by S.D. Grimm
publisher’s synopsis
This time, beauty is the beast. And she wants prince charming dead.
At eighteen, Keira is a formidable dragon hunter bent on finding her parents’ killer—a forest dragon she once helped escape her mother’s laboratory. Biggest mistake of her life. Now, Keira pours her thirst for revenge into her mother’s life-long mission: figuring out what a forest dragon’s poison is . . . so she can destroy the murderers for good.
But Keira’s plan begins to unravel when she takes on a life debt to a forest dragon in order to save her brother. Trapped behind enemy lines, Keira’s assumptions about dragons are turned upside down, and she must confront the possibility that everything she knows about dragons is wrong. As she gets closer to discovering the forest dragon’s poison, she must decide if the price of this knowledge is worth the sacrifice.
In this not-quite fairy tale, what the “princess” needs most is a change of heart. But will it change in time for her to save those she’s already sentenced to death—even if the cost is her own freedom?
Some Things I Liked:
-The modern USA fantasy setting was fun. It makes you wonder if you might happen to know any dragon shifters. . .
-While DRAGON isn’t a gender-swapped BatB retelling, Grimm does swap the personalities of Beauty and Beast, giving the novel a fresh take on the fairy tale in addition to the other unique plot elements.
-While Keira’s feelings about dragons were possibly too much like a pendulum, it did seem realistic.
Some Things I Struggled With:
–SPOILERS BELOW-
-I would have liked to see a little more complexity/struggle/forgiveness in Keira and Dane’s relationship at the end in light of the plot twist about Dane. I understand that the ending wrapped up pretty quickly, and there wasn’t per se page room to explore those dynamics. But it felt a little off that the twist about Dane was brushed over pretty quickly.
-I was also confused about how the “resurrection” of Ace happened. He said it had something to do with the curse, but it either wasn’t explained or I missed it. Because he actually dies, not just almost dies.
-END SPOILERS-
Overall:
A Dragon By Any Other Name is a fun, unique retelling of Beauty and the Beast. And it’s got dragons. 😉
Cautions: moderate romance; four kisses; four instances of coarse language; semi-graphic moderate/heavy violence
Hailey Huntington 