Publication: January 2nd 2013 by HarperTeen
Source: Library
Goodreads description: The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms... is a girl with yellow eyes.
Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope...
Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.
Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy.
This is the first book in The Dragon King Chronicles and wow it was so good! It was actually a random find when I was browsing the library shelves one day. I saw the entire trilogy sitting there and something just drew me to the books. I picked up the first book, read the synopsis and the premise made me really want to read it. Once I saw that Marie Lu had blurbed this book, I was sold.
I was surprised to see that this first book at least doesn't have the greatest ratings on GR, but I wasn't going to let that put me off. The premise had me already so I was going to read it regardless of the ratings. And so glad that I did because I loved this book! I do agree with other reviews that the writing isn't the greatest, but that did not bother me at all.
I am a huge fan of ancient mythical settings and the world in this series felt to me like a hybrid of ancient China, Japan and Korea. The magic in this world was very heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Asian cultures and I loved it. Being Chinese myself, I identified very strongly with those aspects and that was probably what I liked most about this book.
The story was amazing and had me completely hooked right from the beginning. It was fast paced and there was plenty of action, adventure and suspense. I did not want to put it down and flew through the book so quickly! It was a little bit predictable in places, but that wasn't a problem for me.
The characters were also fantastic. I loved their interactions and how they went to great lengths and sacrifices to protect each other. I thought Kira was a fantastic kick butt female protagonist and I loved the relationships that she had with her brothers and extended family.
Of course there were characters that I couldn't stand, but every book needs to have a villain, or villains.
What's stopping me from giving this a full five stars is how Kira was seen and treated by almost every male character in this book. It may be historically accurate to how women were seen in ancient times, but there were some things that I just could not overlook. First of all, her forced betrothal to a man who has taken pleasure in her misery since childhood. As if that wasn't bad enough, he continually taunts her with the threat of their impending marriage and makes sexual comments that are just beyond inappropriate! Absolutely made my blood boil reading those parts.
Those negatives aside, I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a brilliant first book in an exciting fantasy adventure trilogy. Overall I rated this book 4.5/5 stars and I recommend it to those who enjoy mythical fantasies.
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