Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy
Source: Harlequin Teen via NetGalley
Goodreads
Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her—Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant.Review by Nara
Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George.
A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day…or start an all-out war?
I have to admit, I find it slightly disappointing that Kagawa's series about her most beloved creature (and also mine) is actually her weakest so far. That's not to say the series is bad (I'm pretty sure nothing that Kagawa writes could be bad), but it's just not up to the standard of her other two series. Worth reading once, but probably not worth rereading- that sort of level.
The world building in terms of the background to do with the dragons is still pretty dang shaky, but I felt like that didn't bother me as much in Rogue as it did in Talon because there was a lot more focus on the action side of things rather than the setting up of the world. And dayum, Kagawa is great at action scenes.
In terms of the romance, I feel like I'm shipping the side that isn't likely to work out. In case you're not familiar with the love interests, there's Garrett, who's a human and a (former) member of the Order of St George (an organisation that hunts dragons), and Riley/Cobalt who's a Rogue dragon. Garrett is about as interesting as a piece of plain toast, but I feel like he might be the one who ends up with Ember in the end- Kagawa certainly seems to be gunning for it for most of the series so far. I personally ship her with Riley, as 1. he's a lot more interesting 2. it makes a lot more sense considering then they're the same species and 3. Ember's dragon likes him more. Always side with the dragon haha.
I'm going to say that Rogue is definitely better than Talon, mostly because we get to see a lot more dragon action rather than the high school drama-ish scenes that were seen in book one. If you liked Talon in any way, I'd definitely recommend you continue the series.
Liked it
RatingsOverall: 7/10
Plot: 3.5/5
Romance: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 2/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 4/5
