Talon: A Gripping YA Fantasy of Dragon Shifters and Enemies to Lovers Romance (The Talon Saga, 1)

The core of Talon lies in two disparate institutions: the titular one and the Order of St. George. Despite each's animosity towards the other (or more likely, because of it), both Talon, the organization for dragons, and the one for their hunters deal in indoctrination, intimidation, lies, and half-truths.With the threat of St. George constantly on their tails, dragons have had to find more covert ways to survive. They hide in human form and teach their hatchlings not only how to assimilate, but also prepare and train them in ways best suited for Talon and all of dragonkind. Unfortunately, the hatchlings have no say whatsoever in what their occupation might be. They have no say in their life at all and are granted just one summer, where they test their assimilation skills, to live the semblance of a teenage normalcy.This is the world twins Ember and Dante Hill are born into. Ember is clearly the more "fiery" of the two, and it was pretty obvious she'd be the one to flaunt and eventually break the rules. Her brother Dante has a cooler and more collected nature, which both Talon and the guardians the institution assigns to them hope will temper Ember's flame.Twin dragons are an unheard of anomaly, which serves well to hide their true nature from Crescent Beach's human inhabitants and the Order of St. George. Guardians are humans in the employ of Talon, entrusted with their secrets, but the guardians are not only responsible for looking after the young dragons, they also report to Talon on their progress.Unfortunately (for the dragons) St. George's Order has evolved along with them, changing from armored knights with swords to specially trained soldiers with a much more impressive arsenal. Their only purpose is to seek out and slaughter their enemies, and they are well aware of "sleepers," dragon hatchlings strategically placed in human territories in order to acclimate them to their way of life aka Ember and Dante's current situation. For this reason Garrett and Tristan are also sent to Crescent Beach in order to sniff out the sleeper and eliminate it.The chapters alternate between Ember and Garrett with a few from a dragon named Riley cycled in later on. They're written in the first person, but since the switch is dictated by chapter, head jumping isn't really a problem. Garrett's introduction was frankly annoying, and I'm wondering if the author did that purposely to throw sympathy towards the dragon kids, since she presented Ember and Dante's "case" first before showing the young soldier and his unit taking down a full grown adult. It's immediately clear the Order uses propaganda and half-truths about their lifelong enemy to keep the troops loyal (e.g. dragons are unfeeling monsters that are trying to take over humanity), which is exacerbated in Garrett since his entire family was killed by them leaving him only with St. George. I still rolled my eyes so hard when he was described as the "perfect soldier."Since he and Tristan are the youngest in the unit (around 17 or 18), they're assigned the special mission to find and take down the Crescent Beach sleeper. It doesn't take long for Garrett and Ember to meet, and there's instant attraction between the two of them, which for Ember is strange since humans usually hold no interest for her, but it's possible that Garrett's aloof, detached nature is a draw, because that's how dragons are supposed to act. Ironically, she's much more boisterous, and it doesn't take her long to start chaffing at Talon's bit.Throwing rogue dragon Riley into the mix serves to confuse Ember even more (and of course adds the ubiquitous YA love triangle). There's clearly something Talon is keeping from its hatchlings, but even seeing a rogue in their town in cause for concern. The organization is swift to hunt them down, and Ember's by the books brother would immediately report such activity to their guardians. Of course because this is a YA, Riley serves as a second love interest for Ember, but I like the dilemma it causes. Should she go with her gut (and dragon) and pick Riley, or follow the heart she didn't think she had and pursue Garrett?An interesting thing about the "heart" is Talon tries to instill in its pupils that emotions such as love are human weaknesses. While dragons can feel a sense of devotion and loyalty, they really don't love, and they certainly don't fall in love with humans. Of course this is BS propaganda they use to indoctrinate the young ones, but if you repeat a lie long enough, eventually it becomes true insofar as enough people believe it. It's not that dragons can't love; it's more that they're told love is foolish and human, which means they close themselves off to it.That's how propaganda and indoctrination work, and Garrett was taught the same about dragons by the Order of St. George. They can only mimic human emotions; they don't really experience them. This is of course a common tactic in war: othering your enemy. If you see an opponent as similar to yourself, it's much harder to kill them, but if you're convinced that they're not like you, it's far easier to put a bullet in their brain.Both Talon and St. George see each side as "other," and it's their children who pay for that. Neither Ember nor Garrett really know how to "human." Ember because she's been taught that humans are prey and dragons are predators, so any seemingly human emotion is something to be expunged, and