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DNF @ 25%

I loved the idea of this book but unfortunately, the FMC started to become insufferable to me. I could not bear to see Sophie's name or anything closely resembling or seemingly related to Sophie as it resulted in the FMC telling us how she did something terrible to ruin Sophie's life. I wanted her to stop complaining about it and show me she was actively trying to fix what she did, if she truly felt that distraught over it. Other than that, I truly enjoyed the plot and the premise of the story but I could not bring myself to keep reading.

(I may pick this back up at a later time but as it is now, Viv's character is unbearable to read).

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This was a fun read
I was a little disappointed by the romance subplot but that didn't stop me from enjoying the overall plot. I loved the dragons and the whole language concept of it
3.5 Stars
Will look forward to the next one

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I would give 3.5 stars but think it’s a better read than 3 stars so I am inclined to upgrade to 4 stars though I admit this is generous. The setup is intriguing and the world feels flushed out with the history of the dragons and introduction of the dragon languages but I found the main character not that interesting and didn’t believe in her character journey in the final third of the book. I liked the secondary characters but the lead was bland. This very clearly felt like an opening to a larger story so I think the series has potential. I do plan to pick up the sequel despite these reservations.

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This young adult novel blends historical fiction with fantasy, and I’m here for it! If I'm being honest, the author had me at the mention of dragons. 🗡️🐲

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.

This is so close to being a five-star book but it fell flat in the high-tension moments. Just a little bit more and some of the scenes could have been epic. The other bit that I didn't love was the inconclusive ending. My understanding was that this is a single/standalone book and the way it ended just wasn't for me. However, if this is meant to be a duology or a series, then I could perhaps understand the cliffhanger.

Regardless, a huge thank you to HarperCollins for providing me with a copy of this e-arc. The publication date is set for January 07, 2025, and I still highly recommend this book to my fantasy lovers.

As always, all thoughts are my own. ✨🖤 Can't wait to share what I think with you all!! xx

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I really enjoyed this book. It felt easy to follow along with plot wise and the characters were likable. Very interesting storyline. I have no read many books with dragons so I can’t compare it to the other ones out there. But a very nice YA fantasy. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

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I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson is a first person-POV YA historical fantasy. In this alternative history, dragons walk amongst humans and have entered a shaky peace agreement with Britain after the Massacre of Bulgaria which wiped out most Bulgarian humans. Viv is the daughter of a Bulgarian mother and a British father living in London in 1923 in a restrictive class system that has dangerous consequences for those who fall into the Third Class. When her parents are revealed to be rebels, Viv releases a dragon in exchange for them burning down the prime minister’s home.

The class system is going to be familiar to most readers who are aware of the upper, middle, lower class system. The Third Class has very few protections or opportunities and it is extremely difficult to rise into the Second Class. Viv’s family is Second Class and her parents have done whatever they deemed necessary to keep their children from being demoted, including physical punishments for poor grades which could lead to eventual demotion. The First Class has the most protections, but even they are at risk of falling a class lower and almost everyone in the First Class is implied to be white with little upward movement for people of color beyond Second Class.

Viv’s strongest platonic relationships are between her and her younger sister, Ursa, her best friend, Sophie, and her cousin Marquis. There is very little that Viv wouldn’t do for Ursa, including possibly betraying her ideals or sacrificing herself. We learn early on that Viv betrayed Sophie, sending her friend into the Third Class from the Second, something that eats at Viv constantly but what makes it worse is that Sophie is unaware of what Viv did. Marquis is half-American and believes in a lot of the ideals of the rebels due to his mother’s influence. Like with Ursa, Viv would do anything necessary to save Marquis but because he is older and has more autonomy than Ursa, he can also take care of himself and moves fairly independently from Viv’s plans.

Viv’s love interest is Atlas, a Third Class priest-in-training who is tasked with zoology in the war effort. Viv doesn’t learn exactly what this means until later as she is part of the team of codebreakers, focused on deciphering dragon echolocation, a job she is uniquely prepared to do due to her high aptitude for dragon languages. Viv’s job is intertwined with Atlas as they’re both forced to work on a team with Marquis, Sophie, and several others to defeat the dragons attacking England or else they will be sent back to the situation they were pulled out of, which, for some of them, means death. Atlas’ ideals and compassion for others is constantly at odds with Viv’s desire to save her sister, Marquis, and parents no matter the cost, but he sees past her drive to find her desire to do the right thing and she finds in him someone who refuses to bend his convictions: breaking the class system down brick by brick and a world of peace between humans and dragons.

Content warning for mentions of child abuse, torture, and child death

I would recommend this to fans of YA fantasy that like excerpts that give details of worldbuilding, readers looking for a historical fantasy focused on class warfare, and those who love fantasy that focuses on linguistics

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I wanted to love this book and hate that I couldn’t get into it. The writing is very well done and the linguistics are very interesting and I would love to read more of that, unfortunately the main character just made it unbearable to read and the book itself was very uneventful. I liked a few of the side characters and want more of the dragons but I just don’t think I can read anymore of the main characters thoughts.

