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panamamama's review against another edition
4.0
Great story. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it- the beginning seemed slow and I couldn't get all the characters straight- but then it all clicked. Really enjoyed it.
secre's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
This is one of those books that started really strong and then became a bit of a mess once the main plot got rolling and it's a shame because the author can clearly write; the opening chapters proved that.
We start with Pip taken from her home by slave traders and captive in a zoo where 'big people' come and gawk at her and the monkeys. This was by far where the novel was strongest, with a simple narrative and heartfelt descriptions of Pip and her plight along with her growing bond with a giant ape. Here the author genuinely excelled and the plot seemed to move logically. There were some heartfelt moments and some funny moments and some heart-breaking moments. It worked well.
And then she gets rescued by a dragon. And this is the beginning of the end except we're only a fraction of the way in. It's never really explained why the dragon was looking for her or how he knew to look for her or anything. She's special. And that about sums the rest of the book up. Pip is special. She's got special learning, special bonds, special magic and special powers. If there's a way Pip can be special, this author will find a way to include it. By the end, our pygmy heroine might as well be a damn superhero and it's all because she's special.
To be blunt, I hate this trope. It's the Mary Sue of Mary Sue and it's aggravating and unnecessary and frankly - boring. We know the superhero will save the day, particularly when the superhero just keeps on picking up new powers like they are dandelions. There's no particular character growth or development, it's deus machina where the answer rains down from the sky as yet another gift is added. It's lazy.
On top of this, the writing gets messy. The timeline isn't always clear; there are random time skips that are never explained or covered, there's an inordinate amount of sex jokes about dragon backsides, there's a reliance on repetition - if you insult a dragon the dragon gets angry, no matter how bloody stupid the insult was - and there's way too much going on, sweeping a touching beginning into life and death stakes that never really makes sense. The characterisations weren't much better in honesty, with most characters being caricatured cut outs, random betrayals that make no damn sense and a half-hearted enemies to lovers romance that really aggravated me.
This is not a series I'll be continuing with, needless to say.
We start with Pip taken from her home by slave traders and captive in a zoo where 'big people' come and gawk at her and the monkeys. This was by far where the novel was strongest, with a simple narrative and heartfelt descriptions of Pip and her plight along with her growing bond with a giant ape. Here the author genuinely excelled and the plot seemed to move logically. There were some heartfelt moments and some funny moments and some heart-breaking moments. It worked well.
And then she gets rescued by a dragon. And this is the beginning of the end except we're only a fraction of the way in. It's never really explained why the dragon was looking for her or how he knew to look for her or anything. She's special. And that about sums the rest of the book up. Pip is special. She's got special learning, special bonds, special magic and special powers. If there's a way Pip can be special, this author will find a way to include it. By the end, our pygmy heroine might as well be a damn superhero and it's all because she's special.
To be blunt, I hate this trope. It's the Mary Sue of Mary Sue and it's aggravating and unnecessary and frankly - boring. We know the superhero will save the day, particularly when the superhero just keeps on picking up new powers like they are dandelions. There's no particular character growth or development, it's deus machina where the answer rains down from the sky as yet another gift is added. It's lazy.
On top of this, the writing gets messy. The timeline isn't always clear; there are random time skips that are never explained or covered, there's an inordinate amount of sex jokes about dragon backsides, there's a reliance on repetition - if you insult a dragon the dragon gets angry, no matter how bloody stupid the insult was - and there's way too much going on, sweeping a touching beginning into life and death stakes that never really makes sense. The characterisations weren't much better in honesty, with most characters being caricatured cut outs, random betrayals that make no damn sense and a half-hearted enemies to lovers romance that really aggravated me.
This is not a series I'll be continuing with, needless to say.
thecaptainsquarters's review against another edition
1.0
It is time to abandon ship me mateys! I am abandoning more books this year then usual. Sad. Perhaps that is because I am trying new things. In this case, this involved an old love – dragons! By all rights I should have loved this book. And I did sort of like it . . . up to a point.
I made it to the 63% mark before calling it quits. The novel is split into two parts – before dragons and after dragons. This is the story of a pygmy girl named Pip who is captured from her island and taken to be an exhibit in a zoo. I absolutely loved the majority of the section in the zoo. While in the zoo she makes friends with the creatures in her enclosure. Her friendship with Hunagu was the highlight. I loved Pip’s tenacity, intelligence, loyalty, and grit. Her growth was lovely to watch. She is small but fierce like me! Arrrrr!
The problem occurs when the dragons enter the story. I know crazy right? I adore dragons but from the point of Pip’s leaving the zoo, the story started to go downhill for me. I believe some of this is due to the structure of the novel. The zoo is a small world where the scenery doesn’t really change so all of the focus was on the characters and their relationships. I loved this character-driven section.
