Review: Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Hey all, Dani here.

Wow, it is the final week of March already. Holy smokes. Also, I do believe that I may have a couple of bonus posts for all of you this weekend, because I have a couple more Middle Grade reviews to post up while I’m still celebrating Middle Grade March.

Then again, I am now operating without internet, because we don’t have it set up at our house yet. So bear with me for a little while everyone. I am going to try and keep up with my regular blogging schedule. Hopefully it will go well.

Summary

To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.

When word arrives that Jun is suspected of leaving his post to go in search of the Dragon Pearl, Min knows that something is wrong. Jun would never desert his battle cruiser, even for a mystical object rumored to have tremendous power. She decides to run away to find him and clear his name.

Min’s quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams.

My Thoughts

Rating: 5 stars

I absolutely flew through this book. It was such a good read for me. Then again, I tend to like stories with fox spirits (kitsune, gumiho, etc), so I was already super interested in the story. I think this is the first Rick Riordan or Rick Riordan Presents book that focuses more on folklore creatures than on gods/goddesses mythology. And I was totally okay with that. I definitely cannot wait to read the next one.

The adventure started pretty early in the book, which helped get the story going. But I also enjoyed the descriptions and the world building–or galaxy building in this case–because it was all so fascinating.

Just thinking about this book makes me want to read it again. I know some people have talked about this book being slower, but I honestly didn’t feel that way. I just wanted to read and read because I needed to find out what was going on and what would happen next.

Where to Buy

You can pick up this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore.