This story was entertaining and unique. I love the idea of stories holding magic for both good and evil.

My favorite parts of this book were the way the author wove her lore and stories into the over arching plot, the dragons, and the relationship between the two. She did a wonderful job making the old stories feel magical and they were definitely my favorite parts of the book. I also loved that the dragons we see in the story have very unique personalities that feel somewhere between human and animal. The idea that they can also share stories was beautiful!

I unfortunately didn't really find the characters to be engaging or likeable. There were points where I understood them, but often they hold to a personality flaw too long and it makes them feel stuck and flat. A good portion of the sub plot would have been easily avoided with some direct communication.
Everyone in this story was either absolutely evil, or a want-to-be martyr.
That said, the one character death in the book made me cry.

Jarek was so cruel he made a rather unbelievable character with 0 redeeming qualities. The author does a good job making us hate him, and I do understand his motives.
Her other villain however, honestly didn't make sense to me. He had everything to lose and nothing to gain by making the decisions he did.

Over all, I could definitely see a younger reader loving this book. It has a leading lady who is believably strong and a leading man who is both masculine and gentle. There was enough to the plot to be entertaining and most of the answers were satisfying. I even found myself surprised with one of the reveals.