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Vivienne Featherswallow is a polyglot in A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson. Being a polyglot in London in 1923 is a hard place to be. It is a place where dragons were in the air in the past, but no more. After dragons rose up against the people of Bulgaria and killed most of the Bulgarians, they are bound by a peace agreement which no longer allows dragons and humans to coexist.

Viv is able to speak many languages including a few dragon tongues, even though she has very little exposure to actual dragons. She finds her skills necessary when her parents are jailed for being rebels, or people who think the human/dragon peace agreement needs to be dismantled. Viv is shocked. She knows there is a mistake, her uncle and cousin live in their home and her uncle is also arrested. Viv and her cousin are taken to a place called Bletchley Park where they will be held until they can break the “code” the dragons are using to communicate. This code leaves out humans, even the ones who can speak their language. If Viv and her cousin can interpret the “code” and give it to the government, they will be freed and so will their parents.

It seems they have been given the impossible task and will become food for dragons. They need to work quickly and they need to find the answers before the other kids who are also being held. It becomes a Hunger Games situation where they could be killed by one of the others, it is every man/woman for him/herself.

A Language of Dragons is a story of class system non-function, unfairness abounds. Viv is determined to keep her place in her class but at what cost?

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At first I wasn’t sure about it. But I greatly appreciate the author’s note about the “morally grey-ness” of the FMC because there were moments where I wanted to shout at her. But also there are moments where I get it. I think there are a lot of elements to this books that are relevant to what is going on today.: prejudice, classism, government corruption, etc. Scary how impeccable the timing of this books release is honestly.

I simply must have the sequel!

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the language of dragons by s f williamson

im going to be mean if you liked this book and get your feelings hurt scroll please!

publishers, please stop with the dragons. this is coming from a dragon lover x10 and I am sick of what we are publishing right now. this is hot garbage and you now it. it’s lazy editing, lazy marketing, lazy content that you KNOW will sell if you put some pretty sprayed edges and A PINK SPARKLY DRAGON!! on it and you should be ashamed to be pumping out trash like this especially when it is clearly TRYING to eek out some semblance of a meaning and political nuance to young impressionable readers who want it. is this truly what we have now? hand holding through the plot that clearly is trying to take a political stance but then waffles our FMC back and forth for….what? what exactly? page length? development? certainly not to show that good and evil is no so clear cut because the villains in this are CARTOONISH. nuance? who gives a shit! slap a dragon and some other hot buzz words in the synopsis and spray the edges and it’ll sell!

unreal anyways now onto the actual book itself

the first 10 minutes of narnia, babel, and the natural history of dragons. oh and forth wing because yall LOOOOVE to comp one of the worst fantasy books of all time but whatever!

10% check in. i’m having a hard time believing a teen girl setting 1 ‘prisoner of war’ free would start a civil war but go off?
I also always find it weird when we have dragons that are in a way subservient or less than humans bc bitch that’s a huge fire breathing animal? and you have soft flammable flesh, like we don’t stand a chance but then I also think maybe we have that parallel bc ‘we the people’ have power against the elected officials bc we put them there, so that MIGHT be what the author is trying to establish or I might be over intellectualizing it (spoiler to you, you are giving WAY too much credit here girl)

also why would they trust a group of ‘misfits’ to win the war??? i’m

25% check in and folks, I hate to say it but this FMC sucks ass. she’s very dumb, and not like ‘so sheltered so obviously she wouldn’t know about xyz’ because that would be her being ignorant. and she’s just straight up dumb. also the synopsis is a HUGE lie and marketing ploy this is not in anyway a ‘dark academia’ setting. there are in a military camp essentially. also where are the dragons?

more on my point above, SPOILER only ‘Brittania’ have this so called peace agreement and literally every other place in the world (and I mean literally bc it’s said explicitly in the text) is chill with dragons.

why so much emphasis on her love interest being a priest in training ew? pls ….stop. also romance? chemistry? don’t know it! next!

50% update and hi! i’m hating this! WHERE. ARE. THE. DRAGONS. PLEASE. I BEG.

75% damn so this bitch is dumb and can’t make a choice to save her (or her families) life huh? yall really want me to hate women like this that’s terrible
but also maybe it’s bc she is 17? and like I was also a 17 year old girl once and if I had to make a decision like that I too would waffle but can we make it more elegant? or even just written in a way that doesn’t make me want to punch a 17 year old??? that makes ME the bad guy cmon

this was so overwhelming predictable and unnecessary. if you are trying to write about heavy themes like class, education, war, political systems, etc., can you please do it well or at least make some portion of your characters or plot interesting? is this so hard to ask from authors and publishers I mean seriously. ALSO note to publishers, PLEASE stop fully lying in your synopsis’ because dark academia where? babel comp where? hunger games comp where? where? please point it out and i’ll admit my wrongs but so far the most disappointing thing you’ll read in 2025 is right here!

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC

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I really enjoyed this one. The separation of and the politics between dragon and human were intriguing. The FMC is a bit naive and flawed in the beginning but she learns and grows through the book when she is forced to question what she believes and knows as new information is presented to her.

This was an easy read that kept me intrigued and reading on. Will definitely be reading the next one to see what happens next and would definitely recommend if you like dragons and stories that include a bit of rebellion against a corrupt government. Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.

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This book was very well written. I thought the storyline was very different from anything I have read recently and unique. The beginning and end were really good and kept my interest. Parts of the middle slowed down a lot for my taste. But overall, I really enjoyed the story. If I second book is coming I will definitely be reading it. I recommend this if you like historical fantasy, political stories, and anything with dragons.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

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4.5 Great start. The author establishes the world well. With what we know of history and WWI usage of secret codes and languages, we understand the inspiration. The main character speaks a lot of languages, including the Dragons'. She is clever enough to understand more than decoding a secret one. Evil (human) forces will threaten her family to get what they want from the dragons. She accepts to work for them until she understands the weight of her actions and consequences that can do true harm. 

War, prejudice, lack of equality, language, love interest, new friendships, protecting siblings and family, morally grey main character, academy vibes, but also steampunkish. Parallel Earth, WWI, love for languages.

Ps. Awesome pink dragon.

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I think Viv, the main character, is going to be polarizing for people. She is selfish (even admits that), narrow minded, and naive (willfully naive). I admit that by about 70% through the book I was starting to become annoyed with her because she is WILLFULLY naive. Like, girl, I understand where you're coming from, but REALLY?! On the other hand, though, I thought it was kind of refreshing that a SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD is actually not the perfect heroine. She's focused on her family and not the "greater good." She doesn't make all the "correct" "hard" decisions. She makes ones that are impulsive (in ways) that she thinks will save her family. She doesn't care about the greater good or about what's happening in the world beyond how it affects her family. Honestly, this is SUCH an honest reaction for a 17yo that I liked it. We get so many of these fantasy books where the teenagers are making the hard decisions, but they're all the CORRECT ones. They don't make wrong turns for the most part and somehow fall into the hands of the "good guys" and goes with it. In this case, Viv, ends up with the "bad" people and has to learn there is a greater good she's ignoring despite the fact she truly doesn't agree with the position she's in.

I enjoyed the linguistics we get from Viv and the dragons (the title of the book). I thought it was interesting and different, especially how we learn language is important to identity. It sometimes got a little tedious for me, but it was an interesting take. This book's atmosphere, though, is very much 1920's World War 1 England feeling. We've got dragons instead of planes and bombs, but it has a very strong war times feeling to the entire book and I think the language "code breaking" was an interesting thing.

With that said, this book is a lot about privilege since everyone is put into a 3 class system and it's partially why the rebellion starts. It's about Viv learning her ambition, fear, and naiveté have consequences. It's about learning that there are bigger things than our immediate worlds.

I am definitely looking forward to the next book to see what happens!

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I’m in shock after finishing this book. I could not put it down and I’m hoping there will be a second one. It’s an interesting take on dragons and the way they communicate. I wasn’t expecting to love this book so much but it is so different from anything I’ve ever read and there is also a priest in training. I love me a rebel priest. I would definitely recommend this book based on how unique and fast paced it is!!!

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i went into this skeptical as it came to my attention from an administrator at school who is always anxious for attention and who said he had heard it might bridge the gap between Wings of Fire and Fourth Wing. Well that's a mighty big gap to bridge! Despite my skepticism, I was really wrapped up in the story until about half to 3/4 in. I love the concept of Bletchley Park and dragons. I can totally get behind the allusions to current day corrupt politics and the messed up class system. And once one person started going Hunger Games on things, I was even more excited. But then.... Then, Viv didn't seem to be learning anything despite all she had heard and seen. And the exposition on languages was tiresome. And once the battle started, it was neverending. Everything really bogged down for me from about 70% on, which is too bad given that it started on such a high note for me.

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Yes, the premise of this is ridiculous, and I think it would have been much better served in a made up country rather than England. That being said, this was SO difficult to put down. It was pure entertainment and delight, like eating too much ice cream in one sitting. It's something I know the Fourth Wing girlies are gonna love. I cannot wait for the next one.

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"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.

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."

I love that while an alternate London it's set in a time period were rarely see fantasy set in.

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I was really disappointed with this book. I felt like this book was gonna go a different direction than it went. I thought the different dragon languages and a sacred dragon language to be intriguing but that’s about it. The only thing that kept me reading was the possibility of saving a skip from my book subscription. The romance was not enough for me and it made me a little uncomfortable that the boy that was trying to become a priest but flirting with the FMC.

Thank you to the author, HarperCollins Children’s, and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

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4.5⭐️

Babel, but with dragons? Yes please! This book had a similar premise to Babel, with its focus on translation and its use in control. However, both had (obviously) incredibly different plots.

While this book was a bit lower YA than I had anticipated, it was still a great read and had me completely hooked. The overall message was direct and to the point, but there was also an incredibly binary sense of what was good vs what was “evil” rather than adding much nuance. Since this book is YA, and read as a bit younger than expected, this message and clear-cut good vs evil makes quite a lot of sense.

That being said, I really enjoyed this book and the characters! I think this book could easily be expanded upon to create a great duology or trilogy. This would further expand on the message AND allow for a more descriptive “what next”.

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