When Pip leaves the zoo, it is to enter the wider world. The focus on character relationships is mostly removed and the story shifts to the overall arcing politics of the world which I simply didn’t care for.
Pip ends up in dragon school and discovers her own nature. Hunagu disappears from huge parts of the story. We don’t even get to delve in the nitty-gritty of the school. It almost felt like it turned into a different book altogether at this point. While I love dragons, I didn’t love the dragons in this book or the dragon culture. Ah that’s saying something. So I stopped there.
Side note: The prologue of this novel was not good at all and felt kinda horrible with cliches of jungle people and Pygmies from Australia in particular. I should have stopped there maybe but I wanted to see how the dragons were displayed. Sigh.
Check out me other reviews on https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
I made it to the 63% mark before calling it quits. The novel is split into two parts – before dragons and after dragons. This is the story of a pygmy girl named Pip who is captured from her island and taken to be an exhibit in a zoo. I absolutely loved the majority of the section in the zoo. While in the zoo she makes friends with the creatures in her enclosure. Her friendship with Hunagu was the highlight. I loved Pip’s tenacity, intelligence, loyalty, and grit. Her growth was lovely to watch. She is small but fierce like me! Arrrrr!
The problem occurs when the dragons enter the story. I know crazy right? I adore dragons but from the point of Pip’s leaving the zoo, the story started to go downhill for me. I believe some of this is due to the structure of the novel. The zoo is a small world where the scenery doesn’t really change so all of the focus was on the characters and their relationships. I loved this character-driven section.
When Pip leaves the zoo, it is to enter the wider world. The focus on character relationships is mostly removed and the story shifts to the overall arcing politics of the world which I simply didn’t care for.
Pip ends up in dragon school and discovers her own nature. Hunagu disappears from huge parts of the story. We don’t even get to delve in the nitty-gritty of the school. It almost felt like it turned into a different book altogether at this point. While I love dragons, I didn’t love the dragons in this book or the dragon culture. Ah that’s saying something. So I stopped there.
Side note: The prologue of this novel was not good at all and felt kinda horrible with cliches of jungle people and Pygmies from Australia in particular. I should have stopped there maybe but I wanted to see how the dragons were displayed. Sigh.
Check out me other reviews on https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/
kitvaria_sarene's review against another edition
3.0
This one was a vaery mixed batch for me.
I hated teh start and would never have kept readig if it wasn't for SPFBO and so I had a goal of reading at least 20%. The start is written like a kids book, in a tone and voice that grated badly for me, and it was a chore to get past.
One I did get past and the stly changed I did like it well enough. It went from what felt like a kids story to a very YA like tone and voice, and I could handle that much better. I actually enjoyed the next bit, and thought it an easy and quick read that swept me along nicely, even igf it lacked in depth and just felt a bit too easy.
But then for a book that felt like YA it had way too much sexual innuendo. That again really grated on me. Like one scene when the main character find her clothes stolen after a bath (she herself doesn't really mind nakedness so takes it more or less in stride) slight spoiler for just that one scene, not the whole book here
Or a relationship between a (young!) student and a (really old!) master. That just had me actually gag a little.
This scenes were frequent enough to really annoy me, but not so many it would have ruined the book for me. It definitely changed it from a very easy and light read that I would recommend for Ya audiences to a "not nearly complex enough and lacking depth book for adults" as I wouldn't give a teen a book with that sort of content.
If it was full YA it would a good enough entertaining and quick read. As it isn't suitable for teens in my eyes, but not complex enough for adults I have a hard time recommending it to any audience, even though I did read the whole book and thaought it read quick enough despite its flaws... So 2,5*
As this was another SPFBO Semi finalist, here's the link to the full review on the Fantasy Hive:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2020/10/the-pygmy-dragon-by-marc-secchi-spfbo-6-semi-finalist-review/
I hated teh start and would never have kept readig if it wasn't for SPFBO and so I had a goal of reading at least 20%. The start is written like a kids book, in a tone and voice that grated badly for me, and it was a chore to get past.
One I did get past and the stly changed I did like it well enough. It went from what felt like a kids story to a very YA like tone and voice, and I could handle that much better. I actually enjoyed the next bit, and thought it an easy and quick read that swept me along nicely, even igf it lacked in depth and just felt a bit too easy.
But then for a book that felt like YA it had way too much sexual innuendo. That again really grated on me. Like one scene when the main character find her clothes stolen after a bath (she herself doesn't really mind nakedness so takes it more or less in stride) slight spoiler for just that one scene, not the whole book here
Spoiler
being then cornered by another character who is rather insistent that she definitely wants to have sex with him. And while the situation gets revolved it ends with her being told off for running around naked and no repercussions whatsoever for the other character.Or a relationship between a (young!) student and a (really old!) master. That just had me actually gag a little.
