The cover of The Secret Dragon totally drew me in! Unfortunately, the book itself is very short and not a whole lot happens. I do believe we are being set up for another book in the series because this book ends rather abruptly. I want more! :) Thank you, NetGalley!

During her school holidays bored Saffy finds a Dragon statue on a magical bench. Should she be frightened of this talking dragon called Lily? Or can Lily the dragon convince her of her good attentions?

After finding the dragon Saffy realises she's 'the great saviour,' & a Star of books in a magical land!

This is lovely book for youngsters to enjoy. With much to recommend it.

I enjoyed this continuing story, this is book 1 of 6. The ending of book 1 concluded quite quickly. I was somewhat surprised but the good news is there is more to come!

Immediately I thought this would be a cute read and it is but I couldn't connect myself to the characters or get into the story. How this is written reminds me of how we were taught in English on how to write a story because yes there was a plot but I found there wasn't enough to the story, Understand it is a children's book but I think even if I were younger I would feel the same.

It has potential so maybe the next books in the series will have more.
It would be nice to see more of the relationship between Staffy and her Mom and brother.
I know this is mostly negative but as I said room for improvement.
The illustrations are cute.

My daughter loved this book! She thought it was a cute story and the pictures were adorable! She really enjoyed this quick read and is excited for the next books!
And she was thrilled to get her own ARC, thank you!!

Love the cover.

The insides, well, that didn't work out too well.

I kept thinking that perhaps I hadn't been sent the whole book. Things were just getting set up to have a grand adventure of some kind, when the book suddenly finished, and that was it.

The premise is that a dragon from another world has come into our world, to look for the savior, who happens to be Saffy. Apparently great legends have been written about her, with the dragon, Lily.

But just as everything is set up, the book ends, and we have to get the second quest book.

I wish the author well, but feel that this whole series could have been one book, and been better for it. I think reading this in small bites is not something a child would enjoy.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out on July 28, 2025.

A delightfully charming adventure read! A girl, a dragon, and a quest to stop a evil witch! This is a great young reader book, perfect for young readers just getting started and it even features adorable artwork. It's a cute read and one I'd definitely recommend for sure!

Release Date: July 28, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Troubador | Troubador Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The first book in Esther Moonstomp’s Saffy’s Secret Quest Series, The Secret Dragon is basically just the longest amalgamation of introductory exposition I’ve ever read in a children’s chapter book. As a result, it’s incredibly difficult to feel any connection to the characters or the text. The entire time, I simply found myself resisting the urge to cringe as quite literally every step of the story was told rather than shown, rushed through plots to provide some nonsensical action in which the characters react in an entirely unrealistic way, and events occur solely to give readers the feeling that the plot has a genuine arc even though this is really just the bare bones of an introduction.

It truly does feel like the author wrote a full novel, chopped it into pieces, and added some out of place fluff and action to justify breaking one novel down into six. And if I’m being frank, it is not the short nature of the book that I have a problem with, but rather that the direction of the story events is lacking cohesion. I’m not even against the first book ending on a cliffhanger and not fully having an established full story arch if the focus could instead be on actively developing the characters in a realistic way. As it stands, everyone feels like a stock placement. And as a chosen one narrative, not only does it all feel much too forced, but none of the story beats hit because they’re all far too rushed—the sheer ridiculousness of this chosen girl already having a girl and dragon necklace with a shining gem that she got from her grandmother off page.

I sigh.

Is it terrible? No. Is it readable? Yeah. Would I have liked it as a kid? Nope.

The art is cute, but unfortunately can’t save the book as a whole.

very short even for a kids chapter book. The shortness in length leads to the plot feeling rush, stuff seems to just happen with little explanation and no real reason. This doesn't feel like a complete book it feels like a few chapters of a book. I did not enjoy this book.