How comes it, that sometimes the original cover is better than that of the German edition and sometimes it is quite the opposite? Okay, I am not really a fan of the color pink, but in the combination of the other colors, the German cover looks way better than the original one. And if I would´ve had to choose that book from the looks by their original cover, I guess I would´ve missed a wonderful read. Dragons, passion, revenge, hate and a lot of misunderstandings going on for ages, are combined with a sweet and fascinating love triangle in which Ember will have to choose one day whom her heart really belongs to.
Rogue
by Julie KagawaTalon Saga #2
Publisher Harlequin Teen on May 1, 2015
Genre Young People 13+
Pages 444
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
✶✶✶✶
Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can´t forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her – Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he´d signed his own death warrant. Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order´s headquarters- With assassins after them and Ember´s own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day … or start an all-out war?
Story
Ember is on the run with her Cobalt, the blue dragon she met only a few weeks ago. Leaving Garrett behind, who saved her life – again. But being on the run isn´t easy and when one of your enemies is your own brother, life is turned upside down. At least that´s how Ember feels. She still refuses to believe that her brother would be capable of betraying her.
Style
Written from Ember´s personal point of view, the story continues almost seamlessly to the end events of the first book. Ember has made her decision and is now in the middle of a fight, if not to say war, where the soldiers of the St. Georges order are fighting with all they have to get the dragons down for good. The setting is now Las Vegas, the shiny and unreal world in the middle of the desert. For Ember, Las Vegas becomes soon the place where she has to fight even more to stay alive and to keep Riley and the others alive. Alone the scene where she fights with Faith in that depot is godly.
Two strings show what leads to the things that happen now and the reader gets a great view of Cobalt´s former life. It is great to read the authors clear and very harmonic language, even during the bloodiest scenes.
Characters
The main focus is, again, on Ember, Riley, and Dante. Okay, Dante doesn´t have that much appearance in this book, but the few scenes with him are intense and show that there has to be a final fight between the twins. He seems to have his very own plans with the dragon world, but still, he tries to convince Ember to join him.
The natural struggle Ember goes through, when it comes to the different believes and ways of thinking siblings can have, is shown in a very entertaining way.
But what I start to get bored with is the fact that Ember obviously doesn´t seem to learn. She still makes the same mistakes, is incredibly naïve, credulous, and finds herself again and again in situations she could´ve avoided if she only would think first or listen better. In the first book that was kind of amusing, but now it starts to bore the reader. She is a creature that runs first and kicks some ass and then starts to think or even ask questions. And that makes her very predictable for her enemies. And for the reader, her first-run-and-then-think method becomes more and more annoying and makes no sense at all. Being impulsive and hotheaded can be very interesting, no doubt about that, but if that happens again and again in the very same situations, and there is no character development to see, then the fun for the reader stops at some point.
Conclusion
Great to read and with wonderful humor; yes the author knows how to capture the reader’s eye. And the anticipation for book three is inevitable.
Happy reading
*I read the German edition new release published on January 11, 2016, by Heyne fliegt.
Julie Kagawa
Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, CA. She moved to Hawaii at the age of nine. There she learned many things; how to bodyboard, that teachers scream when you put centipedes in their desks, and that writing stories in math class is a great way to kill time. Her teachers were glad to see her graduate. Julie now lives in Louisville, KY, with her husband and furkids. She is the international and NY bestselling author of The Iron Fey series.
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