Garrett because after his family was killed, St. George took him in and exacerbated the natural hatred that would grow from such a loss to mold him into someone who only wished to rid the world of that threat. But emotions aren't solely for humans, and there's been animosity on both sides.Both teens them have an inner voice. Ember has her "dragon." Garrett has his "soldier," but they're both just teenagers wishing to be normal. I was fortunate to be reading this at the same time as  An Ember in the Ashes , so the similarities between the two were apparent. Garrett is a soldier like Elias, and both of them are beholden to some higher authority. Granted we start Ember with Elias wanting to get out, whereas Garrett initially is more than content with his place in the Order. They both fall for girls not only outside of their organization, but completely anathema to it and are forced to choose where their loyalties will lie or fall. Both matters of heart and morality depend on only one choice (though arguably this is a common theme in fiction).I don't blame any dragon for going rogue. Once it's discovered not only what Talon does to them but to any member who doesn't live up to expectations, it's surprising there aren't more defectors out there. Ember's naivete is to be understood though. The organization makes sure hatchlings only know what they want them to know. Dragons are supposed to serve however it sees fit, and I, personally, would not want my whole life planned out for me without my input and against my desires.Obviously Ember and Garrett eventually find out the truth about each other. That's not a spoiler; it's pretty clear it has to happen (though I did guess how), and the end of this book is a whirlwind, roller coaster ride that I shotgunned through the Saturday morning I finished. The narrative is fast paced throughout, but it's nearly impossible to but down once the end is nigh. I believe this really helps the story overall, since the teenagers act...well really teenagery in the beginning, and Garrett's first chapter comes off as utterly sanctimonious. Even though Ember's "rebellious teen" is cliched, her character is a relief from both Talon's and St. George's stringent rules.Adults pass their mores on to the next generation, and they also attempt to instill in them the fear of questioning. In an authoritarian society, which is what both Talon and St. George are, adherence to authority is absolutely necessary in order for that society to continue on as it is. They follow the rule of teaching children what to think instead of teaching them how to think. If you can indoctrinate them with your propaganda, they'll do the same to the next generation and the next one into perpetuity. Until someone dares to break the cycle.Garrett's been in St. George his entire life after his family was killed by their sworn enemy. He was completely indoctrinated into their belief system until he met Ember and realized it was all rubbish. Even before he knew she was the dragon sleeper, the thought that she could be didn't mesh with what he'd been taught about them, and what Garrett was taught is exactly how Ember is expected to act. She's not supposed to have human emotions. She's not supposed to legitimately make friends with humans, and she sure as hell isn't supposed to fall in love with one. Talon teaches them that humans do nothing but destroy everything and are a cancer on the world. I can't deny the truth in that, but the elitism deriding "mere mortals" is really just what some humans use to treat other humans poorly. If you don't believe someone has the same feelings/emotions you do and/or if you think your emotional status is on a higher level, you're not going to consider their viewpoint at all (which is what I was elaborating on above).For Ember, getting closer to Garrett and just being friends with other teenagers teaches her that this just isn't true. While her brother has no issues "making friends," he does so like a dragon: with only the veneer of emotional attachment. He also won't question Talon or their motives, using the all too familiar "appeal to authority" fallacy. If Talon says it, it must be to keep them safe, and when Ember confides in him her findings, he falls back on cognitive dissonance in his denial, which puts a great deal of strain on a relationship that was hitherto skin tight..I was a bit sad to see so many low ratings and disparaging reviews. It seems like most readers were expecting Daenerys's dragons from Game of Thrones and not more sentient ones that can shift into human. While certainly possessing a bestial nature of sorts (especially when she gets angry), Ember still has a rational mind and is no more a mindless maniac than any other character with an animal form. It's an odd expectation given that these dragons are taught to assimilate in order to survive (a concept I could say a lot about) and (according to the Order of St. George) eventually take over the world.While Talon didn't do anything particularly new in the genre of YA (at least in terms of love triangles and teenage angst), the shapeshifting/weredragon angle was something I haven't see before (and I've read quite a few books on all types of shapeshifters including ones that turn into leopards and swans). Additionally, the book's lesson on why authority should be questioned is necessary especially in these turbulent times. Not doing so is detrimental, dangerous, and a far greater plague than dragons could ever unleash upon humanity.

