Synopsis:
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.
At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?
Review:
The book brought together a wide mix of of topics. Many of them worked beautifully, while others felt a bit like puzzle pieces that didn’t fit perfectly. I appreciated the way it explored the different social classes and how each group is affected: their quality of life, the opportunities available to them, how they’re treated, the medicine and education they can access, and more.
For many, staying in a higher class is a driving goal, and that often means making choices that come at someone else’s expense. When life is easy, it’s surprisingly simple to forget that not everyone has the same stability or comfort. Our FMC slowly realizes this, and I enjoyed watching her reach a point where her decisions weren’t just about her own benefit, even if it took her a while to get there.
And then there are the dragons, which I loved. Giving them a presence on the same narrative level as humans, with their own groupings, conflicts, inequalities, and questionable leadership, created a dynamic that felt interesting. Both humans and dragons try to maintain the upper hand, making self-serving decisions and punishing anyone who dares to challenge them. The dragons’ ability to communicate with humans, paired with their unique internal way of speaking, added a fresh twist that stood out to me.
In the end, the story highlights how similar humans and dragons can be, for better or for worse. The book was an easy read, and while I didn’t mind the romance, I could have just as well enjoyed the story without it. I had a good time with it and I’m definitely curious to see where the story goes next.
🌙 Recension: A Language of Dragons (A Language of Dragons #1) by S.F. Williamson
📚 Genre: Fantasy, Romance, YA
📅 Release Date: January 7, 2025
📖 Publisher: HarperCollins
📱 Read as: Physical
📗 available in various formats
💸 Bought
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 424 (LitJoy Hardcover Special Edition)
⭐️ 4/5
Interested in more?
- Review: I Was Never Broken by Hazel Anthony
- Review: Posthumously Yours by Charles D. Braun
- Review: Don’t Answer the Phone by Miranda Rijks
Leave a Reply