Vailia's Page Turner

This almost received 5 stars from me. I will admit that I was riveted through much of it. A few flaws that I will cover below but I must start with saying this was a fun, anxiety-packed adventure!


This is a world were dragons can shift their beings from a dragon form to human. They can walk, talk, fight and work like any man or woman. but they can also take to the skies and breath fire. They seem to live a life equally comfortable in either form.

We start off with an attack on Royal siblings. Teenage Mori and her brother Orin are assaulted by Phoenixes. They murdered Orin and Mori barely escapes to warn her family of the impending attack. Now these are not your small phoenixes we see in the likes of Harry Potter or something. Oh no, These are huge birds of smoke and flame and are larger than the dragons! Now I have read books of phoenixes in various shapes and sizes but never this big. And these guys seem to be impenetrable in their bird form which leaves the Dragons on a losing end.

The phoenixes are led by Solina. An orphan princess raised amongst the Dragons and when exiled she finds a new life and has filled it with thoughts of vengeance! She is one twisted woman. She has the most messed up views of love that I have ever read about. She claims to love Prince Elethor but kills his family (and worse!)....um...NO.

This book is filled with tense anticipation as the dragon try to find ways to defeat their attackers. Or, for that matter, simply survive! I hated each moment I had to put this book down once I got into it.

I really liked the characters. I even like how twisted Solina is. From sweet Mori who is violated in the worst of was, to goofy Bayrin, and Warrior knight Lyana and others. The most annoying character was the High Priestess whose thoughts are often very self-centered.

I felt that Daniel Arenson must like Tolkien's novels. I could see a lot of similarities in an influential manner. Most of it was fun but it actually annoyed me when if came down to the riddle scene which plays out almost exactly like The Hobbit.

I will definitely be continuing this series and it comes with my recommendations to any fans of dragons, phoenixes or great fantasy battles! Although please note, it is filled with violence including rape, death of children, etc. Only for the strong of will!

*I received a free copy of this novel from Moonclipse in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are strictly my own.*