This book was very will written. Had me at the edge of my seat. Looking forward and reading second book right now. I love the way the writer has incorporated it seamlessly into everyday life. Makes me feel like I’m actually right there with them, living on the edge. Must read if you like dragons like I do.

I was so pleased with the condition of the book, it has some ware to it but it's still very readable.

A fantastic modern fantasy! Talon has all the makings of another Julie Kagawa sensation read. With romance, danger, betrayal, and that fabulous ability Kagawa has with blurring fantasy elements with real world elements make Talon my favorite Julie Kagawa to date. Not surprisingly, Kagawa had me falling for all of her characters. Whether they were deemed good, bad or traitors to their organizations, I felt like I understood each of the characters, and started to fall for them the same way Ember was.Talon has found a spot among my bookcase that houses my favorite fantasy books. What Julie Kagawa has done with her dragons is awesome. When it comes to fantasy books, I love it when the world I'm reading about comes to life so easily, and makes the story feel like it's a possibility within the real world. That to me is the signs of a gifted story teller. I think it would be awesome to live in a world where Dragons blended in with humans, and in a secretive way their worlds collided with our own. I'm just saying. After you read Talon you might be thinking the same thing. Now if only I could get to a beach and search the skies for Riley.... *coughs* Sorry, back to my review.Through Ember, Riley and Garrett's points of views, Kagawa gave me everything I needed to know about them, their worlds, and what each of their missions were. They each come for a different organization that make up the world of Talon. I felt like I really got to understand all three of these characters, and understand what drove them to make the decisions they did. In true Kagawa fashion, she gave me a story that broke down the barriers within it's world and crossed the boundaries of forbidden love and the impossible with three stubborn, incredibly strong characters whom once they learned the truths of their worlds, wanted to make a change, and fight for not only what they felt was right, but want to follow their own hearts without enforced rules. I loved how Kagawa was able to elegantly weave together three different points of views to tell a story. Few authors have the ability to master the multiple points of views, and still bring their story to life so effortlessly like Julie Kagawa has done with Talon.Ember is a character that I first deemed as a rebel, but she quickly proved there is much more to her than that. I loved getting to know her. Regardless to what she's being taught, and told she can and can't do, there's this side of her that knows she has to decipher what's right, and follow her instinct and heart. I admire her courage in doing that, even though the odds are against her, and she has a bother to think about. Her actions will have deadly consequences. I liked Garrett. He's someone whom I wouldn't want to get on his wrong side, but like Ember, he battles with what he's been taught/trained to do and with what he's feeling, and learns is the truth. Then there's Riley. Yep... loved him from the moment he rode his motorcycle into the scene and gave Ember a heated knowing look. The more I got to know him, the more I wanted from him. There's so much more to Riley than what we get to know in Talon. Trust me, what you learn about him will definitely hook you, and make you wish you had the sequel, ROGUE, in your hands already.TALON was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more. I think Julie Kagawa found her niche with this book. I've loved all her other series, but her dragon series is by far my favorite. Talon has fantastic world building, unforgettable characters, and a story that hooked me, and gave me everything I wanted, and leaves me wanting so much more. GO PICK THIS BOOK UP!

