Hello fellow book nerds!
A while back I had the amazing opportunity to review the first book in this series. Now with the third one out, I figured it was time to catch up.
I loved this book so much and I feel like it’s so great for Middle Graders today!
What do you think?
NOTE: If you did not read the first book, there will be spoilers. The review for City of Speed is spoiler free itself, as always.
Read my review on the first book here;
Battle Dragons: City of Thieves by Alex London – Book Review
Happy Reading!
Battle Dragons: City of Speed
Alex London
5 out of 5 stars
Summary
Taken from Goodreads
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.
In the city of Drakopolis, dragons and humans have co-existed for centuries. Dragons burn the city’s garbage, taxi its busy citizens from place to place, and even compete in vicious underground battles for ganglike kins.
But the dragons also compete in legal sports, like the spectacular aerial races that draw in cheering crowds by the tens of thousands.
Abel is at just such a race when he witnesses the unthinkable. A long-shot competitor pulls off an impossible win — then flies into a destructive rage! Someone in the city is experimenting on dragons: hacking their DNA, rebuilding their bodies, and breaking their minds. Who could be driving the dragons berserk?
Abel must find out who’s behind the experiments and put a stop to them, and to do so he’ll infiltrate the kins’ underground street races on a long-shot dragon of his own. But with his sister working for a kin, his brother serving the city’s secret police, and a bully at school racing for Abel’s worst enemies, will Abel find any safety past the finish line?
Feedback
I will admit that it took me some time to pick up this book after I finished the first one. In no one’s fault except my own commitment issues. However, this book did not disappoint and it was an excellent sequel to the first. New dragons are introduced. New challenges to face. But the same ol’ corruption is still the issues. Everything played out very well and kept me engaged the entire time.
I think one of my favorite things about this book was how everyone was reliant on each other. It’s such a breath of fresh air that the kids aren’t relying solely on themselves to solve the problems. I don’t know why but I like it when they get adults involved as well. And that’s what happens here. Even though for the majority of the book, Abel tries to keep his parents out of it, he ends up asking for their help in the end. But Abel never relies on just himself. His friends are always there as well. I really enjoyed Abel’s dependency on each other while still keeping the confidence in himself. He knows his limits and seeks out aid when he needs it.
Final Thoughts
Overall, City of Speed by Alex London was a great addition to this series. I was excited to see new dragons and how Abel and company were going to solve the next issue that presented them. The story was engaging and kept just enough detail to get the imagery without it being overwhelming. Abel’s character has seem to grow a lot in this book and I enjoyed seeing him become his own self while still relying on others to help him. And that ending – I cannot wait to see what happens next. So if you like middle grade books, dragons, and whole bunch of wedgie jokes – you won’t want to skip on this one!
Books in the Skye 