Cracked Open (The Dragon Born Academy Book 1)

When reading a book, it is not often that I find myself unable to put it down to one side, switch off the bedside light, and continue where I left off the following day. But when I do, I consider this a rare find, and automatically I find myself on a mission to download, or buy more of the author's work, and add to my very own personal library collection.So I am more than a little excited to share in this review, that Cracked Open, Book One of the Dragon Born Academy series is, for me, a rare find, and a definite Book Dragon Keeper!! T. L. Christianson had me so engrossed in the world of the Dragon Born, that I had read the entire book in one night, and finished at 4.40 in the morning. Rarely I am awake to watch the rise of dawn, and whilst tired, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey I was taken on.Firstly if you are a lover of Dragons, obsessed with Dragons, and adore anything to do with Dragons, then this book is for you. Although considered a young adult book, readers and dragon fanatics will love it no matter what their age is, and if you are a fan of Eragon, and Harry Potter you will certainly enjoy this fantasy series.Beautifully written and full of the promise of much more excitement to come, and did I mention Dragons? I am awarding Cracked Open, an easy 5 Stars.Thank you T. L. Christianson for sharing your work with the Book Dragon. I am looking forward to more nights spent with the Dragon Born & Academy series, although hopefully I can fit some sleep in, as I work my way through the series :)by Kirsty McKay, Lead Reviewer New Adult / Adult Fiction (The Book Dragon)

I enjoyed this book!Finding out your whole life is a lie is daunting, especially when you also find out that you have a dragon attached to you!Sydney tries to find out the answers to her life, but only her 'father' can answer her - and he's not talking!Ashe is her bond mate and 7 years older than her.Will Syd and Ashe get their happily ever after?A great start to the series.

A simple accident turns Syd's life upside down...can she untangle the mystery? Dragons, bonds, New family and friends, enemies and lies, this adventure had all that and more. Really enjoyed the play between the characters and the journey they all begin...definitely a TBR addition!

I love the shifter world that the author has created, it’s so unique. I just wish that Sydney wasn’t so young, I feel it’s unnecessary, and it makes certain points in the book quite uncomfortable, I feel like she could have been eighteen and the plot still would have worked. Other that that I loved the characters and the storyline was interesting.

I love the story of Asus and Sydney, although I want to shake sense into him at times.What a wonderfully written book, by that I mean you really feel their pain and anguish. I love Sydney as she is a strong and loveable mc. She deals with stuff thrown at her, without the annoying whining you get in a lot of books.There are some really clever twists, at the end I just wanted to hug them both :)Gutted it's a wait until book 3....

I enjoyed the book it was a nice read i felt sorry for sydney because she was introducrd into a world that she believed was not teal then she struggling to mate cause of her age and the age of her unbonded i like all the steam but i wish i could see the fire.

This was a great start to what promises to be a wonderful series. It had me hooked from the start, sucking me in and ensuring I was happy to power through the pages. I'm desperate to see what comes next, and cannot wait for more.

I liked the characters

It’s incredible! This book just swayed me to read it in three days! I just love the way Sydney doesn’t just accept what others tell her and finds the truth by herself. I really think it was the way that she had to do. Her grandparents wants what’s best but they don’t leave her to search for herself. So I think what Sydney did to go to her “dad” is kind of right. When something hides from view and others don’t want to tell, it compelled us to seek what is true. So yeah, I’m loving that she knows want to stay with the Dragonborn community

This book had a lot of fun characters and a good story. There was some action and minor adventure, and a lot of setup for the storyline that helped fill in some of the universe backstory. I enjoyed this book and am glad it is part of a series. It will be interesting to see what all the main character finds out about her mother and father in future books. I recommend this book.

"Cracked Open," the first book in The Dragon Born Academy series, stands out as a solid young adult (YA) fantasy read. The narrative flows smoothly, making it an enjoyable experience from start to finish. The story, rich in imaginative elements and well-crafted plot twists, captivates the reader, embodying many of the strengths of the YA genre.However, one aspect of the novel that raises concerns is the relationship between a 23-year-old and a 16-year-old girl. This element of the storyline may not sit well with all readers, as it could have been approached differently or reimagined to avoid potential discomfort.Despite this issue, "Cracked Open" offers an engaging and well-paced adventure in a fascinating fantasy world. The book's strengths in storytelling, character development, and world-building make it a worthwhile read for fans of the genre.In summary, "Cracked Open" delivers a promising start to The Dragon Born Academy series, appealing to readers looking for a good YA fantasy. While it navigates its plot with creativity and intrigue, a more sensitive handling of the characters' relationships could have elevated the story even further.

What a great start to thus series!😍highly recommend 👌 I am defently Hooked❤️love how T.L. Christianson has such amazing detail that draws you in!👏 spice level could be more 👿ok of to download second 📖Fantasy⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Story Line⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Spice🌶🌶

The good outweighs the bad, but the story is crippled by a pile of "little things" that subtract from the tale being told. When a character is under stress the dialog will not be the same as when everything is at ease, but here it "got angry" or "expressed regret" using the same manner of talking, the individuals might vary, but the structure and timing of dialog was kept in a very tight range for all of the characters.The "travels worldwide doing science research" with a child who never goes to school-- really? I cannot swallow that, and the repeated "sixteen barrier" made me wonder if any research was done or if it was just an off the top of the head call-- fifty states, but it is not "18 or older" for all of them, and exceptions and exemptions abound in the states that normally disallow that marriage. The idea that a sixteen and a half year old female will change radically when she gets to eighteen, then magically being ready to marry does not make sense to me, but a simple look at minimum marriage ages and the records of actual marriages recorded over the last two hundred years in the USA shows that used to be a fairly common age for marriage. The "gotta be eighteen" is just a clunky speed bump to slow down the story progression.And the paragraphs about misspelling the word "since" totally baffled me as to how it got past the editing, and how it has survived this long.The redeeming values are that "off the wall crazy" is kept under control, and is more or less limited to the one character, and people who do dumb things manage to change their behavior to move away from dumb things to a more adult behavior. The formatting gets wonky from time to time, but that seems tied to the mobi format change of italics or boldface without that change being part of the author's work.The good points greatly outweigh the problems. The sixteen year old girl actually reacts like a real sixteen year old girl, and her targeted "seven years older than her" love interest acts to protect her, even from himself, while the behavior of the dragon-human interface closely follows addition/subtraction rules so it makes sense. I felt that I, as a reader, deserved a more informative resolution to daddy/kid "reveal."It earns a solid four out of five stars because of the good stuff, but with the slow pacing and deliberate "temptation/reprieve" I am not sure if I would want to spend that long to cover that little of the story for the next volumes of a tale kept carefully in the novel version of PG13 format storytelling.On the other hand, not dealing with dragon/human compression situations, I might have misjudged it. It was interesting, just a shade too slow, and it did not really raise the stakes in the game..