Bane

by Reese Kohol

Our duty is to our dragons.

Estella, Bane of Cintri, has thought about the red dragon that saved her life fifteen years ago every single day.
Sylan, the dragon who saved her, has thought about her every single day for a much different reason.
Estella dedicates her life to saving the lives of dragons, but when her identity is discovered, she is forced to leave her home. Having nowhere else to go, the brother of the red dragon brings her back to their village. There, she quickly realizes that the red dragon that saved her life those fifteen years ago had grown cold and joined the hordes of Shifters that hate humans. Especially her.
But what happens when Estella and Sylan are forced to work together to save the dragons in his village, all while navigating their complicated history and trying to escape the very thing set out to capture them?

Genres: Fantasy

358 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 29, 2024

Reviews

[Jordyn Shadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A huge thank you to Reese Kohol for allowing me to join her street team and read this book before its release!!!

I think the 5 star rating can speak for itself, but WOW.

If you like:

✔ Dragons

✔ Enemies to lovers

✔ Shape shifters

✔ Grumpy/sunshine

✔ Magic

And so much more.

The story follows Estella, our FMC, who has devoted her life to saving the lives of dragons ever since she was saved by one 15 years ago. Humans HATE dragons and go out of their way to find and kill them, that’s where Bane (Estella) comes in. I mean, The Fray hates dragons so much that they have another dragon, known as “The Tracker”, whether by threaten or bribe, to track other dragons down. Covered in a cloak she botches every execution that The Fray lines up. Until one day when her cover is blown and she’s forced to leave Cintri.

Sylan, The Legendary Red Dragon, devotes his life to his other dragons and HATES humans, especially Estella. He was the one who saved her all of those years ago.

He possesses the powers of all the different dragon types. Powers correspond to what color they are:
- Orange: fire
- Blue: ice
- Green: invisibility
- Purple: electricity
- Red: all of the above AND he has healing powers

The amount of character development in this book is crazy. It’s almost like every side character could have their own POV or maybe even a redemption arc? 😏. From Raeve to Calder to even Sylan.

There are so many twists and turns, but when the truth seems obvious, it is NOT. I’m normally a good predictor for how books will go, but this one kept me guessing and I loved it.

Also, the banter between Sylan and Estella is laugh out loud hilarious. A few specific scenes come to mind, but I’ll let you read it for yourself.

PLEASE READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT IN JUNE.

[Liz's Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Reese for the arc of the book and for letting me into the street team! I loved this book so much that I started and finished it in less than a day. If you love grumpy dragons, magic, enemies to lovers, and shapeshifters you will love this book.

This book follows the FMC named Estella who has devoted her life to rescuing dragons that are to be executed. Since she was saved by a red dragon 15 years ago she puts her life at risk trying to save them all. The people of her village hate dragons and go out of their way to find them to execute. Which in turn makes the dragons hate them too. When rescuing the dragons she puts on a cloak and becomes a person named Bane so people don't know it's her. One day her cover is blown and she has to leave her town. In comes the legendary red dragon named Sylan who saved Estella all the years ago, but he has such hate towards her that she wasn't expecting when they met since he saved her.

I loved the commentary that Sylan and Estella had with each other throughout the book. So many times I was full-on laughing at things that they said. There was great character development and character arc that I wasn't expecting from start to finish of this book and I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

[Migeldy Mauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

ehhhhhhh

I honestly don't know how to feel.
The book has potential but it was lacking a lot.
It needs more of a backstory as what exactly is the Fray and why they want the dragon shifters unalived so badly.
Estella running around like a chicken with no head pissed me off.
Just reminded me of Caelena in Throne of glass
Being this badäşş assassin but no kíłłïńğ getting done.
"I became the Bane to save lives not end them " wooohoooo woe is me 😒
Then she has the orange dragon who's allegedly madly in love with her or was but we don't see how their "relationship" even began.
There's also the red dragon who claims to have fallen for her but how, where , when , why?????
We also see how months are passing by like nada but no actual information is given
I'm confusion the plot wasn't plotting

2.75 ⭐️'s

[Megan somers · Rating 4 out of 5]

if you love fourth wing this is a great read

I haven’t been so quick to read a book since fourth wing. It has a strong female lead who is very relatable, a smoking hot male lead that gets you all hot and bothered, but the enemies to lovers is what really did it for me. I have a hard time with slow burns but this one had me griping my seat. I think the author is a diamond in the rubble. I can’t wait to read the next!

[Patricia Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was the first book I read with dragons. Was good, but was disappointed on how it ended on a cliff hanger yet there is no news on, if there will be a second book. I have multiple unanswered questions.