Review:
Another great book in this gripping urban fantasy series that continues to stand out from the crowd and feel very fresh and original! I loved all the same things that I did in the previous two books. Great plot/pacing. Great cast of unique and interesting characters. Great magic and creatures (dragons, spirits, mages). Great world-building (a future in which a meteor brought back magic to the world).
This book had more intensity though. It was also cool to learn more about Chelsie and her past. And this one was different since it was all about Julius leading the Council, which was a nice change of pace from him constantly running around and battling outside forces and basically just trying to avoid being killed. It gave him all different sorts of problems to deal with, and it let the reader understand even more about dragons, their mindsets, their ways of living, etc. It also meant we got to spend lots of time with Julius’s family and meet more of his siblings, and I do find them all really interesting, even if some of them are awful.
Side note: I kinda love Ian. He’s a manipulative, smooth-talking bastard who seems to only really care about himself, but at least he’s not as murderous as the rest of the family and does support Julius’s new system, even if it’s only because he sees it as an opportunity to benefit himself. Also, any time he says he’s going to make something happen, I don’t even doubt him because he really is just that good. But mostly I just love how nothing ever ruffles his feathers. Every time Julius is like, “Well that went horribly,” Ian is just like, “What are you talking about? That went great! I expected so much worse!” Everything just sloughs right off his back and doesn’t faze him. I love it.
I haven’t mentioned it in my reviews so far, but there’s also a small bit of romance that is happening ever so slowly. It’s not really a tension-filled slow burn, more like the characters have just been too preoccupied to think about it much. It’s cute though.
There was one kind of ridiculous thing in this book though. Not something that affected my enjoyment, more like I just had to roll my eyes and laugh. *SPOILER* Julius was literally like:
– Chelsie fell in love and ended up in a forbidden romance while she was in China.
– F clutch was born right after she got back to the US.
– There’s physically no way Bethesda could’ve given birth to F clutch with that timing.
– Chelsie really cares about F clutch and takes good care of them.
– Bethesda’s hold over Chelsie is directly related to her hold over F clutch.
– What ever could Chelsie’s giant secret be???!??!??#$%^@^#??%$#?!$%#&^*?*$? *END SPOILER*
Anyway, this series is getting deeper and more intricate with each book, clearly building up to some bigger things *side eyes Bob*, and I’m really enjoying it and excited to see what’s going to happen next!
Recommended For:
Fans of Books 1 and 2 in Rachel Aaron's Heartstrikers series. Anyone who likes dragon shifters, magic, a whole cast of unique characters, a fast-paced story, and some unique futuristic world-building.
More Books in the Series:
Book Review: Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers Book 1) by Rachel Aaron
Book Review: One Good Dragon Deserves Another (Heartstrikers Book 2) by Rachel Aaron
Book Review: No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished (Heartstrikers Book 3) by Rachel Aaron
Book Review: A Dragon of a Different Color (Heartstrikers Book 4) by Rachel Aaron
Book Review: Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers Book 5) by Rachel Aaron
Hey smooth talking bastards are people too, right? They also need love. 🙂 Seriously though, glad this series is sooo good since- at some point- I’m hopefully gonna try it! Ian and Julius sound like a pretty good team, haha, and weren’t some of the early books set in Detroit or thereabouts? Seems like I remember that and that was a draw for me as well.
Technically he’s actually not a person since he’s a dragon 😉 You *should* try it! You might like it, and I definitely rec it. The series is mostly set in Detroit, although a unique, futuristic kinda Detroit.
I’m glad to hear this series stands out from the crowd. The cast of characters sounds so interesting, and I’m just all for anything that sounds fresh and original.
It’s great when an author can write a whole cast of characters who are all great. This is a great series!
Every time I read a review of this series I want to start it! I love that she’s keeping up the momentum😁
It’s such a great series!
I’m going to have to check out the first book in the series, this looks awesome.
Ash @ JennRenee Read
It’s a great series!
Glad to see you continued to enjoy this series as it progressed. I know you’ve read it all now but I’m enjoying seeing your thoughts as each book progresses. I’m glad it almost seems to get a bit stronger as each book goes on.
Thanks! Yeah, I wrote these reviews as I was reading, so my thoughts are in the past tense lol. I did think the series got stronger in some ways as it went on.
I remember your review of the first book and thinking this would be a great UF to read. I miss binging UFS like I used to. Everytime I pick one up I wonder why I don’t read them as often anymore, because I adore the worlds
It is! I find UF can get kinda repetitive after a while, but this one stood out 🙂
I so have a thing for side characters, and I love my bad characters as well. I think I would love Ian because for no reason in particular, manipulative characters and villains are 100% something I adore. It’s not because I am manipulative. Not at all… 😛
I am glad the intensity was ramped up for this book so you could enjoy it all the more. Sounds like a solid, good sequel!
Sometimes side characters are my faves lol. Ian wasn’t even a villain, just a jerk, haha. I loved him. Sometimes those kinds of characters are the most interesting or entertaining.