Published - 28th April 2015
Publisher - Harlequin/MIRA
Format - Kindle
Synopsis -
Ember Hill left the
dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt
and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for
her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a
soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her
from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own
death warrant. Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember
must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters.
With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the
hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new
perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. A
reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking
and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another
day…or start an all-out war?
Rogue is the sequel to Talon by Julie Kagawa. If you've read Talon then you'll know just how much I was excited to read this! Talon ended so amazingly and full of possibilities that I was itching to start reading it. Rogue picked up quickly and it felt seamless following on from Talon.
Rogue is told from the perspective of multiple characters. Usually I love this writing style but this time it kind of felt a little too much - at the beginning at least. There were multiple character POV's but it also switched between past and present. In hindsight, I loved it but at the time of reading it felt a little confusing.
No review should ever really start with 'It wasn't a bad book but...' but that's what this was for me. It was enjoyable and had a lot of points where I was biting my lip because of the tension but it just didn't really give me what I was looking for. If i'm being totally honest, I can't tell you what the main focus of this book actually was. There was a little bit of everything going on but nothing that stands out majorly. When I started reading Rogue, I was hoping that I would find out more about the inside workings of Talon and St George.
That's also the beauty of trilogies too I guess. Each book hints just that little bit further at what really matters, ready for the climax in the final book. It just makes me anxious that i'll invest so much time and never really get the answer that i'm looking for! There is so much potential with this series that I am genuinely looking forward to seeing where it's heading.
As I mentioned in my review of Talon, the love triangle seems to be teetering on the edge now. Garrett makes a choice that forces Ember to think about what she really wants and who she wants to be. I don't think that it's done with yet and one of the biggest things i'm looking forward to is seeing it resolved.
There's no release date (that i'm aware of) but keep an eye on Soldier, the third book in the series!
Published - 28th October 2014
Publisher - Harlequin/MIRA
Format - Kindle
Synopsis -
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.
Talon was an incredible surprise and a bit of a whirlwind! I didn't really know much about it and i'm one of the few people left who haven't read anything by Kagawa before. Right from chapter one you are thrown in the deep end. Dragons! Enemies! Secrets! Missions! I mean come on, who isn't dragged into a book that is primarily about dragons!
I'll admit, it was a little weird to wrap my head around agiant, scaly dragon kind of morphing into a little frail 16 year old girl but you know what? The logistics don't really matter and I didn't spend too much time thinking about it as the pace of the book had me reading at lightning speed.
For me, Talon had the perfect balance between your typical crush story (hello, love triangle!) and a whole lot of excitement and adventure. Ember was really likeable and relatable which is super important to me. I think the only character that I didn't really connect with was Dante and considering how that goes i'm not totally surprised by it.
What spurred me on whilst reading Talon was the relationship between Talon (the organisation) and St George. I wanted to know where this war came from and why it mattered more than anything else (more on this in my review of Rogue, later!). The book was so fraught with tension over this and honestly, I was kind of stressed out just thinking about the possibilities. The end of the book was so explosive that it left me reeling. What was going to happen? Were any of them safe now? What is Dante thinking? There were so many questions that there was never a single doubt in my mind that the very next book I would read was the sequel, Rogue. Review coming soon......
