I would argue that this is not properly a fantasy novel, but rather an alternate-contemporary-reality science fiction novel about dragon conservation and the meaning of intelligent life. This world is much like ours, and there is no real magic, but there are dragons, and they are very difficult to study. 
 The basic plot points seem to form a familiarly generic narrative about a boy and his awesome dragon and their great adventures, but that isn't the tone of this book at all. So if that's what you're looking for, you will probably be frustrated. McKinley is sort of looking at that storyline through a reality-check lens, where dragon researchers are struggling for funding from Congress, and raising an illegal dragonlet is grueling and unglamorous work. And on top of that, she makes her awkward teenage protagonist actually try to narrate the whole thing for you, which he freely admits to struggling with. And the dragon is named Lois. 
 Honestly, I really enjoyed all of that. I really, truly did. A relative and I agreed that the ending was drawn out for rather too long, but to me that's a minor quibble.