The Girl with the Dragon Heart
Stephanie Burgis
Bloomsbury
Review by Nina
Wow! This is a wonderful, magical, thrilling adventure – a compelling sequel to The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. In that first book, we were introduced to Aventurine, a dragon cruelly cursed by magical hot chocolate. Silke, the street girl who guides Aventurine plays second fiddle in the ‘Chocolate Heart’ but in this book she is determined to tread her own path and tell her own story. And what a story! It all centres on an awful secret that Silke and her brother Dieter have hidden for years. Silke’s secret is her motivation for getting into the Royal Palace and solving a great mystery. At the heart of this secret is the fairy kingdom of Elfenwald and its evil king and queen. As baddies, these two are wicked, scary, horrid and terrible – Stephanie’s characterisations are brilliant!
What I love about both these books is diving in and feeling a part of the world. It’s a magical city with a medieval flavour – the narrow backstreets of numerous districts, the market stalls, castle walls and riverbank camps – Stephanie Burgis builds the world using all the senses, enveloping the reader with the sights, sounds and smells (mostly chocolatey!) so that you really feel in the midst of the action. Add in fairies, goblins and dragons and this is a fantasy you will not want to miss. I highly recommend this book for age 8 and up.
From the Press Release…
Once upon a time, in a beautiful city famous for chocolate and protected by dragons, there was a girl so fearless that she dared to try to tell the greatest story of all: the truth.
Silke has always been good at spinning the truth and storytelling. So good that since arriving as a penniless orphan, she has found her way up to working for the most splendid chocolate makers in the city (oh, and becoming best friends with a dragon). Now her gift for weaving words has caught the eye of the royal family, who want to use her as a spy when the mysterious and dangerous fairy royal family announces it will visit the city. But Silke has her own dark, secret reasons for not trusting fairies…
Can Silke find out the truth about the fairies while keeping her own secrets hidden?
From the author of the magical The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart comes a second magical adventure perfect for fans of Cressida Cowell and Cornelia Funke.
About Stephanie
Stephanie Burgis is a dual citizen of the US and the UK and lives in South Wales with her husband and their children. The Girl with the Dragon Heart is Stephanie’s second novel for Bloomsbury. Follow Stephanie on Twitter or visit her website.
The Girl with the Dragon Heart is published on 9 August in paperback. Big thanks to Bloomsbury for our review copy – buy yours at your local independent bookshop or Hive.