Thursday 23 October 2014

Review: Talon by Julie Kagawa

Talon by Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: October 28th 2014
My rating: 2 stars 


Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

The last dragon themed book that I read and loved was Seraphina, I loved the world and character’s that Hartman created and her world building was fantastic. So when I heard about Talon I was beyond excited. The beginning actually started out really great too, Kagawa did a fantastic job at setting the back story of this world; dragons have been hunted by order of St. George for as long as anyone could remember. The men of St. George have been trained to track down and kill down any dragons, but what they never expected was one of their own men to fall for one of the enemies.

When Ember and her brother Dante move to the area, all they want to do is fit in, no one so more than Ember, yes she knows she has to remain under cover, fit in as much as possible and of course remain loyal to Talon. But the more time Ember spends with other humans and of course the rogue dragon Riley the more she realises that there’s much more to life than Talon. But her brother is all she has, she doesn’t want to leave him to Talon, but what choice does she have? Kagawa once again did a brilliant job in getting you stuck in with the story. We wanted Ember to succeed in her disguise around humans, to keep her temper in check and as we didn’t know much about the order of St George I couldn’t wait for Garret’s arrival and for things to kick off. And whilst at the beginning I was all for whatever was developing between Ember and Garrett, it became a bit too obvious and forbidden for my liking. Yes Ember was a dragon and shouldn’t be falling for a human being, but she couldn’t help herself and yes Garrett knew from the beginning (which was another thing which rubbed me the wrong way), that Ember could be his target, but he decided to keep it undercover for way too long. Usually I’m all for forbidden relationships, but in my eyes Ember and Garrett fell for each other way too quickly. Yes in parts their relationship was sweet, but still I didn’t find myself completely behind them. And then when Kagawa decided to add a third component to this already strange relationship, it made me even less concerned with what was going down in this book. How quickly could Ember shift her feelings, I was totally baffled when this person even became a potential love interest as I always saw him as a friend. And then when we were given his pov too in the middle of the book, that made me even more confused.

All in all I was left slightly disappointed with Talon; it had the great potential to actually deliver an interesting start to what could have been a great series. But sadly I don’t think this will be one series I will be returning to.



15 comments:

Carina Olsen said...

AW :( Sad face. I'm so sorry you didn't like this one. But I totally understand. I was so so excited for it. But I must be honest, and I think I will hate this book :( Ember sounds like an asshole. You say: "How quickly could Ember shift her feelings," SERIOUSLY? THAT is why I hate love triangles. What the hell. Sad face. Just, not for me :( I wish it wasn't this way, though, because I love Julie. Sigh. I do love your review, though. <3 Thank you for sharing sweetie :)

Faye M. said...

Aw man, and to think that I was so exicted to read this one, too! It's really sad that Talon showcases a rather fast-paced romance, considering how in her Vampire book it was anything but. Forbidden romances I can take, but it has to be justified and not rushed for it to be effective to me. Hopefully I like this one much more than you did when I get to it, although I have low expectations now because I can be REALLY nitpicky >.>

Faye at The Social Potato

Glass said...

Only two stars? :( Now I am scared to read this book. I have to admit that I haven't read books about dragons so far, but I liked the sound of this one.
I hope I will like it more than you did (but something tells me that I won't).
Great review, Jasprit.

Mary @ BookSwarm said...

I think it's the potential and the not living up to its potential that made me so upset with this book (stupid that I get so emotionally invested in the possibility of something but...books. You know.). I *might* pick up the second one but, at this point, I don't think I will because of my extreme disappointment. Boo love triangle. Boo instalove (-ish). Boo to focusing on the romance rather than the Talon vs. Order (with a big side-helping of romance, of course). *sigh*

Anonymous said...

Jasprit, I'm really sad to see this rating and review from you, but pretty much everyone has had the same feelings for this book. I think I'm going to skip it because the romance aspect sounds a bit like a disaster. I would want more dragon action than romantic conflicts, and this would disappoint me. :(
Thanks for the lovely review, Jasprit!

Unknown said...

I read her Iron Fey series first and wasn't really impressed so I gave her another shot with her Blood of Eden series only to have that series end in massive disappointment. I'm not sure I'll be checking Kagawa out any more and if I do it won't be this one. Really had a lot of great sounding potential though. Great review!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I'm sorry you didn't really enjoy this one. Sometimes the romances tend to ruin a book...it sounds like it would have been better if the romance was not included.

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

Sigh.... I am skipping this one. Even though I usually love Kagawa, this one is getting nothing but lackluster reviews. Thanks for steering me clear.

Unknown said...

Sorry this one didn't work for you, Jasprit! I already decided I would skip it when I heard about the love triangle, but I at least wish other readers liked it for the dragons and stuff. :/

BookOwl93 said...

This is definitely the first time I've read a review where someone wasn't super happy about a book Julie Kagawa has released. Of course, I've never read any of her books so I'm not sure how much I'd like them either...but I was counting on Talon being my first read from her. Now I'm just not sure whether I should anymore. I'm still happy you gave us your honest opinion. It's made me realize that I should look more into this book than I thought before.

brandileigh2003 said...

Aw sorry to hear it was disappointing

Unknown said...

ew , eap sorry this was disappointing for you. I was kind of curious and looking forward to picking it up. I might now wait a bit.

Joy said...

Thanks for this, Jasprit. It just confirms that this book is one that I will not be reading.

manda | elfswood.blogspot said...

Great review! I actually read a few chapters into this book and decided to drop it. Looks like I made the right decision! :p

Unknown said...

I've never been into dragons, but do sometimes enjoy Kagawas work. Sorry the romance didn't work for you, Jasprit. Thanks for the review!

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