**Thank you to Hachette Australia and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. 
 3 stars!!! 
 This one was a pretty average read for me. I'm finding it hard to figure out what really did and didn't stand out for me. For a YA read, it had the usual tropes but I don't recall there being anything absolutely unique about the novel in general. 
 Firstly, the worldbuilding was a bit confusing. From the descriptions, though vivid and beautifully described gave me the impression of something a bit Persian inspired. However, the names of the places and characters didn't tie in with the theme. There was a bit of inconsistency. However, I did enjoy Ciccarelli's writing style. The alternating chapters of backstories/history and the actual storyline kept me engaged. I liked the idea of a world where the power of dragons is the basis of the spirituality and culture. I did think this needed to be developed more. 
 Secondly, I enjoyed reading about the MC Asha. She is definitely a very strong female lead. She is fiercely independent, loyal and loving. She has her flaws and hides her vulnerabilities by killing dragons. Most of the people around her are afraid of her and don't really wish to know who she really is. The story is about finding your identity and forgetting about the opinions of others. I really found her relatable. I could see her raw emotion and feel her insecurities. I also liked how she was willing to step up in the hardest of situations. I found this endearing. 
 In terms of the minor characters, we don't really get to know them much only through Asha's interactions with them. I found them to be pretty one dimensional. I would have liked to learn more about Safire, Roa and Dax. These characters seem to play a huge role in the story but we aren't clear of their motives and what makes them who they are. Maybe taking the story from different POVs would have made for an epic storyline. However, we don't get this. In addition, I found Asha's love interest to be very average and cliched. I didn't like Torwin much and the choice of love interest seemed way too obvious. Plus his character was more that of a damsel in distress. I found there was a lack of balance. Asha seems to be saving him a lot. Maybe I prefer my male protagonists to have a bit of a backbone. Maybe that's just me. So no swoons from me in the romance aspect of this novel. 
 Thirdly, the pacing of this book was really slow for me. I didn't feel much tension jump off the pages. There were parts that just dragged on. The fact that this book was about dragons made it sound like there would be plenty of action but we only see this in the latter parts of the novel. The story does contain betrayal, court politics, rebellion and such. There were some pretty big reveals in the book. But I felt some things were resolved a bit too easily. I won't give any spoilers here. I think the major focus of this book was character development especially in the MC's case and on the romance. Besides this, we don't see much happening. As this book is part of a series, it had the potential to be awesome. But as I said, it was an overall okay read. Hopefully, the sequel gives us more to ponder and engage with. I'd like to know more about the minor characters, to be honest. I think they have a lot more to offer to the story as well. Would I read book two? Yeah. I would recommend reading this if you like YA fantasy and need something to pass the time.