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An incredibly charming coming of age story. I may not read many young adult novels these days, but this was so soul satisfying, like the perfectly balanced cup of tea.

The main character Holt Cook is the son of a kitchen cook (also known as the “pot boy��.) He’s always been awed by The Order’s dragon riders, and with a surprising turn of events finds himself raising a blind baby dragon. Already this story features some of my favorite classic trope’s: Pot Boy (farm boy) with a dragon bond, and then there’s the forbidden love interest, a broody older mentor, and Holt is a rather reluctant hero. Even though these are pretty common fantasy tropes, Michael Miller somehow has figured out a fresh way to portray them, and they’re very well done. One of my favorite elements is the bond between Holt and Ash. The growth & emotional development between them is so heartfelt. I also love the world building and unique dragon lore in this series! Especially from Holt’s background in the kitchen and preparing meals for the different kinds of dragons�� all of food descriptions had me drooling!

This was my first audio ARC and I enjoyed how expressive the narrator was with all of the characters. I’ll admit his young dragon voices sounded a bit like Gollum/Yoda, but were still very endearing, and only added to the story. I can’t recommend this series enough! I look forward to reading or listening to the next book.

Thank you to Michael R. Miller and the publisher Books Fluent for the opportunity to listen to this audio ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.