This scenes were frequent enough to really annoy me, but not so many it would have ruined the book for me. It definitely changed it from a very easy and light read that I would recommend for Ya audiences to a "not nearly complex enough and lacking depth book for adults" as I wouldn't give a teen a book with that sort of content.
If it was full YA it would a good enough entertaining and quick read. As it isn't suitable for teens in my eyes, but not complex enough for adults I have a hard time recommending it to any audience, even though I did read the whole book and thaought it read quick enough despite its flaws... So 2,5*
As this was another SPFBO Semi finalist, here's the link to the full review on the Fantasy Hive:
https://fantasy-hive.co.uk/2020/10/the-pygmy-dragon-by-marc-secchi-spfbo-6-semi-finalist-review/
urbanaudreye's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal
This book would appeal to anyone who enjoys tales of fantasy. Wonderfully written and composed with exquisite detail. A fantastic story of dragons and their riders, shapeshifters, and a battle for power. Evoking the most powerful of emotions. Marc Secchia is a wizard of words, bringing stories that are an absolute must read. I know If or one cannot wait to read more of his works (and most especially the next installment in this series).
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
This book would appeal to anyone who enjoys tales of fantasy. Wonderfully written and composed with exquisite detail. A fantastic story of dragons and their riders, shapeshifters, and a battle for power. Evoking the most powerful of emotions. Marc Secchia is a wizard of words, bringing stories that are an absolute must read. I know If or one cannot wait to read more of his works (and most especially the next installment in this series).
*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
valerie_sam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sheilaokeefe's review against another edition
3.0
Disclaimer: I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com
This book started out very interesting. The main character is a child at the beginning, so her ignorance can be a little annoying, but overall she's likable. I liked the world-building with dragon/human interaction that reminded me a bit of Naomi Novik's Temeraire stories. Unfortunately, the story is no where near as well-written nor are the characters as well-developed as in the Temeraire books. The fight scenes were confusing and the action occasionally jumped forward arbitrarily. The romance was unbelievable, very YA in all the worst ways, and detracted from the book. Overall, a low 3 stars and I won't be bothering with the rest of the series.
This book started out very interesting. The main character is a child at the beginning, so her ignorance can be a little annoying, but overall she's likable. I liked the world-building with dragon/human interaction that reminded me a bit of Naomi Novik's Temeraire stories. Unfortunately, the story is no where near as well-written nor are the characters as well-developed as in the Temeraire books. The fight scenes were confusing and the action occasionally jumped forward arbitrarily. The romance was unbelievable, very YA in all the worst ways, and detracted from the book. Overall, a low 3 stars and I won't be bothering with the rest of the series.
moj8668's review against another edition
5.0
Pip is a pygmy warrior who finds herself captured and placed in a cage at the local zoo. She is given the opportunity to talk regularly with a human, a man who is doing research and develops an almost fatherly affection for Pipl. Suddenly, she finds herself taken - or is it rescued?! - by a dragon! The amazing creature takes her to an island acadmy where she learns, much to her surprise, that she is actually a dragon herself. Young Pip, the pygmy warrior, is a shapeshifting pygmy dragon! She has a long, uphill battle to prove her right to be at the academy to say nothing of learning to control her shapeshifting powers! There are evil forces at work, seeking to control all of dragonkind, and Pip's unique abilities will prove to be invaluable in the fight that is to come.
I loved everything about this book. Pip is feisty and fierce and refuses to give up without a fight. But she is also willing to admit her mistakes and tries diligently to learn from them. She is cautious when getting to know the other students, taking her time to form friendships with those she knows she can trust. The first in a series, the author has created a collection of rich characters and a well-crafted world with legends and a history that provide a well-thought-out backdrop to Pip's adventures. I can't wait to continue reading the series!
I loved everything about this book. Pip is feisty and fierce and refuses to give up without a fight. But she is also willing to admit her mistakes and tries diligently to learn from them. She is cautious when getting to know the other students, taking her time to form friendships with those she knows she can trust. The first in a series, the author has created a collection of rich characters and a well-crafted world with legends and a history that provide a well-thought-out backdrop to Pip's adventures. I can't wait to continue reading the series!
hawksinger's review against another edition
3.0
okay read
I enjoyed this book. Some scenes felt rushed, and the rapid growth of some relationships felt illogical, but over all, the book was worth the three hours I spent reading g it. I'll be checking out the next book.
I enjoyed this book. Some scenes felt rushed, and the rapid growth of some relationships felt illogical, but over all, the book was worth the three hours I spent reading g it. I'll be checking out the next book.