Jaimal Yogis

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Death of a father in the past, fire, explosions, near-death experience, implied building collapse
Score: Seven points out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

I read the first installment of the City of Dragons series last year and I enjoyed that, so I wondered whether the second part would be better. Soon enough, I saw the library I went to get Rise of the Shadowfire so I immediately picked it up and read it. However, when I finished it, I didn't think it was a step up or down.

It starts (more like continues) with the characters that need no introduction, Grace, and her dragon friend from The Awakening Storm, Nate. Rise of The Shadowfire takes a while to get going--half the narrative is about Grace still residing in Hong Kong but not before Nate takes her somewhere else to explain that the antagonist is in an ongoing search for a dragon controlling jewel and it's up to her and her accomplices to stop that before it's too late. Fortunately, the latter half of Rise of the Shadowfire is much faster paced as Grace, alongside others, travel to Paris with the Shadowfire after them. The ending is dramatic, leaving me anticipated for further expansion of the City of Dragons series.… (mehr)

When Grace moves to Hong Kong after her father’s death with her mom and new stepdad, she is concerned about fitting in at her fancy new school. But when a mysterious old woman gifts her a dragon egg during a field trip, Grace discovers that the wonderful stories of dragons her father told her when she was a young girl might be real - especially when the egg hatches.
When bad guys show up, she and her friends race against time to get help. Someone wants the dragon for their own purposes, but our Grace isn't going to let that go down.

Initial reactions/impressions of the novel:
• Artwork is expressive and colorful
• Not sure about having the main character smack someone with a skateboard – even a bully…
• Chinese mythology is very cool… (mehr)