City of Thieves by Alex London || Fast-Paced MG Adventure Featuring Dragons

City of Thieves (Battle Dragons #1)

In a modern mega-city built around dragons, one boy gets caught up in the world of underground dragon battles and a high-stakes gang war that could tear his family apart.

Once, dragons nearly drove themselves to extinction. But in the city of Drakopolis, humans domesticated them centuries ago. Now dragons haul the city’s cargo, taxi its bustling people between skyscrapers, and advertise its wares in bright, neon displays. Most famously of all, the dragons battle. Different breeds take to the skies in nighttime bouts between the infamous kins—criminal gangs who rule through violence and intimidation.

Abel has always loved dragons, but after a disastrous showing in his dragon rider’s exam, he's destined never to fly one himself. All that changes the night his sister appears at his window, entrusting him with a secret...and a stolen dragon.

Turns out, his big sister is a dragon thief! Too bad his older brother is a rising star in Drakopolis law enforcement...
To protect his friends and his family, Abel must partner with the stolen beast, riding in kin battles and keeping more secrets than a dragon has scales.

When everyone wants him fighting on their side, can Abel figure out what's worth fighting for?

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Dragons! Especially fierce ones who battle. Plus, a wide variety of them!
• High-stakes battle scenes using strategy and cunning.
• A kid in a no-win situation trying to do what’s right.
• Adorable sibling scenes with arguments and tension but also caring.
• A unique little squad featuring fun characters.
• A solid, fast-paced plot that zooms right along.

Many thanks to Scholastic and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Oh hai, giant fierce dragon on the cover. I am so glad to meet you and definitely need more of you in my life.

So yeah, obviously, book about dragons. Not much of a shocker that I decided I absolutely needed to read it, yeah? *gestures around to blog design* Kind of a no-brainer for me. Especially a dragon like that, who clearly knows what it wants and is not willing to take “no” for an answer.

City of Thieves sweeps the reader into a world filled with dragons. In this fast-paced adventure, Abel finds himself caught in the middle of a struggle between rival gangs, and he has to find the courage to do the right thing. Whatever that is.

I had so much fun with this book! I was hooked immediately. There’s so much going on and so many moving pieces. It felt a lot like a Fast and the Furious vibe . . . but with dragons! And not . . . what are we on? Nine movies? But you know what I mean. Action, crews, battles . . . the whoooole feel!

I was a little on the fence about this one towards the middle, because it sends some weird and potentially confusing messages about gangs, especially for this age group. I do think the end makes a nice save and turns things around, but it almost feels a bit late. Because of that, I’d be more likely to recommend it for more mature middle grade readers who are unlikely to take things at face value and don’t need things spelled out for them.

London establishes a high-stakes, exciting world in City of Thieves, one that’s slightly futuristic while still being utterly modern and, oh, by the way, absolutely filled with dragons!

Yes, I would absolutely sell your kidney to be able to read there. And you definitely read that correctly.

While this book, being the first of a series, doesn’t necessarily delve all that deeply into the world or the history, London drops a few tasty tidbits that really grabbed my attention and made me took notice! It seems like there’s something being set up for the next book regarding the history of the world, and I can’t wait to find out what. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding dragons and humans and their interactions and where they both came from.

The world is also surprisingly rough. It’s broken down into gangs known as kin, with three main ones ruling most of the city Abel lives in. Each gang has a different purpose, a different reason for being, but there’s one thing they all have in common: they don’t ask; they take. Sometimes they also threaten.

Abel has to be about the most naïve 13-year-old you’ve ever met . . . which is why he’s very surprised, in a rough world full of gangs, that the people around him are keeping secrets.

Because, SURPRISE, everybody has secrets in this world. It’s a city founded on secrets, and the person who wins is the one who knows enough to blackmail everyone else, pretty much.

This was such an interesting coming-of-age story because of this. Even though Abel realizes his world is kind of crap (my words, not his), he still has hope in people, especially the people around him, to do the right thing and be the right kind of people. It’s a little bit of blind faith, but that’s what makes his character endearing. He’s an easy character to root for in that sense and a good character to see the world through, as he’s just starting to really venture out into it in a big way.

London takes the idea of a coming-of-age story and turns it on its head, with really big stakes and some utterly heartbreaking realizations along Abel’s journey.

Abel is realizing that the older people get, the more secrets they keep. Which is, you know, devastating when you realize that all these people you’ve trusted and looked up to aren’t who you think they are. I think most people can relate to that feeling. Especially for a kid, though, it’s a tragic truth to discover.

Abel is faced with a choice about the sort of person he wants to grow up to be, whether he falls in line and starts keeping secrets of his own or if he decides to go against the status quo. It’s a struggle that I think middle grade readers can especially relate to! I love that London isn’t all doom-and-gloom about it, either, though. He acknowledges that secrets are a part of life, but Abel’s friends and family love him just the same and are still there for him when he needs them. I’m really interested in how secrets will come into play in the second book!

Abel is surrounded by a cast of characters that are so different that readers are sure to find one they can relate to and love.

There’s Roa, of course, Abel’s nonbinary best friend. They’re super smart and extremely gifted, but also struggling with their place in the world and what the future will hold for them.

Then there’s Abel’s siblings, of course, who are so very different from each other as well as Abel (you know, as siblings do). They still obviously care about Abel, and that comes through (albeit begrudgingly sometimes) as they’re forced to decide between their family and their ideals.

I don’t want to talk too much about side characters, because there are some fun surprises there that I don’t want to ruin. Needless to say, they really start feeling like a little squad, and I look forward to seeing them really come into their own in the second book!

Let’s talk about the dragons for a second. Because why wouldn’t we? They’re big, they’re scary, and they don’t always breathe fire.

No, sometimes they breathe worse things. Like acid or super sharp gems that will slice you into pieces. Because variety is the spice of life, right?!

I absolutely loved the dragons in this book. They’ve each got their own personalities (even if they don’t talk) and there are a whole host of different types. I mean, to the point where this world has legit created a card game around battling them. They’re Pokemon, is what I’m saying. I really look forward to hopefully meeting more types of dragons in this series and seeing what they can do!

I really wish there was more emotional response from Abel about some of the events that happen in this book, because without it, the story seemed to send some weird mixed messages about some pretty tough topics.

Like, you know, gangs. Which Abel is always running afoul, but even when he’s betrayed or put in danger, his response doesn’t seem to match the situation. He kind of shrugs it off and is quick to forgive, like these people aren’t doing horrible things. I kept getting this weird message that it was okay, it wasn’t so bad due to his reactions, even though the text occasionally said that it was supposed to be bad.

There were many times that I was mad on Abel’s behalf, and it sort of was disappointing that the book elicited all these emotions from me but they weren’t matched by the main character. It made me care just a little bit less about his struggle, because if he wasn’t going to take it seriously then why should I?!

All that being said, I think the last maybe 20% of the book did take a pretty clear stance on everything that had happened, and so does Abel. It just took place a little late in the book for me, at a point where I was already past caring about it.

About Alex London

ALEX LONDON is the author of over 25 books for children, teens, and adults with over 2 million copies sold. He’s the author of the middle grade Dog Tags, Tides of War, Wild Ones, and Accidental Adventures series, as well as two titles in The 39 Clues. For young adults, he’s the author of the acclaimed cyberpunk duology Proxy, and the epic fantasy trilogy, The Skybound Saga. A former journalist covering refugee camps and conflict zones, he can now be found somewhere in Philadelphia, where he lives with his husband and daughter or online at www.calexanderlondon.com.

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3 winners will win a finished copy of CITY OF THIEVES (Battle Dragons #1), US Only.

Week One

Week Two

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