The Baby Dragon Cafe - A.T. Qureshi // Book Review

  

The Baby Dragon Cafe
A.T. Qureshi || Publication Date - 16.01.2025

Baby dragons, a cafe, and a cozy feel good read for everyone!

Fiction | Fantasy | Romance

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9780008727666

Saphira loves baby dragons, the only problem is, is that she was not lucky enough to have one of her own. With the recent passing of her beloved Grandmother, the promise she made, and a little help from her inheritance, Saphira has created her dream cozy space in the world with 'The Baby Dragon Cafe'. The only place you can get a dragon-roasted coffee, a cheerful smile, and a treat for your little 'draggo' all in the one location.

As much as Saphira adores her cafe, she is constantly faced with the financial burden of letting babies that can breathe fire into her business. Unfortunately time, and savings are running out to continue replacing damaged chairs... and very, very expensive coffee machines. Thankfully, from what seems like a chance meeting, Saphira is introduced to Aiden. A grumpy local heart-throb, with his own baby dragon in serious need of training.

Can she help Aiden with his baby dragon problem? And can Saphira manage to keep her treasured cafe afloat?

The Review (may contain spoilers)

Firstly I would like to acknowledge and thank the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an early eARC of this novel.

As much as I loved the premise for this book, and was enjoying the world which was briefly explored throughout 'The Baby Dragon Cafe', I didn't think too much of it. I believe the main reason this novel wasn't a hit for me was the writing. It's very matter of fact, which to me doesn't flow well and creates an impression that the editors didn't bother to restructure sentences to make them read more naturally. An example is quoted below:

This style also follows into the conversations between characters in the book. I have found, personally, that I can have issues keeping track of who is saying what in written conversations. I don't think I'll ever have to worry about that in this novel, because each dialogue line is followed, or started, with the character that spoke, or, will speak it. To me this feels like the other end of the spectrum where I don't need my hand held completely reading a book. I'm a big girl, I can figure it out... It did get a little better as the story went on, but by that point I was already annoyed.

I enjoyed the world more than the characters. Saphira is kind of boring. There's nothing particularly interesting or over the top about her, which can be refreshing when everyone in a romance book is a bombshell. Aiden, on the other hand, has as much personality as wet cardboard. I'm not a huge fan of the 'Instalove' trope, and that was where this novel kicked off. It doesn't feel genuine (to me) when characters are instantly infatuated with each other, I like my characters to suffer. 😊 There's also the weird dynamic that Aiden is from a prestigious family of 'Dragon Riders', and then Saphira's impromptu employer. Saphira notices that his actions are kind of weird, and props to her because yeah... it kind of is. But who cares when he's hot right? 😩

Overall Thoughts

In my honest opinion, I felt like this should have been a novella. There's a lot of writing here which is repetitive and unnecessary padding out scenes. The 3rd act drama appeared to have taken place 100 pages into a 320 page novel. Not to mention the ending of the novel was rushed and out of place.

I agree with the sentiment that if you're a fan of books like 'Pumpkin Spice Cafe', 'Legends and Lattes' or even 'Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies', this will hit the same spot. It was cozy, it was very easy to read, and didn't take a lot of thought to enjoy the story being told. I would also forward this book onto readers who enjoy Fantasy, but don't want to be overwhelmed with the nuance of the genre, and Romance readers who don't like a lot of spice in their reading.

[The Empyrean] Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros // Book Review

  

Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros || Publication Date - 02.05.2023

Basgaith, a war college where you either graduate... or die.

Fiction | Fantasy | Adventure | Romance

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781649377371

Violet Sorrengail begins her journey vehemently reiterating to her sister how she wishes to follow in her father's footsteps and enrol as a Scribe at Basgaith War College. She wishes to continue meticulously listing the history of the war college, noting down heroic Riders and strategies which have won or lost battles along their protected land.

She is instead, however, being pushed to become a dragon rider by her mother who is the General of the Rider's Quadrant. Understandably she is terrified. There is only one way to measure success within this area of the college, by students surviving, or dying.

Despite her fears, she emerges on the other end of the parapet as a Rider. What comes next is a variable onslaught of studying, training, and dodging death as she makes her way becoming a force to be reckoned with. A force that is ensnaring her greatest rival, Xaden Riorson, who holds the key to blowing apart all she understood about their world and what could possibly be existing outside Basgaith's protective boundaries.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

It has been so long since I've read a Fantasy like this. It was gripping from page one, the premise was interesting, the characters were amazing and the entire world was shadowed and mysterious. I loved how the characters were all challenged in different ways. They all had their strengths and weaknesses which made it interesting to see how they would overcome their struggles, or simply die. I appreciated that Violet from the beginning is actively dealing with a chronic illness that affects the way she achieves her goals at Basgaith. Not only was she resourceful as a character, but she also didn't let her condition impede her success. This further cemented Violet as the feminine warrior I was really hoping for going into this series.

Rebecca's writing is fabulous. She has an amazing writing style that is easy to follow and explains the world, magic, dragons and action scenes very well. There is also just enough put out by the story that things remain very obscure, until they're revealed, and everything clicks into place smoothly. It was very satisfying!

There was no sugar coating how this college operated and I appreciated the blunt nature of a lot of the characters in this novel. It was very matter of fact, living where death could take anyone at any time, especially with the training and dragons. There was a real sense of uncertainty through the novel and it only made the final words of this book all the more impactful.

After finishing Fourth Wing, I genuinely sat on my couch staring into space for a good 10 minutes before I registered what I had just read. I then immediately pre-ordered Iron Flame and had been waiting impatiently for November 2023 to roll around so I could continue this series.

Overall Thoughts

What do I think of this novel? Almost certainly one of my top books for 2023. If you love fantasy, a strong female lead, dragons and great characters I won't even hesitate to ask you to read this book. I've recommended it to everyone I know who loves Fantasy.

I do want to warn you, this book put me into a HUGE hangover after finishing it and also put me into a slump. It took me a month of mediocre reading afterwards to get back into normality. Nothing felt as amazing or as polished as Fourth Wing until I had read another amazing Fantasy later that same year (review incoming).