Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I stand before you, still wallowing in the tears that began to flow from my eyes while reading TALON by Julie Kagawa. No, they were not tears of sadness due to the emotional level of the story. More-so, they were tears of sadness because of the complete loss of (the apparently much-too-high) hopes, dreams and expectations that I’d held for this book. No, I did not care for TALON. I didn’t even like it. This is one of those rare instances that I actually must use the word “dislike” toward a book that I’ve read. Maybe it is the way that my dreams were torn to pieces while reading TALON, a book that I almost put down completely around 50% of the way in. But I stuck with it due to some crazy sense of obligation. As a fan of Julie’s previous works, a vocal supporter of both her fey and vampire series as well as a collector of her handmade dragons, I was destined to love this book, right?! WRONG. Ugh. I feel like I’m going against my very nature by writing this review… Talon starts off just as any paranormal young adult novel does (I’m not even going to call this book a “modern-day fantasy”, because it’s NOT) - with a young, female protagonist (Ember) embarking on a new chapter in her life. Ember just so happens to be a dragon in disguise, sent to California in order to assimilate with humans. But you wouldn’t know that because she acts just like any other normal teenage girl. Although I guess that’s the point of assimilation, but still… No need to assimilate this dragon, guys! Ember is pretty much your standard - albeit undeniably beautiful and insanely rich - modern-day teen! She is not at all like a dragon that you’d kept secluded for the most important, formative years of her life. If Ember didn’t constantly talk about “her dragon” and complain about having to wake up at 5am every morning for dragon training, I probably would have forgotten what her true self was to begin with… Then there’s this really, really cool scene a dozen or so pages into the book. We’re dumped into a wild, tropical jungle, where it seems as though a major drug bust is going down. A plethora of (disturbingly young!) militants are running around a building… with guns. This is where we’re introduced to our main male lead, Garrett. Garret is apparently a teenage killing prodigy/machine with the Order of St. George. I almost had my hopes rekindled after he speaks of a terrible, fire-breathing dragon hanging about. Yesss!! This is when things will get GOOD, right? (Dragons! Fire! Hee-yahhh!) …Yeah, maybe things do get good… for a page… or two. Whereas this action-packed scenario could have been a great opportunity to lay down the groundwork on the history of the dragon lore, it turns into nothing more than a scene involving a bunch of humans fighting humans outside a building. When the dragon finally does come out – or more like explodes from the building – he’s taken down much too quickly. (And guess which character gets to be the one to take him down?) Cut to a new scene and, just like that, Garrett the Dragon Killer is being shipped to the southern coast of California on a mission. His objective? Hang out with the local teens and identify the latest dragon “hatchling” implant… and then? Kill her. Surf’s up, duuuude. ...Of course we all see where this is heading, right? Just like Romeo and his fair Juliet, almost immediately the stars align and Ember (the dragon) meets Garrett (the dragon killer). Much surfing and partying and hanging out ensues for the duo, as Garrett struggles with his inner turmoil and Ember struggles with her inner… dragon? Want a laugh? Ember (as a human) refers to her dragon side as “my dragon”. The book contains lines similar to: “My dragon roared to the surface..” and “My dragon growled in reaction to his touch…” and “I felt my dragon stir within me…” and so on and so forth. You get the point… Eventually, I actually started to refer to Ember’s “dragon” as her secret male appendage and not so much as her split identity (or more like split personality). To make matters worse, the (admittedly few and far in between) moments when we actually do get to see Ember’s “dragon” (I almost feel naughty saying that) are such a let down. Either 1) we join her for a brief, non-descriptive forbidden flight over the ocean with the rogue dragon, Riley/Cobalt, or 2) we witness as she runs from various human minions/dragon groupies (seriously what is with all the humans that support Talon?! I still don’t get their purpose.) who blast her with paint balls inside a warehouse of some sort. Talon calls this the final step in her “training”. Holy sub-part character and world building, Batman! With so much time spent on Ember’s overall displeasure over her situation, the story and the character relationships frequently get lost in the mix. I found myself not caring about the romance - a romance that involves a weird “dragon instinct vs. human emotion” love triangle of sorts. (Grrr, now my inner-dragon is growling…) I also was not interested in the exiles, the dragon training, the secrets, nor the fractured relations between Ember and her twin brother, Dante. Almost two thirds of the story leads up to nothing but a kiss. And then some twists are thrown in that I think are supposed to be considered shocking, but unfortunately, by the time they occur I’d become so desensitized to the story that I just didn’t care. In fact, I’m still not even sure who the true bad guys of the story are. I have a feeling that the grey areas between “good” and “evil” are intended, but at this point, as I said, I just don’t care. As for the dragons? My dreams of the perfect dragon novel written by Julie-freaking-Kagawa have all been blown to smithereens… While the dragons sounded nice, I saw so little of them that I couldn’t even get a feel for their majesty. It saddens me that Ember herself his the size of a small horse? (Now I picture her as one of those cute and cuddly creatures that Julie Kagawa like to mold…) I have a feeling the dragons will be explored even more in future books, but I just don’t care enough to think about that possibility anymore… I absolutely despise the fact that I have lost all my cares for this series. It doesn’t help that so little time is spent explaining just about everything about this dragon-filled society, except for whatever is occurring in Ember’s immediate world. The animosity between Talon and St. George exists “just because”. The Order must kill all dragons “just because”. Dragons always follow Talon’s orders “just because”. (Seriously, that’s the explanation, guys.) Perhaps we the readers are not suppose to question these things either, because certainly nobody within the story does. NOBODY QUESTIONS ANYTHING. Not Garret, not his partner, not Dante, not anybody… Except, of course, for the “special ones”; the dragon exiles. And Ember. Because she’s speshul… I don’t even want to think about the fact that there are still four more books during which this story and all of its separate convoluted elements will be dragged sorted out! My point is: there is very little “modern-day fantasy” when it comes to TALON as a whole. It’s more like “angsty paranormal romance – with a love triangle!” If that’s your thing, go for it. Just know that being a Julie Kagawa fan will not guarantee insta-love for this book. (Though there is plenty of insta-love to be had within these pages – complete with all of the indigestion inducing, “tingly belly” sensations that come with it!) With all that said, it is time for me to move on. I likely will not be purchasing nor continuing this series. I cannot deal with such disappointment again.