BOOK REVIEW: Talon by Julie Kagawa

They always say being a teenager is all about figuring out who you are....

I love finding these little gems of books! I needed an audiobook to hold me over, once again, until I got my monthly audible credits. I LOVE that there are free audios with membership because it has introduced me to new authors, characters and worlds. So, I found this one while scrolling, and I thought to myself, “Dragons? I like dragons? Let’s listen to this one!” And here we are.

Let’s start with a quick synopsis: Ember Hill and her twin brother are dragons and members of the elite dragon society called Talon. After 16 years of intense upbringing and training in the secret world of Talon, young dragons are sent out to assimilate in the human world since they are really just fancy shapeshifters. To the regular human world, they just seem to be ordinary teenagers, but to Saint George, they are creatures set to destroy the human world. Saint George is a secret organization of highly trained humans (basically military elite and assassins) whose sole mission in life is to seek out dragons and kill them.

Ember and Dante are sent to a sunny beach in California for the summer to stay with human “guardians” to put their training to the test, while Garrett and his partner, Tristen, are sent to the same California beach town to uncover the dragon that Talon has rumored to have sent there. Things get tricky when a rogue dragon enters Ember’s life and Ember enters Garrett’s life. Now, nothing seems to be what they thought, for either of them. It at times is all a little cheesy, I mean how many milkshakes and onion rings can one person eat?

I thought the plot and storyline was interesting enough, and it held my interest. This is the first of a series, and by the end of this book, you have the basic idea of where the plot is heading. I love the fact that we are not just focusing on one organization (Talon) that might be more evil in its mission than it lets on, but two with Saint George maybe also not being the pillar of human excellence. It only takes that one little seed of doubt to take hold and then everything begins to crumble. Don’t forget the traditional YA love triangle and there are a bunch of awkward teenage moments as the characters who don’t really know what they are doing try to figure it out - granted all teenagers go through that moment at some point.

They wanted me to sit, listen, learn, be quiet, when I wanted to run, shout, jump, fly.

This brings us to the characters who are susceptible to those little seeds of doubt. You have Ember and Dante. I love how they are portrayed to be typically teenagers spending the summer on the beach without a care in the world, while still on a mission and suffering grueling daily trainings in secret. Basically, I’m saying that I want to be a teenager living on the beach and at the Shake Shack for two months, surfing and hanging out, but maybe minus the trainings. Anyways, it is through this that Ember begins to have doubts - instead of studying humans through teachers and books, she is interacting with them, connecting with them, seeing what it means to be human. Dante on the other hand is through and through a Talon dragon. He doesn't waiver and typically spends most of his time keeping Ember out of trouble and being the obnoxious know it all. The classic foil character to our protagonist.

I thought it interesting that Ember and Dante mirrored Garrett and Tristen. Garrett’s issue, as is Ember’s, is that he has been under Saint George’s control for as long as he can remember and doesn’t know what it’s like to be a normal teenager until he has to be one in order to smoke out the dragon hiding in plain sight. His feelings for Ember begin to cause doubt, but he holds on to the hope that she’s not who they are looking for. Like Ember, he is wavering in his commitment and belief in the cause; however, Tristen, is Saint George through and through. I really did like comparing these two pairs. 

Riley was the most interesting character. I didn’t really care for him at first, but I did begin to come around to him; however, I feel that his character development could have been different. I can’t really put my finger on it at this point. Maybe it just feels that he is a little obsessed with Ember. I do love his role and his personal mission, but I just felt that he could be so much more. It’s possible that in the next books this will be developed. I’m hoping that all the characters will get a little more depth to them. There is so much potential there, but I feel that there is a hesitancy to really dig deep.

There is a lot here to be said about the old cliché, don’t judge a book by its cover. The belief is that all dragons are horrible, human destroying creatures that need to be eradicated, but we learn they are not, just as we learn that St. George is really all about brainwashing to fit its own narrative. Just because one person or animal or dragon or whatever does something negative, doesn’t mean that everyone that falls under that classification will do the same. Isn’t this how we got into all our worldwide issues with racism and prejudices and stereotypes? We see these themes presented on the pages of this book.

Riley is that rogue dragon who seems to be the hammer needed to knock down the facades of Talon for both Ember and Garrett which clearly will lead to the domino effect of St. George’s façade shattering as the series continues. Granted it helps that Ember is naturally rebellious and has a questioning temperament to start with. She would drive me crazy in real life.

“Can't anyone ever start a fight without all the posturing and cheesy Bond-villain threats? It's not that hard. Here, let me demonstrate." And he smashed a fist into Colin's nose.

I enjoyed the book, it was a typical YA fantasy. The romance was very PG and slow, but the story really revolved around the characters and establishing the two organizations. There were times that I found some of their teenage angst a little cringe worthy, but overall it was an enjoyable book, and I know that I will continue to read the series over time. Sidenote - when Ember learns what the Vipers really are is when we finally have some light shed on Talon, just saying,

Where does this land on my bookshelf?

I’d place it on the middle shelf. Like I said, it was an enjoyable read. It’s fiction and a fantasy, so as long as you go into it with that mindset, you’ll like it. There are some eye-rolling moments, but it’s an interesting story of two opposing organizations that are both doing the same thing and feel that they are in the right while brainwashing all those within the groups. Naturally, it’ll only take a couple rebellious teenagers to bring about the collapse of the evil masterminds. I for one will continue to read to see how it all unfolds. If you are looking for a quick, easy read this summer, give it a go.. Especially if you have Audible as it is a free audio with your membership!

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