A rich delight of a fantasy. Lleth and her pluckiness remind me of Tamora Pierce's heroines. She begins her adventure braving unknown lands, drenched clothing and no food or water. When she arrives at the Serpentine, desperately hoping to gain acceptance as a novice, she's turned away because she's a few hours past midnight on the one day such are accepted.
Not to be denied, she sits in a side doorway for days until she intrigues someone inside enough so she's admitted. What follows is a series of events, some funny, others scary to the point where they're life threatening. There's never a dull page in this book. Fantasy lovers will feast on it, as will dragon lovers and readers who love a strong teen heroine. I hope the next book in the series is up to the same standard. ( )

True Grit!

One thing I can say about Ileth is that she has determination, almost to the point of foolishness. Ileth is a Cinderella figure in her village with the emphasis on Cinders. She knows little but had work and nothing about kindness. As an orphan without a known paternal name and a person with a stutter, she's not only the butte of jokes, she's labeled as the daughter of a whore due to her affliction.
Having idolized dragons by the actual meeting with a dragon as a seven year old child, at fourteen Ileth leaves her village and journeys to the Serpentine gate at the Accademy, to put herself forward for training as a potential Dragoneer. She needed to arrive by Midsummer's Day. Her late arrival has her having to seek other means of being noticed. I did feel for her.
After this quite solid beginning, I was disappointed at the slower pace of the novel.
All Ileth wanted to do was become part of the Accademy. Unfortunately trouble kept finding her, but yet those challenges also took her into places she might never have gone. Ileth it seems is one of those people who's a lightning wand for disturbances, things just keeping happening to her. From her entering the dragon hold to becoming a dragon dancer and more, Ileth was never still.
Apart from Ileth's first encounter, dragons seemed to take forever to appear. When one did take up Ileth's time it was in a completely unsuspected way. I loved Lodger, the wise older dragon. The way he and Ileth bonded was natural and became something precious. Some thought dragons were more like pets, but a couple of small references made me discount that.
Ileth is an exceptional hero, made the more enjoyable for her straight thinking and hard headed northern ways. There were moments when I felt teary. The ending is perfect.
I look forward to seeing her future unfold.

A Berkley ARC via NetGalley ( )