Overall Rating: 5/5

Genre: YA Fantasy

Published: October 6, 2020

Synopsis: Provided by Goodreads

Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first-ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner—the only player without a dragon steed—is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.

But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire—a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form—the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets canceled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.

Overall Thoughts:

🐉 I absolutely loved this!
1. Puerto Rican representation 🇵🇷💪🏽.
2. Written by a fellow Boricua 🇵🇷💪🏽.
3. It has DRAGONS 🐉♥️🐉♥️🐉.

This was such a fun wild ride. It has been a while since I’ve felt fully transported into a fantasy world. The world-building was perfection, the Magic system was easy to understand, and the pace/action was just right amount to completely hook you. And I’m still trying to recover from the plot twist (ANDREWWWWWW😭).

Also, I related to Lana (MC) on a deeper level. The immense pride she feels for the island, the fire she has in her heart to make the island & her people proud. But I also, related with her fear of not being enough, of being deemed “not Puerto Rican enough” to represent the island, due to not having lived on the island in years. Y’all don’t even understand how this hit me. I haven’t lived on the island in 13 years and the shame I sometimes feel for it. The shame & the feeling of inadequacy I feel when I speak out about my island and the injustices my people go through to only be met with “If you love it so much why did you leave?” or “If you love it so much why don’t you go back?” Ugh! Amparo, thank you for writing this story that allowed me to FULLY feel represented & SEEN!

In honor of PuertoRican Heritage month, Amparo and I will be doing a live Q&A on November 21st, 2021 at 7:00 pm EST through my Instagram @genesisbookshelf. Would love to have you all tune in and send any questions you’d like to ask Amparo.

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