Given

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Pub Date 21 Jan 2020 | Archive Date 23 Jan 2020

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Description

Bound by fate. Divided by duty.

Yenni has never been this far from home. With only her wits, her strength, and her sacred runelore, the fierce Yirba warrior princess is alone in the Empire of Cresh. It’s a land filled with strange magics and even stranger people—all of whom mistrust anyone who’s different. But Yenni will prove herself, and find the cure for her father’s wasting illness. She will not fail.

No one warned her about the dragons. Especially not about him.

Yet there is something powerful and compelling about the violet-black dragon known as Weysh. In human form he's muscular, beautiful—and completely infuriating. What kind of arrogant creature claims a stranger as his Given; as his destined mate? Yenni is no man’s—or dragon’s—plaything. But other magics must be at work here, because Weysh might just be her best hope at finding the answers she seeks.

Only now Yenni can’t tell if she’s fighting an attraction to a dragon . . . or fighting fate itself.

Bound by fate. Divided by duty.

Yenni has never been this far from home. With only her wits, her strength, and her sacred runelore, the fierce Yirba warrior princess is alone in the Empire of Cresh...


A Note From the Publisher

Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.

Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.


Marketing Plan

Author Bio:

Nandi Taylor is a Canadian writer of Caribbean descent based in Toronto. She’s a two-time Watty award winner, and her Wattpad story Given has garnered over one million reads and earned the 2018 Worldbuilders Watty award.

Nandi grew up devouring sci-fi and fantasy novels, and from a young age wrote books of her own. Her books are an expression of what she always wanted more of growing up—diverse protagonists in speculative settings. Common themes she writes about are growth, courage, and finding one’s place in the world.

Her debut novel Given will be published by Wattpad Books in January 2020.


Author Bio:

Nandi Taylor is a Canadian writer of Caribbean descent based in Toronto. She’s a two-time Watty award winner, and her Wattpad story Given has garnered over one million reads and earned the...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781989365045
PRICE $17.99 (USD)
PAGES 352

Available on NetGalley

Send to Kindle (PDF)

Average rating from 101 members


Featured Reviews

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title Given

Author Nandi Taylor

Release Date January 21, 2020

Description from Amazon

Yenni has never been this far from home. With only her wits, her strength and her sacred runelore, the fierce Yirba warrior princess is alone in the Empire of Cresh. It’s a land filled with strange magics and even stranger people—many of whom mistrust anyone who’s different. But Yenni will prove herself, and find a cure for her father’s wasting illness. She will not fail.

No one warned her about the dragons. Especially not about him.

Yes, there is something powerful and compelling about the violet-black dragon known as Weysh. In human form he’s muscular, beautiful—and completely infuriating. What kind of arrogant creature claims a stranger as his Given; as his destined mate? Yenni is no man’s—or dragon’s—plaything. But other magics must be at work here, because Weysh might just be her best hope at finding the answers she seeks.

Only now Yenni can’t tell if she’s fighting an attraction to a dragon…or fighting fate itself.

Initial Thoughts

This book sounded super interesting so when I read the description on NetGalley, I knew I wanted to apply. I also really enjoyed the last Wattpad published book I received from NetGalley so this seemed like a win-win.

Some Things I Liked

World building. I really liked the background information and descriptions of Yenni’s family and homeland. I was somewhat disappointed that we didn’t get more of that, but I would definitely like to see more of that in sequels to this story.
Harry Potter vibes. I loved the elements of magic school and Yenni trying to adjust to the culture shock of everything new around her.
Enemies to lovers romance. One of my favorites. I was a little worried that Nandi Taylor might sneak a love triangle in here, but I was very pleased to find that trope missing. I thought the romance was nicely developed and I appreciated the timeline of events. YA stories often feature insta-love or some from of the main characters hating each other then a week later getting married. This story had a nice pace and the timeline made their story believable.

Some Things I Didn’t Like

I felt like the NetGalley description was not entirely accurate. Yes, Yenni goes on a journey and she meets a dragon, but I definitely wasn’t expecting magic school / Harry Potter vibes. I didn’t mind it at all, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.
Similarly, I was expecting the central plot to be more about Yenni’s homeland. I think if the description cited that this was one of a series, I’d have been more prepared for the turns the plot took and the ending.

Series Value

While the description did not mention this is a series, if it is, I’d continue with it. Is this a drop everything, the new book is out series? No, probably not. But, I’d definitely pick up a copy of any sequel to this story and read it at some point.

Cover Art

I haven’t featured this section in a while but I felt like it was definitely relevant to this title. I am not a fan of the cover art here. I felt like it made the book look too much like a graphic novel or a kid’s book. I think the art would be fine for promotional material, but I don’t think it does the book justice. I much prefer the more abstract art featured when this book was solely published on Wattpad.

Final Thoughts

I liked this book. I would continue with the series and I think it has a lot of potential. I can easily see why it had so many reads on Wattpad.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling – specifically, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but I can’t just recommend one book in that series because what kind of lunatic would read a random book from the middle?? Anyway, this story gave me a ton of Harry Potter vibes from magic school to the culture shock that the main character experienced. If you liked this book, give the Harry Potter series a try.
Talon by Julie Kagawa – if you liked the shape-shifting dragon elements of this book, give this series by Julie Kagawa a try – you won’t be disappointed!
Beasts of the Frozen Sun by Jill Criswell – if you liked the enemies to lovers romance and the language elements of Given, give Jill Criswell’s series a try. Book two is coming out next year.

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I really love me a good dragon romance novel. This one was very nicely written and I really want to read more dragon romance in the future.

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I absolutely loved this book. Dragons are my soft spot. Yanni is a strong woman lead. She is strong willed and very loyal. Weysch is loving and a protector. I love how different cultures are in this story, it makes it more interesting. This is one of those stories that a few lessons in it.

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*I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion*

I think I went into the book expecting something and getting out with another. Not in a bad way because I would totally give this book a 3.9 (just because 4 is a pretty high rating for me) but the synopsis of the book didn't mention the circumstances of the book.

I totally didn't expect a Hogwarts-like place in the book, but Prevan academy was just that. A prestigious school for magic. I loved it, but all I'm saying is, I would have liked to know what I was getting into. I loved the world building inside the book, or more like the world building of Cresh, because we didn't really get much of Yirba (Yenni's island), but I think that's just because the whole book takes place in Cresh. I think if the sequel (now available on Wattpad) comes out, we would get a bit more of Yirba though.

I had some other issues throughout the book. One being, character development. I really don't think there was much character development throughout the story for our two main protagonists, they just kind of fell in love but they didn't get much growth. And to be honest they didn't really have a bright personality to begin with, and that bothered me quite a lot.

And this is a very romance centered book so if you're expecting a lot of dragons and epic battle scenes....well you don't really get much of that. The romance though is pretty good, it did flow pretty well (minus that one chapter where suddenly Yenni goes from denying any sort of feelings to confessing her love) and easily. And even the overall pace of the book was written quite well.

One last thing is, and I don't know if I'm saying that because of all the time I spent on Wattpad before or what, but you can still feel that this is a Wattpad book down to it's very core. So for all the Wattpad readers, you are going to fall in love with this book.

(Please tell me that there's a sequel being published, because I would love to know how their story would unfold)

*Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with this ARC*

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