Book Review: Mysteries of Cove: Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage

Reviews

Mysteries of Cove: Embers of Destruction by J. Scott Savage

Book Description:

It's time to take the battle to the dragons.

In the third and final volume of the bestselling Mysteries of Cove series, Trenton and Kallista--along with their friends, Plucky, Simoni, Angus, and Clyde--fly their mechanical dragons south toward San Francisco, looking to rescue any survivors from the battle of Seattle.

Arriving in San Francisco and investigating the area in secret, the young riders are reunited with Kallista's father, Leo Babbage, who reveals that the humans in the city are working as slaves to the dragons, but that they don't want to be rescued--himself included. He says they are being protected by their new master: a huge, powerful white dragon who lives in an impenetrable tower fortress overlooking the city. Kallista is stunned by the news. Why would her father ever willingly want to work for dragons?

Trenton and his friends are confronted by the guards and their mechanical dragons are seized. Evading capture, the young riders escape and begin looking for a way to break the white dragon's hold over the city--and over Leo. Working with the kids from the city, the young riders track down the source of the dragon's power to an underground chamber that is accessible only through an underwater passageway below the tower fortress.

With the white dragon watching their every move, Trenton and Kallista will need every bit of creativity and ingenuity they can manage to find a way to retrieve their stolen dragons, enter the tower fortress, and take down the dragons once and for all.

Rorie's Review:

I loved the first two books in this series and was really looking forward to reading this one. I was not disappointed. The story drew me in right away, and even though it has been awhile since I read the second book, I didn't ever feel lost or like I would need to go back and read it again to remind myself what happened. (Actually, I had forgotten who Simoni and Angus were until the last half of this book, but that didn't detract from the story at all.)

Plucky is by far my favorite character. Her name completely fits her, and I really admire her strength, humor and determination. Clyde also shows that strong spirit with his determination to keep working on his art, even with what he was put through when he lived in Cove.

Trenton and Kallista are in a new situation, having to learn how to work in a group setting, instead of just relying on themselves like they were used to. There are a lot of growing pains with the group as everyone finds what role they fit into best.

I was pleased with the conclusion, even though it wasn't what I was expecting at all. This is definitely a series that I would recommend for youth and adults alike.

Tarah's Review:

Honestly, this is the first book of the series that I've read. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a stand alone novel, it wasn't too confusing. I like to know my characters and their stories, so I did miss out on that, but the great thing is my kids and I now have a new series to get into. I'm not the type that minds reading the last one first (as long as I'm not going to be totally lost, which I wasn't so it's all good).

Plucky was my favorite character, but I will admit she was a little hard to understand sometimes. I wondered if I would have understood her better had I read the previous books first. She was so well written that I could picture her in my mind and see her pulling out her knives and picking locks.

I also liked how the characters did "the right thing" and trusted each other even though they were very obviously from different backgrounds (maybe not where they lived, but how they were raised).

Overall I'm glad I read this and I'm looking forward to seeing what my 10-year-old thinks of it. Actually, I think my 12-year-old and my 8-year-old will enjoy it as well.

Zoie's Review:

I liked this book a lot. I liked how the characters in the book had to problem solve, and you could figure out the mysteries in the book on your own as the reader. This book introduced a lot of questions, but it also answered a lot of questions left lingering in the previous two books. One thing about this book that I really enjoyed was that the kids were the ones who were problem solving, and kind of in charge.

A little bonus to the story that I noticed was at the top of each chapter there was a drawing that progressed as you read.

I really enjoyed this book, and I'll probably read it again at some point.

Title: Embers of Destruction
Author: J. Scott Savage
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: Sept 2017
ISBN:  1629723398
Source: We received copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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