Name: Rider of Dragons
Series: Rider of Dragons #1
Author: A.T. Qureshi
Publisher: Avon
Format: eARC
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced copy!
Genres: Adult, Romantasy
🌶️: Open Door 🌶️🌶️🌶️
😭: No
Rating:
Synopsis: Goodreads
DRAGONS. RACING. ROMANCE.
She wants to race dragons
Genevieve’s family is dead set against her joining the deadly dragon races. But she won’t let them stop her.
He’s the trainer she doesn’t want, but needs
Without her family’s money, nobody will train her. Desperate for help, she agrees to a terrible Qais, an alleged member of a dragon poaching gang, will train her to win the races, if she agrees to give him her prize money.
Every race could be their last
The dragon races aren’t just about being the fastest. In these races, sabotage, attacks and all out violence aren’t just allowed, they’re encouraged. The devastatingly handsome Qais will teach her to be cunning and cruel, and Genevieve will be forced to answer a devastating to win, is she willing to lose everything?
Review:
I went into Rider of Dragons having read all three of The Baby Dragon trilogy (now no longer a trilogy!) because I didn’t want to risk there being spoilers for those characters in Rider of Dragons. There were, given that it is set after the events of The Baby Dragon Bookshop, so I made the right call there. That being said, if you have no interest in reading The Baby Dragon books, I don’t think you’re missing out on anything when you go into Rider of Dragons.
Rider of Dragons is looking at a very different part of A.T. Qureshi’s world – it’s mentioned in the first Baby Dragon book, and then kind of mentioned throughout the others but it’s not really focussed on. But essentially, what you need to know is that these Dragon Riding Championships are dangerous, it’s kind of a lawless thing that’s run by the Vipers (which is kind of like a mafia gang, I suppose!).
So naturally, our FMC wants to join because she’s seen her brother win it previously and she loves flying. Like loves it! Ginny is pretty great to be honest, her tenacity, determination and love for Fang (her dragon) really shines through in this book. Her family’s hatred for the idea of her competing, is also very clear. So there is a lot of tension between Ginny and very specifically her dad, Edmund as he will do just about anything to prevent Ginny from competing. And Ginny will do just about anything to ensure she can compete… including turning to people she perhaps shouldn’t in order to find a trainer…
Rider of Dragons did start out pretty slow for the first 20-25%, it kind of felt like I was reading another one of The Baby Dragon books, which I did not sign up for here. I signed up for dark and thrilling! But, as soon as Ginny manages to pave her way into the first race, things picked up! It still never really reached the point of obsession, but I did really like the races.
Qais and Ginny have an interesting relationship throughout the majority of this book, and I started to get on board with it towards the end of it… but colour me surprised when I realised that perhaps Qais isn’t end game because there is a possibility of another love interest!? And I won’t lie, the longer I’ve been away from Rider of Dragons (aside from the ending cliffhanger) this potential second love interest is ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT!?
Much like with The Baby Dragon books I really like the mythical animals and their involvement in this story – they’re so much more important in this one given that it’s the dragon races! So, if you’re a fan of mythical beasts then you should absolutely check out this romantasy because I love them.
Overall, it didn’t deliver on everything I was expecting, but actually the longer I’m away fro it, the more I’m thinking I’m absolutely going to pick up the sequel. It is also a duology, so the next book will be the last book. So yep, 3.5 stars feels pretty accurate for this one.
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