2016/08/29

Dragonmark (Dark Hunters #27)

Dragonmark (Dark-Hunter, #26; Dragons Rising, #1; Lords of Avalon, #5)Dragonmark Summary:
Centuries ago, Illarion was betrayed– a dragon made human against his will, then forced to serve humanity as a dragonmount in their army, and to fight for them in barbaric wars, even while he hated everything about them. Enslaved and separated from everyone he knew and from his own dragon brothers, he was forced into exile in a fey realm where he lost the only thing he ever really loved.

Now he has a chance to regain what’s been lost— to have the one thing he covets most. But only if he gives up his brothers and forsakes the oaths he holds most dear. Yet what terrifies him most isn’t the cost his happiness might incur, it’s the fact that there is just enough human in his dragon’s heart that he might actually be willing to pay it and betray everything and everyone– to see the entire world burn...

Dragonmark Review:
I went into this book thinking that it would be horrible because everyone said that it was an exact copy of Son of No One and Dragonbane. It actually turned out to be better than I originally thought but it wasn't as spectacular as the previous books in the series. The parts that were unique were very interesting and moved at a very fast paced.

Edilyn proved to be an amazing heroine. The best part of her was that she was treated as a pariah in her community and plans to be the best in her horrible situation. She is incredibly inspiring because she does not turn into a vindictive (excuse my language) bitch. She never acted superior and kept all of her morals to not only help herself but others. When she first meets Illarion, in disguise, she treats him with the same respect as she would anyone else. Even when he turns into a dragon, she treats him as a person instead of a thing. Edilyn remains honorable, caring, decisive and kick-assy from beginning to end. She comes off as a perfect heroine even with all her flaws.

Illarion comes off as a nice hero but I think there was something missing. He seems so similar to previous heroes because of their tortured past and never being touched by a loving hand. This book didn't have too much of that angst which I enjoyed. His past did reveal some nice secrets or hints that I'll talk about below. It was nice to see a human (part kikimary) fall in love with a dragon. While Maxis was okay with being human, Illarion despises it so this book is literally about a human falling in love with a dragon.

Their loyalty to each other, like Styxx and Bethany, was extraordinary and strengthened by the fact that they always talked about their problems. The main problem was their romance was falling in love within three hours which really pushes the idea of insta-love. But their path to trust is the one that will draw you in. And this made the plot interesting and unique. Saying that the ending especially came off as haphazardly put together because of it's incredibly fast pace and nothing being explained properly. It came off as unsatisfactory and failed to bring us back in for the conclusion (I'm talking about the last bit of the book that was original).

I didn't actually mind the recap of the previous book too much because it has been one year since Dragonbane came out and two years since Son of No One came out. It provided some important facts that we discovered in the series and made it so I didn't need to re-read the previous books. Saying that, I still don't fully understand why it is there. I get that it showed once again, all the tidbits we learned but some of it wasn't even in Illarion's perspective. If it were in Illarion's perspective, we would have gotten more than a "Illarion thought" or "Illarion winced" and left out a lot of the scenes that were included. It should have proved more depth into his thoughts. We could have even skipped all of that entirely and gone into what Edilyn has been doing this whole time. That would have proved much more interesting because even when she comes back we don't know what happened.

Even when we had stories that went back in time, like Styxx and Bad Moon Rising, they were done in the POV of the character and in such a way that brought a new light to previous events. It wasn't done in here and that did not engage me as much as it should have. I and many other fans would gladly wait longer for her books just so that we can get a spectacular book that really hasn't come since Styxx. It wouldn't matter how long a book takes to come out, just look at ASOIAF which can take up to five years for the next book to come out, as long the book is amazing! I honestly believe that Kenyon is a fantastic author, but her books are just not the same and something, maybe more time on the writing or writing more of the main couples' history/story, should be taken to bring it back.

Overall, this book was a three star read. The first in the Dark-Hunter series and within any of her main series actually. I'm done trying to nitpick for the good stuff and hopefully the next books turn out to be much stronger. Below I'm going to talk about any hidden tidbits from this book so beware of spoilers below. 
  1.  Xyn seems very likely as Urian's heroine because she's a dragon that is missing, which might explain the Dragon Rising. It also means that last of the siblings (Illarion, Falcyn and Maxis) has found a mate. Finally, it should explain Falcyn's comment saying he's not the only one to change into human form (not including Illarion or Maxis).
  2. Suriyel seems to be Maxis' father. We only know of four Arels at this time and by looking at their descriptions and their appearances lead me to believe that they could be related. The only thing left to find it is the mother who still seems to be hiding. 
  3. Savitar's action led to the death of the first Malachai, who is Braith's son which would explain why she hates him so much. 
  4. Thorn and Karma definitely have something going on because of the looks they keep passing to each other. 
  5. Urian might have the ability to shape shift into a dragon like Stryker does, which may explain why his book doesn't start with dragon like the Dragonbane, Dragonmark and Dragonsworn. 
  6. Aeron's two friends seem to be Kaziel and Vawn which means that Kaziel's story is probably going to come up in the LoA series. 
  7. All the baddies are getting together: Apollo, Morgen, Kessar and maybe Noir later in the series. This will strengthen the lines between good and evil which means a conclusion is on the horizon. 
  8. I read somewhere that Nick is the last ark so that means his is the last book in the series and with everyone coming together that may be happening quicker than we thought. 
  9. Savitar can make mates, something only the Greeks were supposed to do. And he can see any possible outcome of the future and that's why he stays by himself on the island which will prove interesting when trying to find his heroine.

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