Greetings and a very happy release date to Effie Joe Stock and her debut fantasy novel, Child of the Dragon Prophecy!

Summary:

A future foreseen. A past forgotten.

The savior child of the Dragon Prophecy is born.

Adopted by Centaurs, then forsaken by humans, Stephania longs for a place to belong, but home keeps slipping away as fragmented memories. Those disturbing memories relentlessly haunt her, and the hometown where she has never felt welcome stands against her.

When Stephania seeks an escape, she unwittingly begins a journey of self-discovery, and her long thought forgotten memories, shape-shifting demons, a lyre surrounded by dangerous magic, and newfound lies emerge as threats that may break her or finally lead her to her true home.

Will Stephania be able to put aside her hate and pain to accept who she truly is? Or will she let it drag her and all of Duvarharia to its doom?

Personal Review:

Child of the Dragon Prophecy  is a unique twist on your classic Chosen One fantasy, and I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and the storyworld.

Unrelated to the book itself, I love the lengths the author has gone to to make her world of Rasa inviting! If you haven’t checked out her website (http://effiejoestock.com), and her book seems interesting, check it out for character interviews and fun quizzes, etc.!

Now on to the book!

The nonlinear timeline, while it took me a little while to get used to, helped fill the gaps left by the time jump between parts one and two of the book! It was such a creative way to give the reader more insight into the main character’s motivations and personality!

Speaking of which, the characters are easily my favorite part of the book. They’re as numerous as they are complex, and I enjoyed learning about each of them.

The descriptive writing provides clear imagery and immerses the reader into the story!

A little specific, but another aspect I found myself in awe of is how the author writes romance between the main married couple. They look out for each other and function as a team, and every time Aeron looks at Frawnden with boyish adoration is so heartwarming!

Admittedly, there were a couple sections that I found myself pushing to stay engaged, but that’s likely the fault of the reader. I read Child of the Dragon Prophecy as an ebook, and I always find myself having a bit of a hard time connecting to the story when I read a book that way.

The ending left me yearning for more, and I need to know where the story goes next! You can’t imagine my dismay when I thought there were fifteen more pages for the author to give answers and they turned out to be a glossary! I immediately went online to see if I could find the release date for book two to no avail. However, that’s the mark of an engaging book, and I genuinely can’t wait to see what happens next!

Content Review:

Language – Some cursing in fictional languages

Sexual – None!

Spiritual – This novel does have a lot of magic and spells, but it’s clear that there’s a natural magic that’s part of the world and a dark magic that is evil to tamper with. There are demon creatures and some allegorical elements too. One other thing to be aware of is that characters “read the stars,” as a way to discern prophecy.

Violence – Some fantasy violence/wounds, but nothing gory.

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I received a free eARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own!

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Well, that’s all for now! I’ve officially given up on a schedule so beware the erratic posting that will become my new “schedule!”

Until next time!