Review: Talon by Julie Kagawa

From Goodreads: Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser. Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George. Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

My Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: Not having had much time to read lately and feeling stressed from the massive pile of assignments I have due over the course of this month, I decided to read Julie Kagawa's Talon because it promised dragons and a forbidden romance. Unfortunately, Talon didn’t turn out as I expected because the dragons in the story were generally masquerading as humans. 

Although I originally had no problems with Ember and her brother, Dante, pretending to be humans in order to learn how to blend in, I eventually got bored of reading about Ember surfing, making friends, checking out guys at the beach, and drinking smoothies. You’d barely know Ember was a dragon if it wasn’t for her occasional whiny thought about not being able to fly or her freedom being restricted by Talon.

Speaking of Talon, Kagawa hardly tells you anything about it as an organization other than that it’s bad. The conflict with the Order of St. George is also overly simplified because you’re only told that Talon and the Order have been fighting each other for generations because humans hate dragons. There was just so little worldbuilding in this novel!

The romance was problematic too because there was a love triangle, with Ember being attracted to both Garret, a member of the Order of St. George, and Riley, a rogue dragon. While I don’t particularly care who Ember ends up with, I thought it should have been very obvious to her that Garret wasn’t just an average guy spending his summer on the beach. I also thought that Garret fell quite quickly for Ember, especially considering that he always suspected that she was most likely a dragon.

Talon was released by Harlequin Teen in October 2014. 

Comments About the Cover: It’s simple, but so visually appealing!