Společenstvo draků – Zkouška věrnosti

For my move across the country, I decided to download some audiobooks and hope that 1) my fiance would be willing to give them a try and 2) we'd feel up to listening to them. I usually have to push myself into an audiobook and then I'll keep listening, but it is the starting that is difficult.

So, first up, I thought dragons would be super cool to listen/read about and would interest my man, and it did, YAY! In fact, he ended up liking this book much more than I did. Honestly, I think it is because I'm a bit tired of YA tropes. Did I see everything coming? No, but many of the things that did happen made me roll my eyes. After 2 hours, I was ready to call the book quits, but the fiance actually liked it, so I couldn't just say no when he actually found a book he'd listen to.
I will admit, that the book did get better.

There are some funny moments, some ‘OMG how could she be so dense' moments, and ‘ugh really??' moments.

This book is about Ember, not Dante... even though it says it is about him too. He gets one chapter of POV at the very end. I was kinda hoping for siblings against the world, but got a love story... a LOVE TRIANGLE story, which, surprisingly, I don't know how it will work out. I'm pretty sure I know which way it will go, but I don't know how it would work, which is why I think I might be surprised. In fact, both love interests get POV chapters, BUT NOT DANTE. So... bummer there.

I really thought this would be about the dragons more and that lifestyle and about the siblings, but Dante kind of disappears??? We are told they always hang out together, yet once they get different instructors they pretty much stop hanging out. Girls hang with girls, the guys hang with the guys. Also, all the dragon stuff is hush hush and never told to Ember because she doesn't need to know, which is both frustrating for the character and the reader.

Which brings me to the side characters. There was so much potential there, but the guys are rarely in the picture and the group of girls is only there to talk about guys. All the friendship moments are hidden and I would have read more of those in order to see how Ember learned to fit into society. I did like some of them though.

...okay this is turning into a rant, isn't it?
I just really wanted to love this book. I like reading about dragons.

I am interested in where the series is going. With the intro work out of the way, the siblings set up, and future objectives in the making, I think the next books will be better– especially since I think the side characters present will stick around.
I'll try reading it rather than listening to the audio and see if that makes a difference. The ‘s' sound some of the narrators made was pretty harsh to my ears as well.

Now after all that ranting, I will say this is a book I totally would recommend a teen. I think they would totally relate to the things Ember is going through– wanting independence, trying to form an identity, and forming personal opinions about the world and those in authority. I am interested in reading the sequel and already have a hold on it.