Dragon Slippers

Author: Jessica Day George

My Description: I put off writing my review for this book for quite some time, so I might not cover all of the facts I wanted to, but I'll do my best.

I got this book expecting a highly lighthearted and hopefully not too much less than hysterical comedy... that's just what I got out of the cover and description. At first, it was pretty much what I wanted and expected, but the second half changed, and I wasn't too happy with it.

I liked Creel (the heroine) immediately, which helped me to like the book. It was really funny at first, so that helped too. One thing that Ms. George did that took away from her story was something fairly easy to do in writing, that I do myself sometimes, was that she scooby-dooed things. Sometimes, weeks passed in a book like this: "Weeks passed,", and I would have liked it if it had either had more written on those weeks, or that it had been less time, but it wasn't really that bad.

Also, the second half of the book got a little intense. It wasn't that light-hearted comedy it was at the beginning, and characters actually died, which really took me off guard. Normally, I wouldn't have minded such things, but in the comedy book that I was expecting, it just didn't fit. Also, they had two main characters who we really care about die, and then made it seem like they might be alive after a death that makes it impossible for them to be alive, and didn't explain how they survived, so that was a little weird too. Ms. George also had the main villain of the book die, when I rather would have had "Justice". The death of her just didn't please me, while if she had actually been brought to court I would have felt happy and smug.

I also would have liked it if Creel had been reunited with her brother. I'm really family oriented, so maybe that wouldn't bother other people, but it did me, and that's something I wanted to mention.

Besides all that, I rather enjoyed the story. The last part just didn't do it for me... Oh well.
P.S. (much, much later) It turns out that there is a sequel to this book, so I take back what I said about things not getting explained!

Back-of-the-Book Description: Creel, the heroine of Dragon Slippers is hardly a damsel-in-distress. After her aunt totes her out to the local dragon in desperation (with the hope that the local prince will rescue her from certain death and marry her), Creel refuses the haughty prince and finds friendship with the dragons, who set her on a journey to the center of the kingdom with a pretty pair of what only seem to be ordinary slippers. Along the way we discover Creel’s enormous talent at embroidery, and you can’t help but linger over the rich descriptions of her lovely tapestry-like gowns, which quickly make her the most sought-after dressmaker in the kingdom. But soon enough those mysterious slippers begin to wreak havoc, and it’s up to Creel to save the kingdom from disaster and defend the dragons from certain doom.

Pages: 352

Writing Rating: 7 1/2

Story Rating: 7 1/2

Overall Rating: 6 1/2

Book #43 of '08