The Last Namsara

Title: The Last Namsara (Iskara #1)
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli

(I apologize in advance for any mistaken details. I already returned the book to the library so I cannot check anything at this point.)

Initial thoughts after reading: It was enjoyable. A little slow at points, and somewhat predictable at others, but overall a good story. Will read the sequel.

So, it had a predictable love story, but I'm a hopeless romantic, so that's not so bad. It had dragons. I like dragons. I will say that anytime Jarek grabbed Asha, I felt slightly uncomfortable. When I was younger, I wouldn't even have noticed anything other than that he was a jerk, but as I'm older, I can understand that it's him being possessive, domineering, that even though she is some kick-butt feared killer, she still isn't always strong enough to pull away from his unwanted advances. Sometimes it's because of his strength and sometimes it's because of the situation. She may be a fierce heroine, but he is a male who is physically stronger than her who believes he has the right to force her, that he owns her. At other points she is forced to comply because she is the daughter of the king, because she has a reputation to uphold, because she believes that as the King and as her father, he has the right to dictate her life, especially because she believes she owes him. It makes me uncomfortable to read about these things because now I can see the reality of them. I wouldn't want someone forcing me to do anything, but I am also rather weak physically so if they were to hold me down or hold me back from something, I likely wouldn't be able to get away. Including something like this in the story, something that may make readers uncomfortable, isn't wrong. We should be made aware of these realities so that we can work to change them. So yeah, it made me a little uncomfortable, but I wouldn't dislike the book just for that. I wish we had gotten to know some of the other characters better, like Dax or Safire. I really wanted to know more about their stories. Maybe in a later book, eh? I didn't predict everything, but the overall outcome? Yeah, that wasn't hard. You read enough books, things become predictable, even in unique stories. Everything's been done in some form or other. What matters is how you tell it. The Last Namsara was good. I'm sure middle or high schoolers will enjoy it a lot. I think, though, being a tad older, I'm looking for something a bit more complex. I did enjoy the little stories interspersed throughout. That was a fun, clever way of doing that.

Rating (out of 5): 4. I enjoyed it. Not my favorite. Could reread it a few years down the road, but not likely.