I loved Kagawa’s Iron Fey and Immortal Rules series, and I wanted to love Talon. Without a doubt, the story has a great premise and heaps of potential. The execution, unfortunately, leaves something to be desired.The idea behind this book is genuinely original. Dragons that take human form? A shadowy dragon organisation that’s trying to take over the world? A romance between two people on warring sides? Yeah, this book definitely had potential. Alas, what we got was a rather sappy teenage romance with an improbably immature protagonist.Let me be frank: the romance is boooring. It’s a chaste heterosexual romance that involves such exciting things as shopping at the mall, visiting an amusement park, and surfing. Of course, behind it all, there’s a massive conflict, which starts to get interesting at the end of the book. But to get there, you have to slog through a lot of fake interactions between the two characters. The male character, Garrett, is just keeping up appearances for the sake of his mission, and the female character is completely clueless right up until the end.You can’t build an interesting romance on a lie. The character interactions have to be genuine. Perhaps, if the author had made the heroine figure out Garrett’s lie earlier, and forced them to co-operate on something, she would have written a much better romance. As it is, I found their relationship totally unconvincing.The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there is a lack of action in this book. The two fight scenes with a bunch of dumb jocks did nothing for me, nor did I find them very convincing—it was the equivalent of an action movie spamming explosions to keep you from dozing off. The real conflict was clearly between Talon and St George, and between rogue dragons and Talon. It got good at the end, but well, too late.There were also some plot holes which annoyed me. Talon is clearly led by smart people, so why didn’t they give Dante and Ember fake parents? As it is, making them “orphans” was a big red flag for St George. Furthermore, the author tells us that dogs react negatively to dragons in their human form. Which begs the question, why doesn’t St George use dogs?I’m also not sure why exactly St George wants to keep the existence of dragons a secret. Perhaps other humans would see them as genocidal fanatics rather than holy warriors, but that’s just speculation on my part—an explanation from the author would have been a lot better.I doubt I’ll continue with this series. It may have potential, along with some good moments, but I don’t think I can suffer through 5 books with any more sappy romance or teenage naivete. Ember needs to grow up.

The first thing to say about this one is that it is YA through and through – including a love triangle. So you have the first person viewpoint of a teenage protagonist who is very conflicted. That said, I think she’s probably entitled to be a tad more conflicted than many young heroines in that she is a shape-shifting dragon, who is come to the end of a long and testing training programme designed to allow her to fight an underground war with humanity against the elite Order of St. George. Ember and her twin brother are ostensibly on a beach holiday and mixing with other teenagers who are completely unsuspecting about the true identity of the attractive couple.Ember is a sympathetic protagonist, despite being a rebel and a rule breaker, because the people looking after her don’t show any affection or compassion. The only person who cares about her is Dante, her brother, who is equally concerned on building a successful career within Talon. I think I would be sneaking out until midnight under those circumstances, too.I liked the way Kagawa introduces the hidden world of dragonkind within the story. It is deftly done without compromising the pace and is added in bits and pieces as we need to know so that by the end of the book, we have a clear picture of how the dragons operate without humanity mostly being aware of them. For me, the highlight of the book has to be when Ember shifts and flies the coast – an extremely forbidden act. Kagawa’s prose really took off at this point, and I could easily imagine the beauty and power of the flight. Once I was well into the story, I was more or less able to predict where it would end up. There was a twist near the end that I didn’t see coming, but the writing packs a punch and the ending is sufficiently dramatic. Recommended for YA fans who enjoy shape-shifting dragons with some romance.8/10

I love Julie Kagawa. Really, I do. I've devoured her other books. But this book must have been written by someone else, because it is a whole galaxy away from her usual writing style - and not in a good kind of galaxy far far away kind of way!Ember and Dante look like normal humans. But they're far from it; they're fire-breathing, scale-ridden, feisty dragons. In theory anyway, but I'll come back to that. Their task, as sort-of siblings (they grew up in the same nest effectively) is to assimilate themselves into the Californian teenage populace. Why? They work for Talon, essentially the dragon government, and they're in training. They don't really know what for, but they do know that this summer will determine their final role as fully fledged dragons. But they must not reveal themselves to the humans at any cost. Because there are hunters out there, members of St George, a resistance group of soldiers on a mission to kill the dragons and Hatchlings like Ember and Dante would make easy kills for someone like Garrett - a handsome hunter suspicious of the feisty siblings.So, welcome to the land of instalove. Not dragons. You see Ember, I'm not even going to talk about Dante because he's so superficial and barely features in the book, is so human I almost forgot she actually was a dragon. I was super excited to learn that Kagawa had written a dragon book. Kagawa plus dragons makes some sort of fantastical explosion of the reading senses in my imagination. In reality, it was like ordering a pizza and the delivery boy bringing you a salad. It was so dull, unimaginative, full of instalove which is just boring and had nothing exciting. How can a dragon book not be fiery fun and evil adventures? Somehow this book manages it.I thought this might be salvageable though. Despite the obvious romance that's forbidden and eventually they're doomed to find out about each other in a predictable way, the introduction of Rogues was a cool idea. Rogues are ostensibly dangerous dragons who have left Talon and rebelled against the system. And there's a pretty sexy rogue in this story. I really enjoyed the little teasers from Riley (said Rogue), also known as Cobalt, and it was great to have insight into the corruption of Talon. Again though, this was so predictable and the Rogue didn't feature half as much as would have been necessary to spice this story up. So, sadly not salvageable after all.Equally, the characters were so lifeless. Ember is frankly a little bit irritating. She has none of the likeability of the Iron Fey characters and her fiery nature comes off as bratty rather than as bad-ass like the Blood of Eden characters. She's supposed to be a dragon! Where's the heat? the aggression? the fire in her character? All smoke, no fire for me I'm afraid.Oh and that love triangle. Yeah. Not fun.Kagawa definitely knows how to write page-turners, she is usually phenomenal at pulling you into a world, building that world so creatively that you can even forgive the cringe-worthy love triangles and she also usually throws in some cool characters. But this story sadly had none of those things. I can't even believe she has actually written this - it is so far from her usual writing style and creativity.I definitely won't be reading the sequel, and it's really a shame because I thought this concept had so much potential but it just fell into too many typical YA traps (i.e instalove) and didn't really deliver anything original. I won't give up on her yet - but I have given up on Ember and her Dragon world.

