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Book Synopsis:
In the Empire, dragons are revered creatures, but only boys have the ability to bond with them — or so everyone believes.
Fourteen-year-old Aura Blackstone has always dreamed of becoming a dragon rider, even though she knows it’s impossible since she’s a girl. But when she sneaks into a dragon’s lair to save an egg destined for destruction, something impossible happens: she bonds with the dragon within.
Now, Aura must keep her identity secret as she enrolls in Wings Academy disguised as a boy to train as a dragon rider. Between the academy’s rigorous trials and prejudiced classmates, hiding her true self is harder than she imagined. One mistake could reveal her secret, endanger her dragon, and upend everything she’s worked for.
Meanwhile, the Empire is on the brink of chaos. Savage dragons are wreaking havoc, and whispers of rebellion are spreading. Aura must decide if she will hide in the shadows or risk everything to influence the destiny of both humans and dragons.
My Review:
3.75 stars. Spark of Secrets tells an interesting story, and I enjoyed the main characters, but there are also some big issues. The pacing is off, some things are a bit beyond my suspension of disbelief, and there are a few too many Harry Potter similarities. However, the world-building revealed at the end is cool and unique, and I’m interested to read the sequel at some point.
Some unexplained details about Aura’s background and the world’s mystery kept me interested in the beginning. I wanted to know more about the dynamic between Aura and the professor, and then obviously was curious about the main unexplained part of the story — why girls are not allowed to bond with dragons even though it’s possible.
Once the story gets going more, however, I started to enjoy Spark of Secrets less. I felt like the main plot dragged on longer than necessary. Even by halfway through the story, Aura’s identity at the academy still hasn’t been revealed in any way, despite how many near-misses and opportunities for something to go wrong she gets into. That’s a bit hard to believe. I figured that, by 50 percent-plus, there should have been at least some big conflict. Instead, there are a lot of little conflicts all just acting as setup for later stuff.
After it got to the main conflict and all the fallout of that, however, things pick up again. I was invested in Aura’s plight and felt her frustration at how the professors were handling everything. But, given what’s revealed at the end, their reactions make more sense now.
Speaking of, that ending is another part I enjoyed. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, and it’s a pretty cool piece of world-building and unique concept. The book sort of ends on a cliffhanger, but I’m not so desperate to read the sequel right away. I likely will get around to it eventually, though.
My last criticism is that there are a few too many similarities between Spark of Secrets and Harry Potter. They were small things, but they just feel very cliché: the orphan who learns she’s different from everyone else, the rich blond bully (this one’s the most obvious—too Malfoy-like), the “slits for a nose” in the monster at the end (almost the exact same description as Voldemort).
Rated: Mild. No profanity. Very light romance with no more than cheek kisses. Some violence, including fistfights, blood, and bodies getting destroyed by dragons.
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