Typical YA Fare

The plot is a pretty standard story ... orphaned child of prophesy has to learn to fight for what should be hers until she achieves the greatness that is her destiny, despite moranic allies that apparently have no idea how to actually run a rebellion. In short, this story was irritating with all the adolecent drama and repetitive teenage aingst ... but the death knell was quite literally the fact that the good guys (the rebellion) was so odious that I would actually hope for their failure at the hands of pretty much anybody ... even the big bad bogeyman (the Spirit King) who was so undeveloped that we really don't know what makes him so evil ... or at least more evil than an organization that would potentially condemn people to an execution without ANY evidence what so ever simply because they don't like them. Seriously .... if the author wanted me to identifiy with the rebellion at all ... she failed miserably. Oh ... the magic system was actually interesting, so +1 star for that.

I was given this free review copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#Dragonspawn #TheSecretAudiobookClub

1 person found this helpful

Just ok

"yeah, didn't see that coming...smirk". This was my common thought throughout the book. It was also just a little...just a little...too much whining. Not really interested in the rest of the series, as the plot is completely obvious.

1 person found this helpful

Don't Discourage

A fascinating world brought to life by Ava. Finding one's place is more often a struggle than smooth, and I love how Ava brings Des's forth.

The narrator had a tendency to sound a bit robotic especially in the beginning. She did smooth out and come more in character throughout the story. though it seemed to falter here and there though.

Still an amazing story! So, don't let the narrating discourage you.

*I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Amazing Adventure !!!

Audiobook is narrated by Kim Churchill who will bring the story alive for you! Desiree Black (“Dez”) is afraid of her strength, not wanting to hurt people, yet with a strong desire to fulfill her destiny. Sparring with her older foster brother, Khan Roser, she hesitated then overcompensated with her wooden sword and ended up thrusting it hilt-deep in a cypress tree. Only her great strength let that happen and let her pull it out again. If she didn’t do better, the Rebellion captain who was watching from the sidelines would decide she wasn’t worth recruiting. She imagined drawing on the strength of the trees around her and it steadied her. Their final attempt to impress the recruiter was about to start. She saw Khan’s face and knew what he would do. But once more, she feared her strength that could seriously injure him, and it made her hesitate.

Pieter, her younger foster brother then asked to join the sparring – but on Khan’s side against Dez. He wanted her to show her full strength, make her fight with instinct rather than hesitate and try to hold back. She wanted to fight in the Rebellion to honor her dragon-rider parents and help stop the Spirit King. But once again, her fear of hurting them distracted her and Khan got the points he needed to be recruited for the Rebellion. What she feared was rumors that the Spirit King was sending recruiters this way, too, and if she didn’t leave with the Rebellion now, chances were good that she’d end up a conscripted soldier in Ashimax’s army which would be intolerable! She would have to somehow find another way to impress the recruiter that didn’t involve sparring.

Wandering and thinking about her situation, she was surprised when Jaklin Moild and her pack of bullies came up behind her to mock her about her failure. Jaklin played with a knife in her hands. Dez knew she could fight all of them, but she didn’t want to hurt them. Jaklin threw a handful of swamp mud all over her, then the gang moved in and grabbed her roughly as they hurled her into a deep, bad-smelling bog. Jaklin kicked her hands every time Dez tried to get out of the bog, fearful that alligators would be drawn to the bloody dead duck carcass she spotted. Sure enough, she heard at least two of them and the bullies hurried away, leaving her to fend for herself.

With the alligators in pursuit and trying to cut off her escape, she ran deeper into the swamp until she tripped over a large rock. But the rock had purple veins that were actually glowing. Digging it out of the mud, she found it was larger than she realized and felt warm. Engrossed in her find, Dez did not hear the gator that began to lunge at her, mouth opened wide, until a walking stick smacked it on the head. The old “gator lady” had saved her, surprisingly lifting the rock out of the mud and handing it to her. Then she took Dez home with her to tell her about the “rock” she had found.

Another shock also awaited her when the old woman took off her disguise and told her she was her Aunt Lula Black! She also told her that her parents were the king and queen of Gald before Ashimax destroyed it—and that Dez was actually a princess. Lula was a dragon-rider and when she fell from her dragon’s back, she had a vision that a dragon rider would rise from the southern swamplands and become a great hero for the Rebellion. She knew that Dez would be that hero! And her rock with the purple veins was her destiny -- a dragon egg. Is this what she needed to join the Rebellion? Can she actually become a dragon rider with the help of her Aunt and fight for the Rebellion against the Spirit King?

This book is so amazing! It will grab the reader’s imagination and never let go! It flows so well that it feels as if you are living the story and not just reading it! Grab your copy and follow Dez’s amazing adventure to see if she is indeed the hero who will save the world from the Spirit King!

This is my favorite book to date

My favorite book so far. A must read, I have read every Ava Richardson book and this series is the best. Kim Churchill does a fantastic narrative. Thank you ❤️

Ava

if you have read and/or listened to any of Ava's story you can't help but get sucked into the world she creates. This one is no exception. Looking forward to see how this story plays out.

Unoriginal, just a different perspective

Though this story was a enjoyable diversion it was Way to much like many other books bring written lately. The main Character is afraid of her own abilities, has a older Foster brother who has to be the Best at Everything, and a Jerk. The younger Foster brother is quite, intelligent, and a Good person. Most of the time the reader/ listener knows what is going to happen next because it is so much like previously written Storylines. Narrator does a good job with the characters voices and the storyline.

A phenomenal and Beautifully narrated story!

The story was captivating and kept you enthralled from beginning to end, although it ended on a cliffhanger, I know already that there are two more books to the series, and I impatiently wait for them to be released on audible, Des had to deal with some of the YA drama and tough but understandable mistakes that she made and that others made, it might be annoying to some, but to me, it makes the character closer to home, when the main character is essentially perfect and they can do no wrong, It just doesn't seem something that can keep my attention, I want to see them fail, but I want to see them stand up and fight even though there's a chance of them losing, even though they might lose friends or might have friends die. And she dealt with all that, yelling at people she didn't truly want to lose, and regretting it afterwards, she is human in this book, she is not a God, she is not immortal, and she is not perfect. So all in all, five stars, because there's very few authors that can captivate me like the works of this lovely and ultra talented author Ava Richardson, I hope she never stops because as long as it continues, and as long as the quality doesn't drop, she has one guaranteed buyer here.