Expected rating - 4 stars
Actual rating - 3 stars
New Words Learnt - 7
Book Cover - 5/5
A quick review because I haven't much time right now. I liked the world-building and the story, which are the two main things I always look out and rate first. However, there were times throughout the book where the characters relied on convenience, coincidence or luck to progress to the next stage, or to move the story. I wouldn't have minded the once, or maybe twice, but it kept happening time after time and it stood out. Also, the story begs for sympathy every single page and maybe for an 11yo it might work but to me it looked cheap, fake and annoying, to the fact that I was considering rooting the other side out of spite. The morality as well is really confusing and laughable, and at times hypocritical. There were enough twists to keep it fresh and mildly enjoyable though.
The characters were grand, nothing too special. At times the main trio seemed to grasp onto things quickly (too quickly maybe), while at other times they can be as dumb as a potato and you're sitting there thinking to yourself 'Where's the consistency?'. The heroes themselves were OK as well, maybe one of them was memorable enough but the others could've been anybody really. They were connected to the story so maybe not 'anybody'.
As previously mentioned, there were parts, most notably towards the end where the inconsistencies and illogicality of events and scenes were glaring. But the writing was nice, Wonderscape does indeed seem to be full of wonder, and yes I would like to visit it one day.
DRAGON-O-METER:
Again, there are SPOILERS here please be aware. The dragon in question today is Cloud, and she's a robot.
Size - Described as the size of a lorry, with eight-metre wings. Might sound big, but not for a dragon. (5/10)
Personality - Frankly the Dragon Cloud has none. (0/10)
Appearance - Seems to have the usual dragon appearance, with four legs, spinal spikes and horns. Fair enough. (7/10)
Intelligence - Doesn't talk, doesn't really communicate, and it's a robot. Obedient though. (3/10)
Power - Potential might be there. Because she doesn't really get much page time I have to speculate. (4/10)
My approval - Yeah no, it may be cool to have a robot dragon, but the stats don't lie. (2/10)
Overall - 21/60 or 3.5/10.