I was drawn to this book because of it’s dragon aspect, I have a real love for book’s about dragon’s and was really interested in how Julie Kagawa had tackled the various dragon lore within this book.This is a YA and initially the book was quite bogged down with the teenage aspects of the story, I can see this was about setting the scene and making Ember seem human for the reader, having her fit into a popular teenage crowd, surfing, rebelling against her dragon training and so on.I was interested to see the story unfold with her human closeness with Garret, the St George’s soldier who is undercover and hunting her unfolding, while her dragon side grows closer with the rogue dragon Riley. Whilst a love triangle is a little cliche it was also quite an interesting take given Ember does have two different sides to her personality. And the two characters involved are very interesting.The dragons themselves are described vividly with horns, colours, scales, beautiful wings and so on. The battles are descriptive, enjoyable to read and the idea of Talon as a dragon organisation ruling how dragons live as an elite force was wonderful.I loved the idea of the Order of St George as an army who hunt dragon’s. Nobody seem’s to know why Dragon’s hunt St George or vice versa just that the other is evil and Ember and Garret seem to be the first to start questioning this centuries long war.This is the first book in a new series and whilst a lot of it is scene setting and character creation it is quite interesting and enjoyable. I am very interested in seeing what happens next.

"The human race is weak and self-destructive, and the only thing they know how to do is destroy."Actual rating 3.5 stars.I was genuinely excited to begin this book and, judging by the synopsis, I felt it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I was left disappointed for a large portion of the book. The premise of a book about a teenage dragon assimilating to life amongst the human race, whilst in her human form, was intriguing, but whilst reading, this felt like more of a straight-forward romance for the most part. Romance, as a main theme in novels, is ordinarily not my thing and I felt myself getting bored of all the coyness, teen angst and love at first sight. It felt like the fantastical element were almost surplus to the romantic overdose on times.I felt like the central portion of the novel was almost solely dedicated to an endless sea of love scenes and any forward movement in the plot was halted. The last 30% of the novel really picked up, for me, and I felt myself once more invested in the outcome of the novel. I still can't ignore that I felt like this novel could really have been halved in size and made much more impactful.I also disliked that the human female characters were displayed as vapid and shallow with an interest only in clothes and cute boys, and it annoyed me that there wasn't a more meaningful representative for the female human race. It seemed like all the humans, in fact, were displayed as fun-loving, talkative and easy-going. Not a bad thing, in itself, but there was a lack of deep conversation and real bonds being made beyond their love of the beach and the junk food served there. If our main character was on such an advanced level to this then why did she continue to form bonds with these air-headed individuals? I would have liked to form more of an emotional investment with the characters, but I felt it difficult when I was only given this side to them.I will continue with the series as I am interested to see where the novel goes but I am hesitant that it will only have more of the same superfluous love scenes and little actual plot development. This is probably due to my own personal tastes, in relation to romance novels, so please don't take this review as a verbatim portrayal of the novel. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in romance with a light speckling of fantasy.