L. R. W. Lee

Reading this book was an uphill climb - rocky and winding, with fleeting glimpses of beautiful vistas, and three quarters through I wanted to turn around and head home.

Sand Maiden Allisandra flees the Dream realm when her father, a King of Dreams, attacked her for defying his plans to take over the waking world. Injured and stripped of her immortality, Ali appears in Prince Kovis’ bedroom and suffers abuse for being thought a rebel spy. She is saved from torture by her mysterious bond show more with Kovis, but she has a long way to go before he’s convinced of her tale: of threats, and dreams, and every one of his memories she’s seen while watching over his sleep.

[Note from the official synopsis: “WARNING: This book will empower those who say #MeToo but contains mature content including sexual abuse. Recommended for 18 .”]

For fans of Elise Kova’s Air Awakens or Sarah J Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses, it is easy to see where Lullaby draws inspiration. Examples include the magical affinities or the way Kovis and Ali communicate via their bond. In an interview, L.R.W. Lee describes how she pays tribute to Kova, Maas, and other inspirational authors in Prince Kovis’ full name: Kovis Rhys Aldrick Desmond Altairn (the interview gives Kovis two additional names which I didn’t catch in the book).

Knowing little about Sandman lore, I was intrigued by the mythological elements and how it was woven into a fantasy setting. Unfortunately, the inventive world-building suffered from contrived conflict, unempathetic characters, and a distracting narrative style. (Unrelated, there is an awesome picture book called Sandbear. Recommend for fans of bears and sand.)

But hey, if I didn’t like it, it’s my fault for keeping on reading. So let’s start with what I did like:
Wholesome Guards: Who doesn’t love a wholesome guard? The guards in Kovis’ personal contingent are diligent, upstanding warriors with a sense of humor and camaraderie only surpassed by their loyalty. The author does a great job bringing them to life with what little page time they’re given.
Good POV Ratio: Ali is the the main narrator, with Kovis’ chapters sprinkled in between. They were just rare enough that I found the switch refreshing.
Magical Innovation: I wish we heard more about the floating cities, they got one page of cool narrative and then nothing.
Training Scenes: Again, who doesn’t love a training montage? Ali’s scenes in the training ring featured the best imagery, conveying the feel and sense of various magics, as well as the thrill of rushing power with a side of casual dialogue.

Here's why this story didn't work for me:
Meh Style: I wouldn’t say the writing made the story worse, but it wasn’t doing it any favors. Word choice, anachronisms, an over-fondness for exclamation points - the fact that I struggled to take off my editorial hat was more telling than the notes themselves.
Contrived Conflict: Much of the character tensions felt introduced purely for the sake of conflict, ending eventually in dramatic over-simplified payoff or no resolution (presumably to be revisited in the sequel). For an example, see Chapter 35.
Unempathetic Characters: I couldn’t get behind Ali or Kovis, especially how they interacted with one another. Despite knowing Kovis’ dreams (and even crying over his memories), Ali continually pushed his emotional boundaries when he clearly indicated he wasn’t ready. For his part, Kovis tells Ali that he knows what’s best for her enough times that eventually she stops disagreeing and rolls with it.
Rebels or Romance: In the opening chapters, Ali was accused of working with a rebellion against the empire. However, the scant information received about these rebels made me question whether or not they were actually a driving narrative force or background decoration. Either would be fine, but it was difficult being led on either way. It reminded me of reading Kiera Cass’s The Selection, in that I wasn’t sure if the lurking threat would ever be more than flavor.

Did the Charlie Bowater cover influence my decision to read Lullaby? Yes.
Did I know Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star has more than one verse? No.
Do I remember how to play Brahms’ lullaby on the piano? Surprisingly yes.
Would I read a spinoff about the wholesome guards? 100%

**Thanks to BookSirens and the author for the free book!** show less

***This book was reviewed for Reader's Favourite***

Lee’s Dawn of Hope collects together the first 3 books of the Andy Smithson series. As a whole, the omnibus was quite enjoyable. Below, I’ll go over each book included.

We start with Blast of the Dragon’s Fury, where we meet Andy, a young boy having a very odd day indeed. Things only get weirder when he is pulled into a fantastical world and charged to break a centuries old curse that keeps the King alive, while those he loves pass on. show more To do so, Andy must obtain ingredients. First among them is a red dragon scale.

The next book is Venom of the Serpent’s Cunning. Here Andy returns to the magickal land of Oomaldee, where he must again help the royal family, this time by retrieving another ingredient. He must also retrieve the source of the curse, which has been stolen, causing the King to sicken. An old foe returns, and we meet new ones. We get to learn the truth behind the King’s curse.

Third in this book bundle is Disgrace of the Unicorn’s Honor. Andy returns again to Oomaldee, to retrieve a unicorn horn to help the ailing King. This time he is plagued by a being visible only to himself, urging him to bring the horn back to his mother instead. Then, his friends are kidnapped, held for the ransom of a unicorn horn. Andy has no intentions of harming the unicorns, but seeing if they would be willing to gift him a horn for the King. Now he's afraid he will not be able to retrieve enough for everyone relying on him.

I found the writing of these stories to be a little clunky at first, even for an intended younger audience. A bit more variation in sentence length would enhance the rhythm, and including more words that are ‘difficult’ would help the readers increase their own vocabulary stores. You can see a definate progression of improvement from one book to the next though. I love seeing writers grow into their element.

Lee did a great job of weaving valuable morals into these stories, showing their importance in amusing ways. Humour plays a big part of all of the books. I enjoyed most of it. While not prudish, I've never been a fan of fart jokes, even when I was younger. Many kids do enjoy that brand of humour though.

In addition to displaying morals, the stories teach kids to think creatively. Everyone has their own dragons to fight. Bulimia, anorexia, bullies, crippling anxiety, parents/teachers who do not listen to a child’s needs. The list of ‘dragons’ is endless. These stories present creative ways to handle everyday problems the reader may be facing, which is a great thing in my opinion. show less

DNF on page 25

This was one of the worst things I've ever read, but it was entertainingly bad. I probably would have continued, just for the laughs, if I didn't have a huge TBR pile looming over me.

But if you're interested in the concept but don't want to read a dreadful romance, then check out [b:Gossamer|12931|Gossamer|Lois Lowry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410801709s/12931.jpg|2431188] by Lois Lowry. It's essentially the same idea but infinitely better.

Andy Smithson Blast of the Dragon's Fury (Andy Smithson #1) by L.R.W. Lee is a middle grade fantasy book and it was sheer delight. Sometimes it is hard for me to read a middle grade book without pulling my hair out. There are exceptions, like Harry Potter and many other good ones and I am adding this to that list. Although the only complaint I have is it ends in a cliff hanger, all else is great. Not really Harry Potter level but really good for kids and VERY tolerable for adults. I got the show more audible version and listened to it and it was awesome. The many different voices was terrific. It was from the Colonial Radio Theatre and it was low cost so win-win. I think this really tells the story better than reading it myself since it also had sound effects. How cool is that? This is a great book for young boys since the lead characters are two boys about 10 yrs old on a quest to stop a curse on a kingdom. Lots of twists, enemies, dragons (friendly and not), puzzles, giants, and so much more that would make reading (or listening) to this fun. The only reason I gave it a 4 star and not a 5 star is that I have a pet peeve about cliff hangers. Sorry, just me I guess. show less