Book Blog #16: Eona by Alison Goodman

Title: Eona
Author: Alison Goodman
# of Pages: 637 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis: Eon has been revealed as Eona, the first female Dragoneye in hundreds of years. Along with fellow rebels Ryko and Lady Dela, she is on the run from High Lord Sethon's army. The renegades are on a quest for the black folio, stolen by the drug-riddled Dillon; they must also find Kygo, the young Pearl Emperor, who needs Eona's power and the black folio if he is to wrest back his throne from the selfstyled "Emperor" Sethon. Through it all, Eona must come to terms with her new Dragoneye identity and power - and learn to bear the anguish of the ten dragons whose Dragoneyes were murdered. As they focus their power through her, she becomes a dangerous conduit for their plans. . . . 

Eona, with its pulse-pounding drama and romance, its unforgettable fight scenes, and its surprises, is the conclusion to an epic only Alison Goodman could create.

Review: Oh. My. God. I think I'm going to cry. This book was so fantastic.

Over 18 hours later...

Alright, everyone. I can now write a truthful review. I've learned from past experiences not to write a review immediately after finishing a book with an over-the-top ending. What will happen is that I will find all of these flaws only to forget them by the time I finish the book.

As usual, lets start with the cover. It's beautiful, true, but is that suppose to be Eona? She rarely wears her hair down (based on the structure of society in this book), so I don't think that the drawing is particularly accurate.

The content reminded me a lot of Beautiful Darkness. In Beautiful Darkness, Lena was all crazy because she didn't know what the heck she was. And here's Eona who doesn't know what her power is... Let me be frank. She was a mess. I was very, VERY unhappy with the book. But then the ending came along. And then I was the one who was a mess.

Here's the thing; I lie foretelling events in stories. And I was pretty sure I already knew how it was all going to end.  But Goodman just HAD to throw the reader a curve ball.  I loved the ending. Very much. So much, that I decided to give the book five stars instead of three.

But, one thing.

FOR YOUR CONVINENCE

Please advert your eyes to prevent unwanted spoilers meeting your eyes!!!

I'm mad that Ido turned out to be the rotten person everyone thought he was in Eon. It just seems like a lousy way to get rid of Eona's other love interest.

But the ending was great. If anything, read it for that.

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Book Blog #9 : Eon by Alison Goodman

Title: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
Author: Alison Goodman
# of Pages: 531 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Also Known As: Two Pearls of Wisdom, Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye, and Eon (All the same book just published with different publishers) Eon has been studying the ancient art of Dragon Magic for four years, hoping he'll be able to apprentice to one of the twelve energy dragons of good fortune. But he also has a dark secret. He is actually Eona, a sixteen-year-old girl who has been living a dangerous lie for the chance to become a Dragon-eye, the human link to an energy dragon's power. It is forbidden for females to practice the Dragon Magic and, if discovered, Eon faces a terrible death. After a dazzling sword ceremony, Eon's affinity with the twelve dragons catapults him into the treacherous world of the Imperial court, where he makes a powerful enemy, Lord Ido. As tension builds and Eon's desperate lie comes to light, readers won't be able to stop turning the pages...

Review: I decided to try writing this review in portions again (but published all at once). So I'm sorry if it gets a little confusing; it's the only thing I can think of doing to get all of my thoughts about this book in one review.


3/25/13

The cover is probably one of the more interesting covers I have seen. The Chinese(?) characters, the talons, it's all pretty cool. But the eye in the "O" is kinda creepy. I'm not exactly sue of what to make of it. Like, I don't really know what it's showing.

Pages 1-60

I'm a little confused about the whole Dragoneye thing, but I hope I will understand as I read on. The large amount of content that needs to be explained is a little concerning; I'm not sure if the author is going to be able to get to it all. But I'll just have to wait and see.

Pages 61-130

"'Mirror Dragoneye?' I repeated? 'But I'm just a candidate.' 'Yes, there was some resistance in the Dragoneye Council due to your youth and inexperience, but after much debate they have recognized your position.' She paused, her wide mouth quirking up for a second. 'You are now Coascendant Dragoneye with Lord Ido.' I stared at her. 'Coascendant Dragoneye? But I'm just a candidate...'

Okay, we get it. Eon (I'm just going to refer to Eon/a as Eon, since switching in between names is confusing) is just a candidate. No need to tell me twice. This has been the first thing in this book that has bugged me. You'd think that the author, the editor, SOMEONE, would have caught that!

3/26/13

Pages 131-200

I don't know why, but Eon's conversation with Lady Jila about friendship made me really annoyed. I think it's because, in a way, she used Lady Jila to compliment her own character.

Pages 200-300

Why is it that Eon starts crying when he can't read the book? It's almost like accepting defeat when there is still (OBVIOUSLY) hope. He gives up too easily.

How many times am I going to have to say this? DO NOT DRINK THE MYSTERIOUS LIQUID!!! You'd think that with so many enemies, Eon and Brannon would be more on guard about what they eat and drink. Especially since they are getting it from a servant. It doesn't matter if they say it comes from a friend, if you have determined enemies they will find a way to get to that drink and to you.

3/27/13

Pages 301-End

Now with the book finished, I have mixed feelings. I found that the journey from the Rat Dragon Hall back to the castle was very confusing. Half of the time, there was so much fighting (or whatever was going on), I couldn't understand what they were doing, where they were doing it, and why. But after all of that confusion, the events that unfolded were mind-blowing. And to find out that the Mirror Dragon was a female! But the very end was a little disappointing. The cliffhanger fell a little flat for me. I think it could have been executed better. It didn't leave me screaming "I MUST KNOW WHAT HAPPENS OR ELSe!!!!" But, oh well.

What I really felt was missing from this book was background development. I don't know if it's because I was lazy reading, but Eon's past is still confusing. And there are similarities with Mulan! The Chinese basis in both, the "boy is actually a girl" situation, it all shows similarities to Disney's Mulan. I know that it's hard to be original these days, but I fel the urge to point it out since it was so obvious. I defiantly think that this book was interesting enough, holding my attention. I recommend it!

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