Flying Blind (The Dragon Diaries) [Paperback]

Stunning start to this epic series
Found this series one goodreads and thought to be good, bought it and turned out to be great
I would recommend this to young teenagers
If u enjoy this read Wings by A.Pike- amazing too
Great on amazon and fab delivery!!!!!
Hope u like it😺

Flying Blind is the first of a dragon related book that I have read. I was surprised because I enjoyed it and loved the concept that Deborah Cooke had developed and introduced the Dragon Shape Shifters world to us bookworms!

Zoë is the daughter of a dragon shape shifter elder and is rumoured to be the next Wyvern, a female dragon shape shifter which there is only one of at any time. As one dies another one is born, two Wyverns cannot coexist. Because of this she is expected to have great abilities to help out the rest of the Pyr who are dragon shape-shifters however no matter what her and best friend try to do Zoe is one of the few girls who haven't reached puberty so currently her dragon powers are AWOL. At first you sympathise with Zoe loss of powers but then an times you find to dislike her a little because of her jealousy towards other characters. At other times you just can't put Zoe and her actions together as I have to be honest she does act a bit like a brat. However she does progress throughout the book and develops as a person but also as a Wyvern as well.

The storyline is really good as originally being set to be a boot camp turns out to be a life or death situation. There are so many hidden things that you never realise and when they're actually revealed you're like 'What..no that can't be!'. This is what keep s you interested as there are no boring aspects to the book and there is always something to hold your interest throughout the whole book to the very end. The concept of Zoe developing as a Wyvern is what I really like and then she can stand on her own legs for once and do something amazing for the rest of the Pyr. Her loyalty and braveness towards the Pyr and how she is ready to fight for them is a beautiful concept that immediately makes you like her as a character despite her previous actions.

It is a really good concept of bringing dragons to the paranormal literature and Deborah Cooke has nailed it! There is excellent imagination and creativity behind the 'Dragon Diaries' and is something new that all Paranormal and fantasy book lovers will love! I can't wait to get my hands on Wingin It the second book and start reading!

Errm...I do find myself comparing to Claire Danvers out of 'The Morganville Vampires Series' . Although I'm not such a brainiac I am quite clever. Also my favourite subjects that I love to study is Science and Maths. Claire does seem to like Science a lot so I don't think she's really fond of Maths especially Calculus. I think my personality kind of relates to Claire's too though I was a really quiet person at first and much more bold but I don't think I'm as brave as Claire. I do love her though and I think she is a brilliant character to find similarities between.

I really enjoyed reading Flying Blind. I adore dragons and shapeshifters alike so a book about dragon shapeshifters was sure to be a recipe for success. It was a joy to read with such a comfortable writing style and I'm sure that if I had had a little more time in the past couple of weeks to read, it would only have taken me a couple of nights to finish. Ooh and I didn't realise until I was grabbing the blurb from Goodreads that this is actually a series set a little further on from a previous series (Dragonfire) by Deborah Cooke which is an adult series that focuses on the parents (Quinn and Sara) of one of the characters' around Zoë's age, I shall definitely be getting hold of those when I can!

Zoë was a pretty well-rounded character, all in all. She's your typical 15 year old high school girl. Desperate to start puberty, and whilst she would never tell her best friend Meagan, hoping that puberty will finally bring with it her Wyvern powers. She seems to get crushes on any boy who pays her the slightest bit of attention which can be a little odd but not far-fetched for a hormonal teenage girl. And she's pretty big on protecting her friends and the people she cares for, which in my eyes makes her a loveable character with appropriate flaws. I also have to give an honourable mention to Jared who I particularly liked. He's good to Zoë and just a little bit yummy.

While I loved the familiar writing style that felt as though Zoë was talking to you, it also came with a couple of flaws. There were a few instances in which something said didn't make sense to me. Sometimes I can put this down to my own tiredness but not when there are more than one or two. They didn't take away from the story as a whole but they were a little jarring as I had to go back to re-read and make sure I knew what was going on. I also found the story became fairly linear towards the end. My favourite novels interweave plotlines and side stories with such intricacy that you feel as though the story is happening to you because they feel real, but Flying Blind didn't really have that and it took away from my enjoyment a little bit as one plot would be unveiled and dealt with, then another, and another..

However, that being said I still loved reading about the Pyr and following their story throughout Flying Blind. Whilst this is definitely a young adult novel that I might not recommend to folk who are exceedingly picky about their young adult fiction, I would definitely recommend it to everybody else, particularly dragon fans because Flying Blind is, as expected, very juicy on the dragons. Love it!