned installments, which I know nothing about).

The worldbuilding of the dystopian world felt pretty solid, even though I had some issues with the historical setting (as I did with Babel and Novik's Temeraire series - that's my problem with primary-world fantasy with historical settings: I just don't find it believable that with changes as profound as dragons co-inhabiting Europe with humans, or the existence of silverwork magic, the historic event still evolved in exactly the same way as we learned about the real world).

I also really liked that the protagonist is not a ready rebel who just accepts that the system she has been indoctrinated into since birth needs to be overthrown (the pitfall of some of the YADF). In fact, she is quite stubborn in holding on to what she believes about society - perhaps even annoyingly so, for some readers.

I am less of a fan of the trope according to which some of the worst traitors and criminals (especially juvenile "criminals" and rebels) are gathered together to work on something the government desperately needs. I don't understand what could logically be expected from such a setup in any fictional world other than more rebellion. Since the setting is very reminiscent of that associated with experts involved in deciphering German secret communications during World War II, the direct comparison would be if British intelligence had used some interned German citizens whom they suspected of being loyal to the enemy in the first place. But that's an existing trope in YA fiction, so S.F. Williamson is definitely not to blame for inventing something so unbelievable. In both "Babel" and the Scholomance series, there is at least a good reason why what is happening is happening to teens/YAs.

Now, the linguistic aspect... And I should probably mention here that I have a minor in Translation Studies as part of my Ph.D., so when I'm judging the portrayal of translation, it's from this ivory tower. I would say that while the depiction of deciphering (i.e., establishing linguistic equivalence) didn't seem entirely convincing to me, I really liked the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic aspects involved - how languages function among different social classes (human and dragon) in this fictional world, and how the acquisition of language (language as such, not "a" language) is part of a personality's coming into the world.

Will definitely be looking for the next installment!

4.5 stars

I would like to thank HarperCollins and Netgalley for the free eARC of this title. The opinions in the above review are my own.

Dragons all over 1923 England, a secret rebellion against a class-driven government-run society, a girl who can speak to dragons, a forbidden romance; it all sounds fantastic, right? If only any of it were true.

First, at no point during the whole novel does it occur to me this is taking place in 1923. There was nothing to indicate this time period, not in the locale descriptions, the atmosphere, nothing. Not sure what the point of setting it in 1923 was. At one point, one character even calls our so-called 'heroine' a dragon-whisperer. Really?

Viv, our FMC, is distraught over her parents' sudden arrest for being part of the rebel alliance trying to overthrow the class system in England. It pits First class against Second class, and Second class against the Third class, the lowest and most horribly mistreated people of English society.

Viv is a terrible person. Self-centered, zero empathy, willing to cheat her best friend in order to get ahead herself. She does feel bad for sending her friend down to Third class, but only because she feels like it makes her a bad person, and she doesn't like feeling like a bad person. At no point does she feel bad for her friend, who endured some pretty horrible consequences form becoming Third class.

All the characters are barely one dimensional except Viv, who, at most, is only two dimensional. We never feel any deep connection to anyone because we are given only the barest minimum of background of any of them. The main focus is on Viv, which made this so hard to read because she is so awful, you do not root for her. At least I didn't. At one point, I was rooting for the guy who broke her arm. Yeah, she's that bad.

And don't get me started on the 'romance'. Quick glances, occasional pinkies brushing together, 'no, we must stop' when all they did was look deep into each other's eyes; this couldn't have been any more milquetoast. Made worse by the fact that Viv's love interest, Atlas, is a priest in training who falls immediately in love with her, even though she continually talks down to him, argues with him, expounds on her 'me, me, it's all about me' viewpoint. Who would love someone like that?

I almost put it down at the halfway point due to the dry as dust story and lack of plot development. And Viv literally only talks to dragons twice at that point, and very briefly at that. I pushed on through and it got marginally better in the second half. Still very little talking to dragons, still very little meaningful interaction between Viv and Atlas. Things do come together, sort of, by the final few chapters, but again, Viv, oh boy. I got whiplash from her seeing the light and being on the side of the rebels, then changing her mind and agreeing to give up the dragons' 'code', then back to the rebels, then changing her mind again, then... By this point I couldn't have cared less what Viv did, but I did hold out hope for the rest of the characters. The ending tied up most of loose ends, with a bit left over for a sequel. But if it involves Viv, not sure I care what happens next.

4.5⭐️ This book is incredible! I was a little skeptical at first because some of the dialogue was strange and then the sudden releasing of Chumana threw me off a bit, it seemed like it was too easy, but man was this a page turner.
I really enjoyed the character development of Viv, she was a hard person to like throughout this story. She seemed very at war with herself.
I do wish there was more time spent with the dragons too, I really feel like there’s so much more we could have gotten from them.
But overall I would highly recommend this book!
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC!

I had so much fun with this first book of this new series! A 1920s England vibe with dragons and class divides? Such a cool twist, and it made for a really interesting story. The characters were great, and the pacing kept things moving nicely. Can’t wait to see what happens in the next one! I truly liked it, it’s extremely entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced reader copy.

this masterfully blends fantasy and historical fiction! There were elements similar to some of my favorite books of all time and I could not get enough. Seriously, I need more! It took me a little to get into but after that I was hooked in

I adored this read! Historical London, with dragons, is definitely my jam. This book was so much fun!

Title:  A Language of Dragons  
Author:  S. F. Williamson        
Genre:  Fantasy       
Rating:  5 out of 5

Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons.

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.

At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realizes that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must What war is she really fighting?

Viv is a great character, and I liked her from the first page! Granted, she was generally clueless about reality and quite gullible when it came to believing everything the government said—but at least she eventually learned better. I found the world fascinating and I really liked all the characters and the complexities of human-dragon relations.

S. F. Williamson lives in France. A Language of Dragons is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 1/10.)

3.5/5 stars

Academia and dragons?? Sign me up! In 1923 after her life and academic goals are seemingly destroyed in one night, Viv makes a life-changing decision to free a criminal dragon, which breaks the truce between dragons and humans in one fell swoop. Due to her talent in languages, both human and dragon, Viv is then recruited to become a codebreaker to help the Prime Minister win the war. But what Viv learns along the way may forever change the way that she interacts with her peers and dragons alike.

This book was carried by Williamson's passion for languages. In the acknowledgments, Williamson notes that the inspiration for her book comes from her roots in languages and this is a core theme throughout the book that I really enjoyed. The varying dialects, cultures, and emotions that span across languages are special and often taken for granted. However, I wholeheartedly disagree with the author's statement in the intro on how her characters carry this story. Viv was almost the reason that I DNFed this book. She is supposed to be the most "human" and flawed of all the characters, but she was insufferably obstinate and the self-loathing for her "heinous deeds" was far too much for me to enjoy her as a character at all. This also took away from my ability to connect with any of the other characters because I couldn't look past the loathing I had for the MC. For a standalone, this was an okay book, although, I didn't love the ending and it felt like it provided an opening for a book to follow, so we'll have to wait and see what Williamson will come out with next.

As always, thank you so much to NetGalley, Harper Collins, and S.F. Williamson for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.