Week 35 Review: Lady Dragon

From Goodreads:

Rachel Hartman's Seraphina meets The Priory of the Orange Tree in Lady Dragon, a sapphic YA romantasy from A.M. Strickland.

Since the last war between humans and dragons left the leaders of both species slain—the last human king of Andrath and the legendary dragon queen—both queendoms have been living under a tentative truce: only women will sit on the throne of Andrath, the dragons will have free passage through the human lands . . . and if men ever try to retake the throne, the draconic realm will retaliate.

Samansa and Kirek are two new leaders coming of age in war-scarred lands—Samansa a reluctant human princess and Kirek the favored contender for the draconic queenship. Per tradition, Kirek must undergo the distasteful task of using a mysterious gem called the Heartstone to shift into human form and maintain the strained ties between the species . . . and study human weaknesses, a new and secret task she's been given by her queen. As the princess and the dragon girl grow closer, they are sent to investigate a potential breach of the treaty and encounter a plot that could reignite an even bloodier war. While fighting to maintain the peace their ancestors fought for and uncovering centuries-old secrets, Samansa and Kirek must grapple with betraying their clashing nations . . . or their unexpected feelings for each other.

My Review:
This was so amazing to read! The concept sounded so interesting, and I had to know how the relaitonship between these very different girls was going to go! That they're both future rulers but from different cultures and species made things complicated, but I adored the pair of them! 

To be honest, this is not my favourite of A.M. Strickland's books. The idea and the world were really interesting, but it doesn't quite get to quite the epic levels as some of the other books. Which is understandable, stories are different, and this one was more about the characters journeys then a huge overarching plot. It did have one, but it was much smaller in comparison to some of the other books. I still enjoyed it and loved it, but it's not a new top favourite.

I'm really glad that we got both of their persepctives, espcially later on when the "curse" was going on. Samansa is human, and while she's not soft per se, she's not a strong stoic silent one like Kirek is. Because dragons aren't about messy emotions like what humans experience. That they found a romance was shocking but all the more fun for the forbidden nature of it.

How the past events of this book with the far history were affecting events of the present, with the girls, with the relgious, and the rulers, and how it all came together? That was pretty epic, and I had such a great time seeing how it all worked out! 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by A.M. Strickland! 

Author: A.M. Strickland 
Read: August 28th, 2025
Source: Bought 
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really fantastic, and it's a SAC 2025 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: August 26th 2025 

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars