The Red Dragon Girl by Lea Doué
Fantasy. 287 Pages. 5 Stars
Synopsis:
A cursed land. A tenacious sorcerer. A dagger-throwing princess out to prove her worth.
Princess Melantha is done with court life. After suffering humiliation at her sister’s wedding, she’s determined to find her place outside palace walls and far away from fickle princes. Hearing rumors of a curse breakable only by a red-haired girl, she says goodbye to her eleven sisters and sets out on her own.
But events don’t unfold as planned, and she is caught up in a grueling journey through a distant kingdom with friends both old and new in a race for survival. When the one person she distrusts the most shows up unexpectedly and offers to help, Melantha must decide if she’s willing to pay his price.
My Review:
Okay, y’all! This was the third book in the Firethorn Chronicles. The first two were good, not great, but I kept reading cause I did like them. It’s no secret I love dragons, so that has helped me to continue reading the series too. Plus, it’s an indie author, y’all; I had to give her some support. I liked the stories and I liked the characters. I must say I liked this third book the best!
Yes, by now I’m more antiquated with the world, but I still feel like more could have been explained. Though we did get to know more bits and pieces about a few of the different kinds of dragons (which was cool!), I still think the world building could use a little work. Other than that, I very much enjoyed this book! The characters were fun, both old and new, and the plot was engaging. I liked the double-entendre of the curse Mel sought out to break and I thought the way the characters handled the solution was clever, if not convenient in some ways. I absolutely loved Orin; I’ve loved him since book one and was very happy to see his return. The romance was sweet and cute too. The pacing of the story was good and there was a little bit of suspense at moments to keep my hanging on. I’m certainly eager to see more of the princesses and follow up with the threads that Mrs. Doué left dangling for us. I remember catching one boo-boo, but other than that the story was written well-enough. I’d recommend the book–in it’s place in the series, of course–to anyone who wants a short, fun little read, nothing serious.
No foul language. Mild violence (some brief sword fighting, dagger throwing, and arrow shooting). Mild, sweet romance (nothing more than a brief kiss.) And some mild magic use, though, again, nothing explicit or detailed or super dark.
More:
Book 1 in the Firethorn Chronicles is The Firethorn Crown (4 Stars)
Book 2 is The Midsummer Captives (4 Stars)
Book 2.5 (a novella) is Red Orchid (Read, but not rated or reviewed)
Book 4 is The Moonflower Dance
Snapdragon is a Firethorn Chronicles short story (4 stars)
Book 2.5 (Red Orchid) is free for Leah’s newsletter subscribers!
I have reviewed each of the above on Goodreads, except for Red Orchid; it wasn’t available on Goodreads when I read it. I may go back and reread it to leave a rating and review. Follow the links to find more info on the books and then scroll down to see the reviews. Mine is among them.
This series should be read in order. Snapdragon isn’t directly related to the main storyline and can be read at any time.
On GraceBought
If you missed it, check out my thoughts on the previous books below!
The Firethorn Crown and The Midsummer’s Captives