Book Review: Moonbreeze (The Dragonian #4)

About the Book:

Title: Moonbreeze (The Dragonian #4)
Author: Adrienne Woods
Pub. Date: October 20, 2015
Publisher: Firequill Publishing
Pages: 552
Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis:

The life of a star-studded royal has not been kind to eighteen year-old Elena Watkins. With a Council breathing down her neck and a dragon that refuses to accept her as her rider, she must convince everyone that she is ready to rule Paegeia like her parents before her. But she has made a promise to her father King Albert, that she will not go looking for him and free the people of Etan. Elena has promised to never truly fulfil her destiny. 

However, situations out of her control will soon force her to confront herself and the evil that seeks to destroy her. Elena must look inside herself to discover if she can defeat the approaching darkness, be accepted by the people of Paegeia, bring her dragon back to light and fulfill the destiny written in their stars. 

Review:

When I first heard that Adrienne Woods had to split up (what was planned to be) the last book in the Dragonian series, I was a both excited and worried. Excited, obviously, because yay for more books in the Dragonian series. But worried because I wondered if the fourth book would drag a bit and all of the action would be in the last book. However, I had absolutely nothing to worry about as this book was phenomenal. I was glued to the page, and never wanted it to end! I was on the edge of my seat in many scenes, and I couldn't wait to see how everything would play out. This novel is split into 5 parts, with part 2 being probably the hardest to read due to the events of that entire section. Nevertheless, the book was written very well, and Adrienne Woods improves her talent with every single book. The pacing was perfect and we also get to witness some radical transformations of our beloved characters.

The first part of this novel follow Elena and her journey in accepting and becoming the princess of the people. She is still very immature in some ways and becomes quickly overwhelmed with all of her princess duties, but come on...who wouldn't be? Elena has no idea how to be the princess the kingdom needs, and it doesn't help that she has all of the extra pressure of being the daughter of the greatest king of Paegeia. On top of all of that, Blake isn't doing her any favors as he constantly denies Elena as his rider, even begging her to release him. Throughout all of this though, Elena remains strong. Sure, she has her weak moments, but her character felt extremely real. I truly felt for Elena, and felt as if she is one of my friends. Elena begins her transformation even in this first part. She finds her strength in standing up to Blake (I LOVED these scenes), and she also begins to learn from her mistakes. Elena doesn't need anyone to "save" her anymore, and I enjoyed this "new" Elena that began to emerge.

Now the second part was a bit difficult to read only because of the horrors that Elena faced and experienced. I know that some readers aren't happy that Adrienne Woods included this part and and the scenes, but I think that it was a crucial part to this novel and the series in general. While at this point in the novel we don't know where Elena actually is (you do learn the truth later on), I think witnessing what she did allowed Elena to become the true leader she needed to be. We are finally able to see the ugliness and darkness of the world outside the walls of Paegia, and this entire section added a lot of depth and knowledge to the series. I also applaud Ms. Woods for including a certain scene simply due to the fact that authors tend to glaze over or not even included tough subjects. My heart absolutely broke for Elena in this particular scene, and I felt that in the next 2 sections, which featured Elena's recovery, was portrayed realistically (or at least to the best of my knowledge as I have never experienced anything like what Elena endured).

During Elena's recovery, Becky, Sammy, George, and Blake step up in ways they never did previously. However, Becky actually amazed me in this novel. While I will say that I thought she was a bit too forward and brash in some scenes, I did admire her courage and fierceness in trying to get Elena to open up and stop living as a shell of herself. I also enjoyed being able to see a different side to George.

We do get to read from Blake's POV as well, which fit in perfectly with this story. I loved seeing the story from his perspective, and it gave the story yet another layer. We definitely get a lot of Blake in this novel, which is as amazing as it sounds, and I am looking forward to seeing even more from him in the fifth novel. Elena and Blake have some crazy moments, but there are certainly some scenes that will make your heart flutter.

This series has come so far since Firebolt, and I can honestly say I had no idea that this story would be where it is at now. There are so many twists and turns in this novel, and betrayals lurk around every corner. You, just like Elena, don't really know who to trust; and even those that are most trustworthy, you are forced to question. This book is addictive, and I never wanted to stop reading it. I flew through the pages because I needed to know how everything would end. I highly recommend reading this novel if you are a fan of this series because you don't want to miss out on this heart-pounding novel!

Happy reading :) 

~Cassie