Dragonswood -- Janet Lee Carey

The Crusades are in full swing. In England, Prince John has been wrecking havoc while his brother, King Richard, is away.

Meanwhile, on Wilde Island, a similar situation is playing out: the crown prince is off fighting, the king dies, and the regent, Lord Sackmoore, takes charge. Since Lord Sackmoore came into power, the crown jewels have been stolen, witch hunts have begun, and the uneasy peace between humans, dragons, and the fey is threatened.

It isn't long before seventeen-year-old Tess is accused. After all, she has a habit of sneaking into the Dragonswood, and everyone knows that the only humans that voluntarily spend time there are either poachers or witches. But then, something strange happens during her water trial. She is saved—quite deliberately—by a dragon (and a turtle). Before long, she and her two best friends are on the run...

I loved the first half of this book. The descriptions of daily life in Tess' village, the whole witch-hunting sequence (thumbscrews = *shudder*), the complicated relationship between Tess, Poppy, and Meg (who are forced to run with Tess after she gives up their names under torture), the escaping, the traveling, the escaping again. It was all very exciting, and felt like the best sort of historical fiction/fantasy.

And then, when they were taken in by the woodsman, well. I liked that, too. I liked that he and Tess butted heads so much, and I liked the descriptions of the lodge and daily life at the lodge.

I liked that once given the necessary clues, Tess figured out the Big Secret about her [SPOILER]. I didn't mind that it took so long for her to figure out the Big Secret about Garth's [SPOILER]*.

I loved the dragons.

What I didn't particularly like, sadly, was the third quarter. Tess goes off to [SPOILER], and with the absence of the other characters I'd spent all of this time with, she just wasn't enough to carry it. It started feeling like a slog to the end, which—as I mentioned—I'd predicted pretty early on. The characters ceased to be real, and somehow, everything went from 3-D to 2-D. Long story short, it felt like filler, and somewhere along the way, I stopped believing. 

When the final quarter began, things picked up, but I never was able to regain my original momentum.

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*Mostly. That was a tough one for me. In terms of storyline, as a reader, it was totally obvious from minute one what was going on there. And for a good while, I didn't mind that I'd picked up on it so early—it just gave me the opportunity to see how well-written Garth's character was. At a certain point, though, I was over it and started thinking, okay, let's get on with the darn reveal, already. Or at least, Tess, I thought, you could start to SUSPECT that there's something going on with Garth. It got a little maddening towards the end, there. 

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Amazon | Indiebound. 

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Author page.

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Book source: ILLed through my library.