Fireborne

Not quite a one-upvote recommendation, but I'd been reading constant rumblings from diverse corners of Reddit saying that this book was lowkey very good.

“Plato's Republic with dragons” is the tagline for this novel, but the book is really based on American class politics of the 21st century more than anything else. It's dealt with in a restrained way that is refreshing and somewhat sheds a lot of the dramatic images of class warfare and revolution in a lot of young adult fiction.

Reviewers suggested this book would be smart, and I was impressed by its cleverness. There are no cosmic plot twists or wheels being reinvented here, but it's one of the best executed and mature YA fantasy novels I have read. Especially for a young adult novel, it's serious, philosophical, and doesn't spell things out for the reader. I was invested in both main characters throughout. The first scene was kind of weird and maybe was meant to hook people in? I had this book stuck on page 3 for about 6 months only to find most of the writing was nothing like the first chapter.

There is a certain lack of pizzazz and wacky creativity that is missing here - the book isn't fun in the traditional YA sense, although it's gripping and attention grabbing intellectually. Munda isn't a very funny writer, and she doesn't try to be, which is ok! I love this, actually. This sort of lands the book in an odd place, marketing wise - a certain type of twelve year old can read it, but that's probably the same certain type of 20-30 year old that's going to read it and enjoy it. I'm very much that type of person, but if you're looking for more of a romp, I'd skip this.

As for the dragons, they may have helped market the book if it had been released post-Fourth Wing, but there's actually relatively little to them other than to draw the reader into a somewhat distant universe. They're fun, I guess, but don't expect the same amount of time or character development of a “traditional” dragon rider book.

I'll certainly be continuing with this series and am looking forward to books 2 and 3!