| Author: | Jenna Jarvis |
| Genre(s): | ➡️Fantasy ➡️Queer ➡️Enemies-to-Lovers Romance |
| Series? | ❎ No (Not yet) |
| Goodreads Rating: | ⭐ 4.38 (39 ratings; 23 reviews) |
| Personal Rating: | ⭐ 3.5 / 5 Overall |
🛑 Spoiler Warning 🛑
I might be recounting events, characters, and themes so THIS MIGHT BE FULL OF SPOILERS.
If you’d like to read a review with the spoilers hidden, kindly scroll to the bottom to read my spoiler-free review or head to my Goodreads post. You don’t need an account to read it. 🙂
SuMMARY / PLOT
The kingdoms of Jeenobi and Aelshia had just entered a truce; a feat not easy to get as Jeenobi used to pride itself as the land of dragon slayers while Aelshia is known to be a land of dragon riders. Litz – a dragon rider who happens to be in Jeenobi – found herself volunteering to extradite Kella – a renowned dragon slayer – from Jeenobi to Aelshia for continuing to hunt dragons despite it being recently outlawed as part of the peace treaty. As they traverse the desert that separates the two kingdoms with Litz’s dragon Loren, the journey doesn’t go as planned for several reasons.
First off, Kella has been raised as a dragon slayer and they’re traveling with Litz’s dragon, Loren. Not only does she find it disturbing to be around dragons, but she also finds it disgusting that Litz and Loren have a mental bond that – to her – feels invasive. Litz, on the other hand, grew up around dragons and finds it repulsive for someone to dedicate their life to killing the race of a friend she dearly loves.
Second, Kella continuously finds a way to escape and her attempts would lead them to complicated and more dangerous situations
Third, after an unfortunate encounter with sand demons, Litz revealed herself to be a practitioner of magic which is hated and hunted by both dragons and humans.
Fourth, Kella’s brother who was in the same dragon-slaying team as his sister since he was a child, is attempting to catch up to her and in desperation turned to a gremlin and a dragon for help.
Fifth, there’s political unrest boiling beneath the two kingdoms. The traveling unit will discover something about the war that might cause their deaths before they even reach their target destinations – their own homes. But knowing what they know, will they even want to go reach it?
🌟Review (3.5/5) 🌟
Solid book! A very well-paced first book of a promising epic fantasy journey that I would love to read more about. Before reading the book I didn’t know what the title meant, but now I get it and I can say it’s an appropriate title. This really feels like a long battle for everyone involved and I am here for it!
“Oh. It’s a figure of speech. […] Like it’s sweet that you’re trying or hoping, but it’s probably never going to get you anywhere.”
Kella Mabaki, Digging for Heaven
Plot
There are times when a blurb holds more promise than the book but this is NOT one of those times! I love the story so much! The book gave me what the summary promised and more! I thought this was just going to be an enemy-to-lovers romance but it was so much more than that. The story mostly revolves around Litz and Kella’s journey but the book still managed to paint a picture of this fantasy world and insert some interesting subplots that I’m really hoping to dig deeper in the next installments. Plus, the way it all ties together is genius! The book managed to tie multiple plotlines without overwhelming me. A romance between a dragon slayer and a dragon rider, a brother traumatized by being previously bonded with a dragon, a dragon struggling to find her identity, two kingdoms that don’t seem to want the peace forged by their leaders, a marriage of convenience with a promise of something more, a tribe practicing magic looking for a home, political plays among different species… I mean, my god, this was a really amazing storyline!
Characters
It took a while for me to be invested especially since I didn’t like how the initial meetings went for the characters but it just got better and I was eventually charmed. Litz and Kella were written so well. I love reading about women warriors that are actually portrayed as strong people who can fight and get themselves out of their own battles and not just strong until the plot needs a damsel in distress. Other things I love about the characters:
- Litz was logical and collected but I liked how that broke for her dragon companion, Loren, and not because of a romance distress.
- Kella was an outspoken, brass warrior and she acted as such without being portrayed as mean. She acts on impulse on everything except when her hunting instincts are kicking in.
- Ker surprised me most of all. I thought he was just going to be a typical side character that tends to have a more shallow subplot but boy I was so glad to be wrong. He speaks and acts like a young adult that fits his age but his trauma started to seep into the story without losing his childlike aura. His arc coming from a family of dragon slayers to becoming one of the rare humans to bond with a dragon more than once in a lifetime is my second favorite plotline.
- Loren started out as a gal pal to Litz and eventually solidified as an old, graceful, wise warrior that will have a role to play in the dragons’ own political turmoil with humans and witches. At least, that’s what I hope.
- Ellonya, the new dragon struggling with her identity. I can feel her yearning and feeling of being an outcast. I’m so looking forward to her arc as well because I feel like she’s going to be someone special. She and Loren having a side quest related to their dragon heritage and history will be an interesting plotline to follow!
- Jev, a young king who used to be in the same dragon-slaying group as Kella, feels like he became a king too soon. This young king married the opposing kingdom’s princess, Eisha, as part of uniting their kingdoms. However, the one thing I don’t like is that he seems too incompetent in his role and he doesn’t seem to struggle with that. He’s fighting for this peace but could not rally his people behind his decision and had his queen abducted so easily.
- Eisha, who feels she’s fulfilling her duty by accepting this marriage of convenience to King Jev, played like a typical damsel in distress that I was actually surprised she was described as someone knowledgeable in fighting in the last chapters. She really didn’t display it, especially after being abducted so easily. However, her relationship with Jev is actually my favorite plotline. I would be so happy if it would be explored further.
The other side characters were all quite interesting and well-written too. They seem to have history; enough to have depth but not too much that it eats away from the main story. The conversations were wonderfully written. Serious when it needs to be, playful at most, and really reflects the characters’ personalities.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I really like this book. It has so much potential to be an excellent series that I would love to embark on. The plots were all cleverly designed and the pacing of their reveals is top-notch! I love that the subplots have layers — from a simple romance between two people to a nation’s war, and then to a potentially all-out war between different species? Genius execution. My only real turnoff is that the narration is just not my style. I’m not really sure what it is about them that didn’t draw me in even during the fighting sequences. I had to read the first two chapters twice to understand what was going on too. But once I was in, I was there and finished it in one sitting because the characters are fun to read. They had enough depth and I like the banters and playful conversations.
I recommend this for people into fantasy, especially involving dragons, who like a good world-building fantasy but not looking for something so heavy. Also to people looking to read a clean, lesbian romance with a well-executed enemy-to-lovers trope. Check it out on Amazon!
FAVORITE QUOTE(S)
“[…] And I’d like to know you have my back.”
–— Litz and Loren
“You know I always do. But I’m struggling to remember which way you’re facing.”
The Stray Reader 
Leave a comment